"ADHD is not an illness"

"ADHD is not an illness", says Dr. Laura Batstra, researcher at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands.  She quit her job as a treating psychologist at an institution for child and youth psychiatry when she found that more and more schoolkids were referred for diagnoses of ADHD.

Schools in Holland too test kids yearly on their progress. If students do not show growth, a reason will/must be found why, and often the verdict is ADHD even though the child's behavior is normal.

In a dutch tv show I watched on the subject of labeling of school children, a child development expert who has studied descriptions of boys' behavior through the ages said that boys have not changed, but society's expectations of them have. They are now forced to sit still in school even though boys especially have an innate drive/need to be active and to work with their hands. Sadly, vocational schools have been phased out in Holland too.

Because of the focus on the importance of test scores, many parents with children who struggle, are eager to have their child tested, in hopes of getting a diagnosis for which there is treatment or a medication so that the child will perform up to expectation. Another advantage of some labels is that kids get extra time do do their tests.

All these labels are listed as disorders in the DSM IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual). This year a new version will be published, the DSM V with in it a new disorder, the so called DMDD: Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder. Dr. Batstra worries that it will further inflate "the diagnostic Bubble", and that a number of kids will be seen as overly temperamental and disruptive. She says that rather than putting high expectations on kids in schools, we should tone those down.

I am all for that. No kid in school should be subjected to stress and worry, the very conditions that can lead to a label!