Do you have someone in your life with ADHD? Or do you suspect you might? The Center for Effective Living offers evaluation and treatment of ADHD, including treatment without medicine. Because this is something we work with every day, we know that there are a lot of misconceptions about ADHD, so we appreciate articles like the one excerpted below from The Huffington Post, separating some common myths from facts. Take a look at this excerpt, and if you’d like to read the full article, please click the link below. And if you’re in the greater Cleveland area and would like to know more about ADHD testing and treatment, please contact us.
Despite an increase in diagnoses, plenty of stigma still surrounds attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. Adults with ADHD (or parents of children with the disorder) are often somehow blamed for the condition — as if they’re not trying hard enough to control a wide range of symptoms, which can include difficulty focusing, difficulty processing information quickly, fidgeting, impatience and more.
Every year, ADHD affects more than 4 percent of Americans over the age of 18 — adults who are learning, working and living fulfilling, successful lives alongside people who assume those with ADHD are somehow less than. Here are a few things we should all know about ADHD.
Myth: ADHD isn’t a real medical disorder.
Fact: Critics use a lot of different arguments in the service of discrediting ADHD. They blame bad parenting for “unruly” kids, pharmaceutical companies for “fabricating” the illness in search of a profit or students looking for an unfair “advantage” in the classroom. There’s even one theory that ADHD is the result of a culture with “a growing intolerance of childhood playfulness.” But ADHD is a valid condition, recognized by the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Surgeon General and countless other medical professionals. What’s more, there’s even evidence to support a genetic predisposition for the condition in studies in twins — a hallmark of legitimacy.