[spacedmountain]

This speaks to a common commment about ADHD. Where is the border between a 'personality trait' and a disorder?

The condition is usually defined by having an impairment in at least two environments (ie school, home, work, sports teams). 'Impairment' is obviously subjective, but implies something more than simply being bored. Playing a game in a boring meeting probably isn't ADHD. Being unable to focus for more than a few minutes in _any_ meeting is a stronger sign, and could really make it harder.

On diagnosis rates - in most countries its 2-5% (>10% of children in the USA..). That is about 2 standard deviations from an 'average' person, which can actually be quite a difference. For comparison, a 'genius' is someone who scores in the top 2% of an IQ test. Economic elite are '1%-ers'. I'd agree that there is a continiuous spectrum, and also that it is mis/over-diagnosed in a considerable number of cases. I think it is this over-treatment that you are questioning, but lets be cautious to not add to the stigma around legitmate cases of the condition.

I'd agree often the challange is between individual and their environment - although often 'enviroment' includes people around them. Often the environment is hard to change - do the 95% change to accomodate 5%? There is advice for careers that people with ADHD tend to be better at - sales, entrepreneurship, and medicine for their fast-pace and energy, or jobs like the military where there is a lot of structure.

I think its more complex than saying exercise would reduce diagnosis or medication rates. In particular, if exercise alone 'cures' ADHD, it is likely a mild or mis-diagnosed case. In my own experiance, exercise (as well as sleep and diet) do affect symptoms, but don't eliminate them.

[panglott]

Yea, my concerns are threefold: overdiagnosis, the diagnosis of young children, and the impact of treatment on developing children. I don't doubt that ADHD is a real disorder, but if the true rate of occurrence is 2-5% while the US diagnosis rate is 10%, that means that a huge proportion of American kids are overdiagnosed. And the leading treatment for ADHD is quite intense: lifelong use of very powerful drugs, with no real understanding of how that impacts normal child development.

I would be surprised if exercise alone works for people who struggle with a very disabling condition, but I suspect interventions less extreme than a full ADHD diagnosis and medication regimen would do a lot of good for kids who might otherwise be overdiagnosed as ADHD.

And as far as the concern as to whether the 95% should change to accommodate the 5%, what we're talking about here is "getting more exercise"—and when huge numbers of schools don't require recess—it's something that the 95% would benefit from.