A Disease Called Childhood: Why ADHD Became an American Epidemic Big SALE

Title : A Disease Called Childhood: Why ADHD Became an American Epidemic
Category: Attention Deficit & Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders
Brand: Avery
Item Page Download URL : Download in PDF File
Rating : 4.0
Buyer Review : 12

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A surprising new look at the rise of ADHD in America, arguing for a better paradigm for diagnosing and treating our children
 
In 1987, only 3 percent of American children were diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, also known as ADHD. By 2000, that number jumped to 7 percent, and in 2014 the number rose to an alarming 11 percent. To combat the disorder, two thirds of these children, some as young as three years old, are prescribed powerful stimulant drugs like Ritalin and Adderall to help them cope with symptoms. Meanwhile, ADHD rates have remained relatively low in other countries such as France, Finland, and the United Kingdom, and Japan, where the number of children diagnosed with and medicated for ADHD is a measly 1 percent or less. 

Alarmed by this trend, family therapist Marilyn Wedge set out to understand how ADHD became an American epidemic. If ADHD were a true biological disorder of the brain, why was the rate of diagnosis so much higher in America than it was abroad? Was a child's inattention or hyperactivity indicative of a genetic defect, or was it merely the expression of normal behavior or a reaction to stress? Most important, were there alternative treatments that could help children thrive without resorting to powerful prescription drugs? In an effort to answer these questions, Wedge published an article in Psychology Today entitled "Why French Kids Don't Have ADHD" in which she argued that different approaches to therapy, parenting, diet, and education may explain why rates of ADHD are so much lower in other countries.

In A Disease Called Childhood, Wedge examines how myriad factors have come together, resulting in a generation addictied to stimulant drugs, and a medical system that encourages diagnosis instead of seeking other solutions. Writing with empathy and dogged determination to help parents and children struggling with an ADHD diagnosis, Wedge draws on her decades of experience, as well as up-to-date research, to offer a new perspective on ADHD. Instead of focusing only on treating symptoms, she looks at the various potential causes of hyperactivity and inattention in children and examines behavioral and environmental, as opposed to strictly biological, treatments that have been proven to help. In the process, Wedge offers parents, teachers, doctors, and therapists a new paradigm for child mental health--and a better, happier, and less medicated future for American children

Review :
A MUST-READ FOR ANY PARENT OR EDUCATOR

I am a Learning Specialist at a New England Prep School -- Vermont Academy. I am also a Freestyle Skiing coach. I have been working with high-energy "attention deficient" teens for 13 years. Doctor Wedge's book "A Disease Called Childhood" validates all of my beliefs and gut instincts about our society's lack of patience with the natural maturing process of adolescents -- particularly males, the overprescription and dangers of amphetamine meds, and the precarious nature and overuse of the ADHD diagnosis in the first place.

Her book is a compelling and refreshing read with strong credibility.

Dr. Wedge and her book is an important voice that needs to be amplified through more readers asking more questions.

Aptly titled book!

A must-read for any parent with a child displaying so-called ADHD symptoms. Dr. Wedge cogently argues that these symptoms are not caused by a biological disorder (except in the case of brain damage) but are a child's response to stress in his/her life from such events as divorce or illness of a parent. As such, the child is best served by therapy addressing the stress and not by medication. This book is aptly titled and highly readable.

An excellent history of psychiatry's shift to a biological/medical focus...and the astounding effects of this change
Many of the negative reviewers are disagreeing with Dr. Wedge's statements in the book, but are not even discussing the facts she presents. Her discussion of American psychiatry's move from a psychoanalytic model of diagnosis and treatment to a biological model was enlightening. I am a pediatric occupational therapist and have worked with children diagnosed with ADHD for 15 years. I strongly believe that the environment in most American schools requires behavioral expectations for children that are developmentally inappropriate. (For example, children in preschool being expected to sit for 30 minutes for a circle time in class, or being expected to write their name before kindergarten, or kindergarteners being expected to write sentences...NONE of this is age-appropriate.) Wedge's book should be read for the information it gives into the history of why ADHD is being over-diagnosed at such alarming rates. We need to consider our cultural biases in America and truly look at making...