If I were to accept the premise of Channel 4鈥檚 documentary The Great ADHD Myth?, then I have spent years labouring under a false belief. The diagnosis I received for my so-called ADHD is apparently an arbitrary concept, invented by popular consensus and promoted by publications like New Scientist.
National 91色情片 Service doctor Max Pemberton presented this idea in a documentary that aired in the UK last night, and in the less than 24 hours that have passed since, many articles and columnists have commented on why it鈥檚 so offensive. While I have my own thoughts on that 鈥� and trust me, I鈥檓 offended 鈥� the most urgent issue to address is the show鈥檚 suggestion that ADHD may not be a .
One claim is that ADHD is a new condition, dreamed up to force square pegs into the round holes of modern life. This is simply not true. An early documented medical description of what we now call ADHD when from the Royal College of Physicians described people who had problems paying attention for long enough to complete tasks, saying they had 鈥渢he fidgets鈥�.
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Since then, the condition has been medically described and renamed (who can forget 鈥渁bnormal defect of moral control in children鈥� in the early 1900s?) many times. While Pemberton is right to note that rates of diagnosis have soared in recent years, diagnoses in the UK are still below estimates of population prevalence from around the world. Studies that screen large groups of people for symptoms consistently put rates of ADHD in the general population .
But the results of an found that just 1 per cent of the population is diagnosed overall in England. Even among boys and young men, the group most likely to be diagnosed, the recorded rates are 2.9 per cent and 3.6 per cent, respectively. If anything, ADHD is underdiagnosed on these shores.
Then there is the claim that ADHD is a social construct, not a neurodevelopmental condition. This is something Pemberton concludes after talking to neuroscientist at King鈥檚 College London. Rubia says that while there is evidence of differences between the brains of people with ADHD and neurotypical people at the group level, it isn鈥檛 possible to diagnose ADHD from a brain scan.
She is right, of course. You can鈥檛 diagnose ADHD from brain scans. The same can be said for most, if not all, psychiatric and neurodevelopmental conditions. Most of these, like ADHD, are diagnosed by assessing symptoms and the effect they have on a person鈥檚 everyday ability to function. 鈥淢y interview was hours long and they cherry-picked the bits that suited their push for presenting ADHD as a myth,鈥� Rubia told New Scientist. 鈥淏iased programs like this one that push their view of ADHD as a mythical entity are irresponsible and will have detrimental effects.鈥�
Pemberton proceeds to seek out a diagnosis for ADHD via an online assessment, despite thinking he probably doesn鈥檛 have it. In reality, ADHD is diagnosed via a lengthy process that includes multiple questionnaires and an interview. To get a diagnosis, ADHD traits have to be causing significant problems in two or more settings, such as at work or with managing bills. If it doesn鈥檛 affect your life, mental health or relationships, you don鈥檛 qualify for the second D of ADHD: disorder.聽
The person carrying out his diagnosis isn鈥檛 identified. All we hear is that Pemberton apparently has ADHD and is handed a prescription for drugs that are described as 鈥渂asically cocaine鈥�.
At this point, the scaremongering about drugging our brains, particularly those of children, really begins. Yes, there is an argument that we need more for ADHD. We don鈥檛 have this yet, partly because, despite claims of the addictiveness of these medications, in the long term.
What we do have is evidence that treatments, whether drug-based or not, improve , and that , substance abuse, criminality and suicide.
All of which will hopefully be of some comfort to the parents of Mason, a young boy in the documentary who is taken off his medication in favour of yoga, nature walks and zero screen time. It seems to help a bit, but his schoolwork and behaviour decline, so his parents reluctantly put him back on the meds.
The documentary makes that seem like a failure. But the real failure is the way the programme-makers chose shock tactics over scientifically accurate reporting, letting Mason, and the rest of us, down.
Channel 4 declined to comment and Pemberton didn鈥檛 respond to a request for comment.
Need a listening ear? UK Samaritans: 116123 (); US Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: 988 (). Visit聽for services聽in other countries.
