[ghusto]

_Super_ unpopular opinion; I think ADHD is largely a scam, as this guy claims:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/big-pharma-s-manu...

People react very strongly to this view. I have a theory on why that is, but won't rile you up even further by posting it.

I'm not trying to be controversial, but American pharmaceutical companies have started lobbying European countries governments to get kids diagnosed early with ADHD (as it is in America), and it's terrifying. Teachers are just letting it happen, because; surprise! little Timmy is so much better behaved now that he's on pills, and dealing with 30 kids is hard.

[amanaplanacanal]

What the article says is that he thinks it is overdiagnosed, not that it is a scam. This may or may not be true, it's hard to tell. With ADHD, as with autism, there is likely a spectrum. And given that stimulant drugs show some benefits to almost everybody, where do you draw the line between "needs them to function normally" and "needs them to function optimally"?

[ghusto]

Over-diagnosed, yup I'd agree with that, but I'd stick to my original "mostly a scam" statement.

The pharmaceutical companies have taken a real disease, and spun it into a scam where they're pushing for wider and wider definitions for diagnosis.

It's happening in Europe right now, but it's more apparent for those watching because we're not used to this frankly evil practice over here. And it is evil, because you're essentially getting kids as young as five hooked on speed.