Medindia
Why Register as Premium Member if you have Diabetes? Click Here
Medindia » Child Health News

Growth in ADHD Diagnosis is Due to Marketing Than Medicine

by Himabindu Venkatakrishnan on November 19, 2014 at 11:26 AM

Identification of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is not easy, yet its diagnosis and treatment is spreading like a contagion - surging as much as tenfold in some countries.


Call it an economic and cultural plague, but not necessarily a medical one, says Brandeis professor Peter Conrad. In a recent paper in the journal Social Science and Medicine, Conrad and coauthor Meredith Bergey examined the growth of ADHD in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Brazil.

Until recently, North America tallied by far the most ADHD diagnoses, and the United States consumed 90 percent of all Ritalin, one of the most common ADHD drugs. ADHD diagnoses continue to grow in the U.S., but Americans account for only 75 percent of Ritalin users today.

Conrad and Bergey attribute ADHD's growth to five trends. Drug companies are effective lobbyists, and have spurred some countries to relax marketing restrictions on stimulants. Psychoanalytic treatment with talk therapy is giving way to biological psychiatry -- treating psychological problems with drugs. More European and South American psychologists and psychiatrists are adopting the American-based Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) standards, which are broader and have a lower threshold for diagnosing ADHD. Vocal ADHD advocacy groups work closely with drug companies to promote pharmaceutical treatment. Lastly, the easy availability of ADHD information and self-diagnosis via the Internet empowers consumers to ask for prescription treatment.

Many websites promoting ADHD drugs offer checklists with questions like these:

View Non AMP Site | Back to top ↑