A.D.D. Hoax

Here is an article I found on a website called The Natural Child:

"The Great A.D.D. Hoax
by David Keirsey

The reason I speak of a hoax in the case of "attention deficit disorder" is that there is no such "mental disorder" to "diagnose" and "treat." And the reason I speak of a great hoax is that the less competent medical practitioners use this phony "diagnosis" as a warrant to "treat" millions of school children (over 5,000,000) per year by intoxicating them with brain-disabling narcotics. And make no mistake about the power of Ritalin to disable and eventually shrink the brain. It differs little in its destructive effects from cocaine and the amphetamines, and is fast becoming the drug of choice among addicts in high schools and colleges. Children in middle schools and high schools who are required to take Ritalin daily at school are now selling their pills to their friends who want to get a quick fix. Of late the victims of pill pushers are fast becoming pill pushers themselves!

Attention is a form of consciousness... and not something that can be observed.

Medical practitioners have chosen the word "attention" as the key to one of 400 or so "mental disorders" they've listed in their "diagnostic manual." They say that some children don't "have" enough attention to succeed in school, and that it is wise to try to increase their attention with stimulant drugs. They say these children can't pay attention even if they try to....." For the full article: http://www.naturalchild.com/guest/david_keirsey.html