When I was kid, I knew I had fought battles many people don't have to fight. I had to fight to learn normal things like reading, writing and 'rithmatic. I had the toughest battles when it came to concentrating on anything, especially in social situations. And in many ways today I still fight those battles. Where does it all come form? ADHD.
Otherwise known as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, ADHD is "a chronic condition…[that] continues into adulthood [and] includes a combination of persistent problems such as difficulty sustaining attention, hyperactivity and impulsive behavior," according the Mayo Clinic's definition. Now, a blogger from "The Health Consciousness," an alternative health advice website seems to think that, "ADHD is a FAKE Disease Invented By Big Pharma to Drug Children for Profit."
The author of the opinion-only blog article, who goes by the name "vinita," "proves" his/her point by citing an article from another opinion-only website, The Daily Bell. In the that article, "Proof the ADHD is a Fake Disease," Joe Jarvis asserts that ADHD is not a disease but a misunderstanding that boys and girls need to run around. In addition, "vinita" insists that "natural methods" like increasing a person's omega-3 fatty acids make the dangerous Big Pharma medications unnecessary.
Being an adult with ADHD, I have numerous problems with this blogger's assertions.
The notion that ADHD was invented by big drug companies is patently false. According to the National Institutes of Health, the first cases of what we now call ADHD started being identified at the end of the eighteenth century by a Scottish doctor, Sir Alexander Crichton, noted in his work (somewhat archaically titled), "An inquiry into the nature and origin of mental derangement." The first real research of ADHD began under the direction of Sir Frederick Still, which he (regrettably) called a "defect of moral control."
Only by the late 1930's did medications start production en masse, culminating in the 1950's with the famous Ritalin. By the 1970's, other, mercifully more effective, medications began to hit the market. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the NIH and an exhaustive study by Health Affairs, ADHD medication adoption, usage and sales have remained nearly EQUAL to the number of verified ADHD cases, despite the widespread adoption of other methods such as behavior therapy. Oh, by the way, ADHD drugs make up only 2.7 percent of the total medication revenue in 2017.
"Vinita" and Jarvis completely skip the fact that ADHD continues into adulthood. They don't mention, as WebMD does, that at least four to five percent of adults get diagnosed with ADHD and presume the actual percentage is higher. Not to mention the consequences are severe. Adults are more likely to drop out of college, feel extremely unsuccessful at work, have increased anxiety and get divorced more often.
ADHD is also NOT a disease. As is part of it's name, it's a disorder. Diseases are a result of injuries. Last I checked, I am not injured. My brain never experienced physical trauma. My life, however, is still a daily struggle of learning and relearning "normal" things. I still struggle to pay attention, especially at work. I'm impulsive to a hilt! I put an immense amount of mental energy into restraining what I do and say, occasionally without success. I find myself constantly forgetting some activities that should be routine. On top of it all, my mind is always abuzz. I always think up ideas and, if the muse is with me, I actually write them down.
So did the big pharmaceutical companies make up ADHD? No. Have they used ADHD to make massive amounts of money? Yes. But the same can be said for any business.
ADHD makes my life a constant battle. Every day that I keep to my routines and finish a story (like this one) and surpass my anxiety and keep a smile on my face, I win the battle over a disorder that isn't fake, that isn't a disease but is a part of who I am.
