I am a person who has had legit adhd all of my life and have taken pretty much every drug for it out there, heck I was in some of the clinical trials for some of them going back over 40 years.  But I agree that it should only be given to kids after adhd has been diagnosed by a actual specialist who deals with such things and not the family doctor who got a note about it from the school counselor or teacher.  Also I would wait until the child is at least 12 or 13 unless the issues are severe like bad behavior/disrupting class time.  I can say this, I would had a different path in life if my parents didn’t get me diagnosed early on in life.  I could not focus, sit still or behave in group settings.  I got bad grades, was constantly meeting with the vice principal and principal about my attitude and conduct to the point that the school district was going to give up on me by either expelling me or sending me to the district “reform” school (that’s what it was actually called).  My school got a new much younger counselor who replaced the person who was like a million years old who felt a strong hand and a belt were the way to deal with unruly children.  This guy had just graduated from Columbia in NYC (I grew up in Westchester right outside of the city) and he took classes from a guy named Dr. Greenhill who was doing tons of studies in to childhood behavioral disorders, and this guy was probably one of the leading researchers in his field.  So my parents meet with him then take me to see him, and on the spot he knew I had adhd but to be thorough I went through weeks of testing at the university as a inpatient, after which he put me on some sylert, then meliril and finally rittilin and it was like I was a totally new kid.  I could focus, think clearly and most of all to my teachers and parents delight behave.  My grades went from Ds and Fs to Bs and mostly in a span of a semester.

So yes adhd exists and I’m one of the people that have it, but I have know parents and teachers that their first instinct or step father is to dope up the kids just to make them compliant and keep them quiet and not really getting to the root issue of why the kids is such a mess and most of the time the kid is either really young and hasn’t been disciplined in the right way when acting out due to bad parenting or weak parents or the school doesn’t care enough to talk to the parents about it and just send the kid to the administrators office for them to deal with until really bad stuff happens.  But ultimately it is on the parents to get the kid help and actually be a part of their school life and personal life.  I would either be dead or in prison if I hadn’t been diagnosed and properly treated as a kid that I can assure you of since I had really bad impulse control and could not follow rules.

ADHD is like birds. It's not real.

I’d agree with most of this, people who adhd are wired different and tend to be very smart and if not properly treated or adapted to it’s like herding cats.

Same

Generally speaking, ADHD is often accommodated thru a 504 plan, which is based on an antidiscrimination law or an IEP, which is based on federal special education law.  The severity of the student's needs determines which route is taken and a 504 is just accommodations (which might include extended time for tests and/or a non-distracting setting for tests), while an IEP provides special education services.  Your son's counselor can probably get you started in looking into those two possibilities.  

At the college level, students can still get accommodations, most often extended time and/or non-distracting setting for tests, but you have to provide documentation supporting the disability and specifying the educational needs.  For students who were in special education, their senior year IEP is often enough, but for students who were not in special education, testing and diagnosis is required, at the student's families' expense.

In my son's gifted program we see a TON of this.  The kids who are "ADHD" all have ridiculous diets with no oversight by the parents.   Sugary drinks and tons of HFCS foods.  They all act the same, they all come from similar backgrounds and the parents seem to be less interested in the overall "parenting" of the children.   The father figure is either absent or involved heavily in video games from anecdotes.  The mothers are unable to regulate behavior in a strong woman manner, and just want a pharmaceutical fix.  The doctors are usually very similar as well.

Way over prescribed. Giving amphetamines to kids is not good for them.

Real? Yes.
Over diagnosed? Definitely.

Yes it's real.

So is ADD, which I have.
I was never diagnosed because my mother believes like OP and apparently a lot of people in this thread, and I didn't figure out that's what I have until my 30s so I've already dealt with it my whole life.
I have seen people who use prescription meds and obtain noticeable improvement. I've also seen some of those meds abused, because basically they're like prescription methamphetamines. The difference is, when administered to someone with ADHD they have the opposite effect from what they do to normal people.

If I'm sitting perfectly still and awake my mind just races all the time, thinking about random stuff, but at least I don't have the Hyperactivity (since I can sit perfectly still, and have always been able to do that). I would get really bored when hunting as a kid, with my grandfather, but I did learn to sit still and also be very sneaky moving through the woods.

I've had a fairly successful career despite all that, so I guess I'll just keep rolling, but one guy on here said that when he first started taking his Rx medication, he felt like the protagonist in that Limitless movie with the brain-enhancing fictional pill, so that does make me consider talking to a doctor about it.

Weird we didn’t have that growing up.  What has changed since the 70s?

definitely real, but also horribly over-diagnosed

Putting young boys in uncomfortable, unpadded chairs indoors for hours at a time 5 days a week for most of their young lives and expecting them to sit quietly is insane

This is the correct answer.   People that cant remain focused on a task generally dont find the task interesting, or it isnt personal enough.  Does the medication help, sure.  It would help everyone to take it for focus.  Doesnt change the fact the task is mind numbingly boring to the person involved.

