There are many myths that surround Attention Deficit Disorder, and
sadly they are believed by many unsuspecting people who know nothing
about the disorder. A lot of these myths have developed from
years and years of medical professionals diagnosing only young boys and
no one else.
One of the big myths that is very prevalent today is that ADD is the
popular diagnosis for this time period. If a child acts up in the
classroom, he has ADD and he or she must be on medication. While
there appears to be an explosion of ADD in America, this is due to many
factors. One factor that needs to be considered is the evolution
of technology and medicine. Each year, we learn more and more
about every type of disorder and ADD just happens to be one of
them. This does not mean that it is a fad diagnosis.
Another thing to consider is that sometimes children are slapped with a
label before it has even formally been diagnosed. The ADD label
is so informally thrown around that how many children actually have the
disorder is misconstrued.
Another myth is that ADD is overly diagnosed. This is simply not
true. As discussed in the previous paragraph, ADD is not
diagnosed formally unless a psychologist or psychiatrist tests an
individual. Testing can either be formal (which I believe is
preferable) or informal where an individual's history is taken and
evaluated. Doctors do not just quickly give out ADD as a
diagnosis, and over diagnosis is pure myth.
A third myth is that ADHD is only a disorder for hyperactive
boys. This myth comes from the many years that it was promoted as
fact by the medical community. It is not true, and it is also not
true that more boys have this than girls. Because girls have only
recently been diagnosed, there is not an accurate picture of how many
actually have it.
Another myth that can be very damaging is that having ADD is only a
small problem in an individual's life. Yes, some individual's who
have ADD may fare better than others, but many have real problems in
dealing with everyday life issues and routines. The difficulties
that people with ADD face should not be thrown off.
A myth that has just recently been discounted is that people outgrow
ADD by the age of twelve or thirteen. Some individuals may
outgrow it or the symptoms dissipate over time, but many individuals do
not. It is not something that just goes away on its own though,
and anyone who thinks that is true has their facts wrong.
And lastly, there is a myth that medication is the only thing you can
do to help ADD. This is something that is believed by a lot of
people. Yes, medications help in many cases of ADD but it is the
just the beginning of getting help. Counseling and learning how
to structure your time are also very important steps to take.
Keith Londrie II is a well known author. For more information on ADHD, please visit living-with-adhd.us/ ADHD for a wealth of information. You may also want to visit keith's own web site at keithlondrie.com/keithlondrie.com/