For decades, the public’s view of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder has ranged from acceptance to skepticism. Does ADHD explain why Johnny is disruptive in school, or is Johnny just a normally rambunctious little boy? Is it a serious disorder or an excuse for slacking off? Between 15% and 19% of American boys (and growing numbers of girls) will receive a diagnosis of ADHD by high school, and half to three-fourths are treated with medication. Use of stimulant medication is also rising rapidly among adults, who are taking it for adult ADHD or as a “neuroenhancer.”[…]
In “The ADHD Explosion,” […], Stephen P. Hinshaw, a clinical psychologist, and Richard M. Scheffler, a health economist, argue that the disorder is “all too real, producing a terrible inability to focus at just those times when attention is most needed”—in school, at work, in close relationships. Untreated, they maintain, the disorder can lead to many problems, including substance abuse, underemployment, car crashes and prison. In many ways their book overlaps with Dr. Saul’s, but it divides on the central point.
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