The Over-diagnosis of ADHD In Bobbys second grade classroom, his teacher threw up her hands and said, That is it! On that very morning, Bobby leaped out of his seat seven times to go sharpen his pencil, each time accidentally colliding into other students desks and chairs, sending papers and books plunging to the floor. Bobby screamed out comments to every slightly comical part of the book that the teacher read. His teachers last straw was when, after repeatedly kicking the desk in front of him, it toppled to the floor, spewing all its contents to the ground. This is a strong example of Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in the 90s. However, most cases in which a doctor is brought in to rule if a child has ADHD are not like the previous example. A majority of these cases are with children in the gray area, not constantly showing the signs of ADHD, but showing signs only occasionally. This is where the over-diagnosis of children with ADHD comes into play, in that gray area. Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder is a disorder composed of three major components: inattentiveness, impulsivity, and motor hyperactivity. Symptoms of these components include excessive fidgeting with hands or feet, repeated difficulty remaining seated, following through on instructions, extreme difficulty in attempting to play quietly, and excessive interruption of conversations, just to list a few. A child with ADHD can bear one or all of these features, depending on the severity of the case. These children usually have functional impairments in a variety of places including the home, school, and in relationships with fellow peers. These signs can come and go, being extremely prevalent one day and unnoticeable the next. ADHD is a very complicated disorder. Most people have the false perception that this disorder is like a chronic ear infection or diabetes, where prescriptions of penicillin or continual injections of insulin w...
