Central Health Clinic

This is undoubtedly the most controversial of all the psychiatric diagnoses with implications that touch on major public health and educational concerns. More than two million schoolchildren in the United States are taking stimulant medication intended to help their concentration and/or to reduce their hyperactivity. For many children, this results in a dramatic improvement in performance, self-esteem, and interpersonal relationships.

Nonetheless, there is a serious disagreement even among the best experts in the field on the optimal threshold for defining Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD or sometimes short­ened to ADD) and how to decide which and how many kids to treat. Many parents, and some experts, believe that the diagnosis of ADHD is being made too liberally and that stimulants are being used indiscriminately as a quick fix for more complex educational, family, or social problems. It is impossible to know with any degree of certainty how many children are being needlessly exposed to the potentially harmful side effects of the stim­ulant medications. It is equally unclear how many kids who would benefit from the medication are not yet receiving it.