Oh you had it. You just didn't have a name for it.

My dad is 78. He has it, terribly, and has had it at least as long as I've been alive and old enough to observe him, and I believe he's had it all his life. Was DX'ed maybe 20 years ago, back when it was still ignored by most, so he refused to be treated for it - and still refuses even though treatment has evolved radically.

I think this might be helpful, though I have no way of knowing if the proportions are correct:

Yes, and I think many, if not most, males have it to some degree. I have to work hard to focus on task and struggle a bit to avoid distractions. "Normal" or "normal with ADD"?

Define real.  I have long believed that we all are part of a spectrum - and that ADHD is an evolutionary   SQUIRREL!

Self-awareness is the key to "dealing with it". I've never felt the urge to off myself over an ADD issue, but depression is a bitch.

Yes, not only is it real but it has a strong genetic component.

It's definitely real.

As someone that's over 35 years old I have.....You guys seen that new KAC rifle?

When I was young they called it being spastic even at a time when kids were outside running around a lot. I think most if not all grew out of it eventually.

About the same as autism. Yes it exists but no way in hell it's as common as reported or claimed. It's an excuse used to explain shitty parenting, failed schools and a slew of other issues and to insure everyone get a trophy and the are no winners and certainly no losers.

I wonder if he's trying to pull an Andrew Tate. Remember when Tate said depression wasn't real? He knows depression is real, but the truth is clinical depression is relatively rare, and most people who are "depressed" are not- they just are not happy. They have unrealistic expectations, they need lifestyle changes, etc.

Likewise, ADHD is real, but not as common as some would have you believe. Drugs are over-prescribed to treat symptoms instead of addressing root problems. I've seen great kids turned into zombies with ADHD drugs.

I was diagnosed with ADHD as a kid, but my parents opted to avoid the Ritalin. Like so many others have said; diet, exercise, and discipline go a long way. And sometimes, as an adult, lots of caffeine.

I'm not going to read the whole thread (well, maybe I'll get thru it, but not right away), but for who actually have it, it's absolutely real and a challenge to deal with.

I was only officially diagnosed this year (at 40). I had always suspected/assumed I was, but had been able to handle it, but a promotion to lead engineer (so more PowerPoint writing and meetings as opposed to lab work) and a second kid (less time to unwind, exercise, do what I needed to) led to finally reaching out for help.

The way I describe it is kinda like a computer on the Internet. Remember the early days, with pop up ads which would clutter your screen and slow down your computer? What's what it's like without medication (for me, Adderall). I know what I'm trying to do, but everything jumps up in the forefront of my mind and I can't do what I need to do. Adderall is like an ad/popup blocker. It keeps all the other stuff down so I can do what I need to.

Now, I can sit down and write a report or so things that I don't "want" to do, but need to. It doesn't make me work any faster; I already do things fast. It didn't dull me either, that was my biggest worry because being in R&D being creative is a big part of my job and that's the stereotype of an over medicated kid. I'm on the lowest dose, and it still works; I actually took a week off during vacation and I think it helped to reset my tolerance.

if i didn't have the raging case of adhd that i do, i would not be able to do what i do for my career

@YXZ1000R

What is it that you do?

I get pulled in many different directions at work, whether it's fixing computers, or firearms, or training people to use software/firearms, or doing SWAT raids, or speaking to elementary school kids about safety.
Sometimes I think if I didn't have ADD, this job would give me ADHD or ADD lol.

Thank you. I have made a appt with the counselor and see what I can get going.

lol Another GD thread full of "I don't have it, or know anyone who does, so it must be made up." mindsets.

I have it officially and have lived with all the standard symptoms my entire life but am not convinced it's an actual medical condition that requires medical  treatment.

Turns out having an interesting and challenging job and lifestyle where I am able to manage my own time and priorities allows me to focus and get things done just fine without needing any medication.

I have struggled with it my entire life, so I absolutely believe that it is real.  I also believe that drugs aren't the answer, especially with children.  

I think I had it as a kid.  Teachers and parents beat it out of me.

This.

You continue to display an astounding lack of knowledge on the topic. I served in the military for 9 years, with 5 of those years as an NCO. Shocker. My "non existent" issues didn't go the fuck away. But please go on and continue to tell me how my brain works and how a large segment of society is making shit up because of bad parenting.

"It's just an excuse because teachers and parents these days just don't want to deal with active boys!"

Me, with 2 daughters who have it:

If most males have it, is it really a disorder that needs treatment?

If you struggled to perform basic tasks and needed to do those tasks well in order to make a living at what would otherwise be a do-able job for you, would you take the medication?

Again, I think it's over-DX'd and overprescribed. But it's real, and, yeah, medication seems to help.

Yes it is

I witnessed it on a 10 year old boy and was amazed at it.

They dont give him drugs for it and he manages it just fine.

You just have to understand it but I was in aw when I watched it happen in front of me with him

You very likely did have in schools back then, but it was classified as the kid is dumb, or just one of those that didn't do well in school, or ended up in juvie/prison.  

