Attention deficit disorder, reality or fiction?
Introduction
ADHD with or without hyperactivity is perhaps one of the most controversial disorders of our time. Possibly, the heterogeneity of the syndrome suggests that it can be a tailor drawer in which to include problematic children. Nor does the lack of a unique criterion by the scientific community help to establish a clear diagnosis. The current medication does not guarantee patient healing, since the origin or causes of the disorder are not clear.
Developing
The treatment, derived from methamphetamines or so -called stimulating medicines such as ritalin, end up being a patch to treat symptoms. Is there therefore a reality or a fiction? Historical evolution of attention deficit disorder: from reality to the myth background of ADHD to seek the origins of the study of the disease we must go back to the first half of the twentieth century. At that time various members of the scientific community made an attempt to describe and classify the disease.
They encompassed those children who had difficulty concentrating, restlessness, irritability and impulsivity. They called it minimal cerebral dysfunction or post-insuffalic syndrome, without ever suffering from encephalitis. First appearance of ADHD in DSMEN 1968 The term Attention deficit disorder appears in the Statistical Diagnostic Manual (DSM) as a hypercinetic reaction of childhood. The disorder was included thanks to Leon Eisenberg, an American doctor specialized in child psychiatry and adolescents. Convinced the scientific community and the world that there was a genetic origin for the described symptoms.
Years later, in 2009, he would deny this statement in an interview for the German weekly Des Spiegel. He pointed to an over -dimensioned diagnosis of the disease given the high number of cases detected. Changes in the disorder already in the 80s the term appears in the DSMII as attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity. It will not be until the mid-90s when they are classified in the three current subtypes: combined, inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive for almost a century of evolution, the ADHD concept has undergone multiple changes and not always in the same direction.
Hyperactivity symptom has not always been linked to attention deficit disorder. This makes the ADHD exactly that, a concept, which encompasses different infant psychiatric diseases, adolescents and adults who require the researcher’s expertise for their correct diagnosis. Scientific evidence of the existence of the UDAHEL Professor Marino Pérez Álvarez is a specialist in psychopathology and intervention techniques at the University of Oviedo and co -author of returning to normality: the invention of ADHD and child bipolar disorder. In a more than interesting book plagued by scientific references and evidence. One of those evidence is the absence of a brain biomarker that demonstrates the existence of the disorder. The author shows what Eisenberg himself, inventor of ADHD, acknowledged in that interview shortly before he died.
The current problem with the pathologization and hyperdiagnosis of children’s behaviors. According to his book, the set of symptoms collected by ADHD responds more to a behavior problem than to a clinical picture. In addition, Mariano Pérez does not remain important to the fact that pharmaceutical companies have created a very lucrative business around the needs of affected families.
Only in 2017, the main drug drug trafficking for ADHD estimated a turnover around 1.200 million dollars then, is ADHD a reality? It is impossible to answer this question. I think that as parents we should at least question their existence given their high incidence among the child population.
conclusion
Currently in Spain it is estimated that 5 out of 100 children suffer from it and this data is increasing. The Spanish Federation of Assistance Associations for Care and Hyperactivity Deficit, Feaadah, argues that it is a neurological disorder. Caused by the imbalance of two neurotransmitters: norepinephrine and dopamine. Both would directly affect the areas of the brain responsible for self-control and inhibition of inappropriate behavior.
Perhaps the scientific community needs more time to prove that it is a reality and not a fiction. Maybe it’s bad times for patience. Our life rhythms are stressful and the difficulties in reconciling work and personal life. All this causes that the time we can dedicate to our children is getting less and less. But do not hesitate to go to a good professional if you suspect that your child can have some kind of problem.
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