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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The HOOPS some of you are jumping through to try and justify diagnosing people who have been objectively successful, not just academically but socially as well, with ADHD is wild.

If you have made it to high school with good grades, participation in extra-curriculars, friends, and a reasonably happy home life, without an ADHD diagnosis, YOU DO NOT HAVE ADHD. The diagnosis requires significant impairment. The person I just described does not have significant impairment.

That doesn't mean this person has no problems. They might have all kinds of issues. In fact it would be common for someone like this to have issues related to anxiety, perfectionism, fear of failure, etc. Especially in 2025 where expectations are so sky high for kids, especially UMC and wealthy kids with high achieving parents. If the person I just described is struggling with their mental healthy, I strongly support giving them mental healthcare. I would also suggest that their family and their school consider if the expectations place on these kids are not reasonable and need to be adjusted, if we need to make more room for kids to fail safely in adolescence so that the fear of rUiNiNg tHeIr LiVes with a B+ or a less then stellar standardized test score doesn't loom over their heads like a guillotine. But that's not ADHD.

Instead, we're giving these kids ADHD diagnoses, medicating them, giving them special accommodations, and convincing them that they have special neurodivergence that explains their mental health issues (which are actually caused by a lifestyle that has been imposed on them by a hyper-competitive culture and their own parents). This is a recipe for disaster folks. It's not merely that it's unfair to other students or results in over diagnosis of a real neurological issue, it's that it's doubling down on the very thing that is causing these kids to struggle in the first place. The "noise" in these kids heads that the ADHD meds silence? It's stress, folks.

But of course, if you just get an ADHD diagnosis and some meds, your kid can push through and nab that Ivy acceptance, that med school acceptance, that super elite internship, that scholarship. I'm sure the next brass ring will solve everything right? Downshifting expectations and telling kids to simply DO LESS isn't an option. That would be admitting defeat, and everyone knows you've got to compete, compete, compete. So you've got ADHD, and you've got ADHD, and you've got ADHD!! Everyone's got ADHD!! No one ask any questions! It's FINE!!!!!!![/quote]

It’s WILD that almost HALF the students at a TOP COLLEGE have a neurological disorder. [/quote]

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