ADHD Epidemic - Research Paper Example

Latest research shows significance of the disorder in the society and dangers of administered drug for treatment of ADHD. ADHD was discovered in the second half of the twentieth century. Stolzer (2007) explains that by the year 1950, no case of the disorder had been reported in the United States. This however changed and changed and 2000 cases had been reported in the nation two decades later. The timeline therefore defines between the year 1950 and the year 1970 as the period within which the disorder was discovered.

ADHD is a psychiatric disorder and not a biological complication as some may argue. Its history is the first to justify this. Some of the behavioral traits of those diagnosed with the problem were previously considered normal and only a change in classification of these traits has occurred. ADHD was also classified as a psychiatric disorder and according to Stolzer, it is a mythical disease and not a real disease. Behaviors that are currently used to diagnose ADHD are also historical behaviors that have in the past been considered normal.

There has also been a disproportionate statistics of the complication in America and this undermines reality of the complication as a disease. Methylphenidate is the most commonly used drug for management of ADHD symptoms but its high usage in the United States, compared to usage in other parts of the world raises concerns on reality of ADHD in the nation. At least 80 percent of produced methylphenidate, worldwide, is consumed in the United States for management of the complication but prevalence of ADHD in the nation, relative to the global incidence cannot be proportionate to the drug usage.

In addition, incidence of ADHD has not been consistence across time, animal species, and even nations and this suggest its mythical existence in the United States. The media and pharmaceutical companies could be credited for