It's a set of executive-functioning disorders.  Some have hyperactivity as a symptom, some don't.  Medicine can help some of the disorders, but what helps most are various cognitive training strategies and behavior modifications.  Which medicine can make easier to adopt and get to stick.

I too, despite the above, think it's likely over-diagnosed, and the prevalence of smart devices does not help.  (Unless you also use the device to run your timers, schedules, and lists, like I do.)  I'm also realy, really reticent to give brain-altering drugs to still-developing children.

I didn't get diagnosed until middle age.  It sucked.  I had many issues growing up and living as a functional adult before the diagnosis and adopting the treatment modalities that help me achieve my current career and personal success.  I would have preferred to have been treated earlier, even if I think I shouldn't have received medication at that early age.

Can't change the past.

He's FOS. Yes there is an inconsistency with diagnosis but true ADHD can be seen in imaging of the neurological responses of the brain.

It's definitely real, and definitely way overdiagnosed.  (Or it could all be horseshit, because nobody has ever had the perspective of living in someone else's head, and we could all be using different words to describe the same human struggle.)

Personally, I exhibit a lot of the criteria, but fortunately I was never diagnosed and medicated (I say it's fortunate because I didn't have to wage an uphill battle with the FAA to be certified medically fit to fly.)  As a child, I think my parents were so consumed with my brother's aspergers* outbursts and meltdowns (*also way overdiagnosed) that I slipped through the cracks, and I always preferred to lock myself in my bedroom and focus on my own edification instead of participate in the household insanity.  Been a lifelong autodidact and polymath, perpetually starting ambitious projects and stalling out at ~75% and diving headlong into the next fascinating thing, ravenous curiosity but terrible at finishing books.  Reading is difficult, my eyes keep moving down the page but my mind is elsewhere.  I was always an average/below-average student but excelled greatly in the few areas that interested me.

I have finally starting to get a handle on the ADHD tendencies during my mid/late 30s, mostly by self-medicating with a biblical amount of caffeine and by consciously blocking out almost everything but my immediate sphere of influence.  I have to force myself to be a hermit - no wifi in the shop, locked door policy to minimize distractions, phone always on silent mode, tiny social circle, serious reduction in social media usage, largely act like an ostrich with my head in the sand with regards to current events and world news.  It can feel like a super power if you find strategies to harness it, but you have to accept being a weirdo.  It can be sort of a lonely existence because so many other people with ADHD tendencies are just a hot mess and never manage to channel their horsepower to the ground and become high-functioning, and most other people aren't thinking along these lines at all.

"I love him!  I love him for the man he almost is, and I love him for the man he wants to be."

from "Jerry Maguire"

So yeah, all men need treatment.

Lol.

Go work in elementary SPED.

Do some people over diagnose/over medicate? Yep.

Do some people ignore it and make excuses for their child that causes chaos? Yep.

I’m ADHD, never medicated. I’ve learned to cope with it. It makes remote work (current job) very challenging at times but at the end of the day, I don’t want meds. Obviously mine isn’t extreme. Some people don’t get the choice if they want to live/work in a structured world.

I took steroids for allergies.

My thinking was very clear.  I noticed that things were out of order or in disarray. I fixed them. My office was organized and looked good.

I completely could see the mess and fixing it was natural. Listened to people talk without distraction.

Went off and the mess came back. Would pay $1000/ month without hesitation to get back there safely.

@intercooler

Do you have references to support your caffeine and sugar assertions? Is it really that simple for all people?

I was diagnosed as an adult and it is real for me.  It has been like being in a room full of TV's volume up full blast all my life and impossible to focus on the one in front of me.  Grew up thinking I was stupid and it was very hard.  Got diagnosed and take some meds and it has been a new life.  Still struggle with some things but it is tolerable.  My son got it from me and has had it even rougher.  Breaks my heart.

pat

A friend of mine said that he probably would have had ADD if his parents wouldn't have beat it out of him.
It's lack of impulse control. I call it AKDD. Ass Kicking Deficit Disorder.

I am far more familiar with IEP's than I am with 504 plans, but 504 plans are easier to qualify for.  

An IEP requires three criteria:
1)  Student has a disability
2) The disability adversely impacts their education.  This is not limited to academic achievement scores.  A student can have high academic skills but not be performing in the classroom/curriculum.  Some schools will use high achievement skills to deny a student needs an IEP, even if the student is floundering in class.  Also, some schools strongly prefer to go the 504 route over an IEP, although I don't believe this is legally defensible.  Special education is based on specific disabilities as laid out in special education law and the disability that ADHD falls under is "Other Health Impairment".  
3)  The adverse impact has to be significant enough to require an IEP for the student to fully access the general education curriculum.  

Special education law, which believe it or not, is informed by the current state of research in the field, recognizes ADHD under the category "Other Health Impairment", which by definition, is a medical condition that adversely impacts educational performance.

Valid point but it's based on a completely false premise.  Most males do not have ADHD.