[vonseel]

Hmm, I haven't had a chance to thoroughly check out the article you linked, but I am surprised it's coming from Norway of all places. ADHD isn't as widely treated in Norway as the USA; additionally, Norway's population is only about 5.5 million people, so I am a bit surprised they have conducted enough research on ADHD and driving to present strong research on this. That said, I'm not saying you're wrong or the research is invalid. I'm just surprised.

"That all said... while we can certainly complain about rampant misdiagnosis - I wish I had a dollar for every time someone told me that I'm just addicted to stimulants - my opinion is that this particular rationale for disqualification is absolutely justified."

So, I'm also an ADHD patient, medicated. I've gone back and forth between believing in the diagnosis and thinking maybe I'm just dependent on the medication that I've taken for so many years. It's hard to say now, and of course quitting stimulants requires a LOT of time off work and learning to execute tasks without pharmaceutical aid. So, if you were to take a patient who has been on amphetamine for 10 years and abruptly cut him/her off, the patient would likely go through a period of fatigue, low-interest in activities or work, and struggling getting anything done. I've heard this can take as long as 6 months or a year for certain people. I don't believe you can diagnose ADD/ADHD or any comorbid mental illness in the presence of drug withdrawal. Think of it as a "brain re-training" period. As you can imagine, not many people have the willpower or resources ($) to take time off work and truly "reset" their brains, so they stay on the meds and hope that it works out..