Doctors and parents have recently been in controversy regarding whether ADHD is being over-diagnosed and leading to their children being overmedicated? I am very interested in how the diagnosis process works with young children. ADHD is a disorder that has been seen in my family. I have seen the challenges that it can cause but also seen the change in a child's demeanor when on medication. I have experience as a babysitter and also as a camp counselor. In both of these I get to see first hand how medicine affects the way a child acts and also how they are when they forgot or choose not to be on medication. This subject does not particularly affect my beliefs or my values, however it is something that may directly affect other people's beliefs. For example, many people do not believe in using drugs and choose to use holistic or natural approaches to treat illnesses. These approaches are somewhat popular in treating ADHD and some people choose to use them for young children who cant always accurately be diagnosed or don't need to be bombarded with heavy medications. I take an interest in the alternatives people can choose to use on their children. I believe that if they are not certain that their child may have ADHD because of the fact that doctors are so quick to diagnose it without all the facts, they should take the time to try less invasive ways to treat the condition without running straight to hard drugs. 


ADHD is overdiagnosed and medicines are over prescribed. The context of the child's environment should be evaluated with the diagnosis. Doctors are rushing to prescribe medication and not taking the time to individualize the children. Demands of children have changed and what may be ADHD in one child or in children back in the day is not consistent with todays standards of ADHD. It has become almost as big of an issue and as frequently diagnosed as childhood obesity. A different approach should be used to diagnosis the "persistent problem".  ((MAJOR VALUES AND INTERESTS)) Sandford Newmark is a medical director of a medical clinic in california. In this profession you get a lot of experience working with children and see a lot of ADHD diagnosis within the practice. With seeing the frequency of this diagnosis, he wondered if this was truly what the children were suffering. His credentials give him a background and platform to express his concern as well as reason to question the authenticity of ADHD.


This is an informative article geared towards parents regarding the choice to medicate or not to medicate their children after they are given a diagnosis of ADHD. The article shows both sides with pros and cons of medication and holistic or behavioral interventions. Some parents and doctors believe that the process is trial and error. Also that some medications have side effects that outweigh the benefits of the drugs. Others think that without the medication their children are suffering from self esteem issues and their grades are plummeting. Even with at home treatment and parent counseling it is not enough to control the disorder. ((MAJOR VALUES AND INTERESTS)). This article was informative, however I still felt a slight bias towards being pro-medication while reading it. The author gave all the facts about both perspectives, however had more explanation and support for the cause of medicating children. The author, Kate Ashford, is a freelance writer and mom. She has a great parental standpoint of the controversy and has written for health and women's health magazine giving her a great platform to express her concern as a parent. 


Thomas Inel argues that children are being medicated too frequently with antipsychotic and psychostimulant medications which they may not need. The psychiatrists are far too busy as well as the parents to properly handle the issue, therefore moving straight to the last solution of medicating their children no matter their age. In reality the problem is not the parents, schools, drug companies, or psychiatrists but rather the way they are diagnosing their children. The author believes the diagnosis of ADHD has become too common, so that without proper testing a doctor readily assumes that ADHD is affecting or is the sole factor and goes straight to medication, without trying other alternatives or finding a conclusive diagnosis.  ((MAJOR VALUES AND INTERESTS)). The argumentative genre of this article allows the author to support their claims about the effect that the medications and false diagnosis have on children with lots of facts and graphics. In an informative article the author simply gave facts, while here the bias adds to the piece.  

The question of whether or not ADHD is overdiagnosed is arguable because some believe that doctors aren't doing well in the patient care form and taking the time to properly diagnose and others believe that ADHD has actually increased in frequency over time due to some generational factors. Both of my argumentative sources believe that the problem may lie within diagnosis, therefore leading to an overmedication in young children. The varying perspectives make me think about the broader aspects of the problem. That the singular problem isn't just that children should/should not be medicated for ADHD but rather the reasons the parents are choosing to medicate their children and that doctors are not doing their jobs in depth or giving parents all the information they need. 

 
