The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have done a study that reveals that there has been an increase in the number of children who are being diagnosed with ADHD. There may be some speculation as to the reasons why this is so.
I have noticed an ongoing debate, of sorts, regarding ADHD. There are those who believe that ADHD is something that has been around long before the name of the disorder was attached to it and that people were just unaware of it. Then, there are those who believe that ADHD is something new, and that some factor is causing there to be more cases of it now than in the past. There also are people who believe that ADHD doesn’t really exist at all, and that what we are seeing now are simply children who lack discipline. I cannot think of any other disorder that affects children, (as well as adults), that has had so many questions about whether or not it is real.
The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention found that there are 4.1 million children who are currently diagnosed with ADHD. The children ranged in age from 4 to 17, and the data came from parents who reported that their child had been diagnosed with ADHD. The study took place in 2007. This means that 9.5% of the children in the United States have been diagnosed with ADHD. In 2003, there were one million less children reported as being diagnosed with ADHD than the amount reported in 2007. Clearly, there has been an increase.
Why has there been an increase? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe it is because doctors have become more adept at recognizing the signs of ADHD. They have become more comfortable diagnosing ADHD.
Parents have also become more aware of this disorder, and may be able to spot some of the signs themselves. This has been looked on as both a positive, and as a negative, situation. On the one hand, a parent who is knowledgable about ADHD may be able to pick up the signs that their child could have this disorder while the child is very young. This could lead to the child getting treatment at an earlier age than he or she might otherwise have received it.
On the other hand, since ADHD is a term that is widely recognized now, there is the potential that some parents could insist that their child be treated for the disorder even though the child does not actually have it. It could mean that the child is not correctly diagnosed with something else, due to the parents insistence.
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