The Economist: Youthful Folly

Published July 11, 2015 “Perhaps oddly, ADHD is much more common in some parts of America than in others. The rate of diagnosis in North Carolina, for example, is two-and-a-half times higher than it is in California. One possible explanation, put forward by Stephen Hinshaw and Richard Scheffler in their book, “The ADHD Explosion”, is […]

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Oakland Tribune: Letter to the Editor

“Professors Richard Scheffler and Stephen Hinshaw of UC Berkeley reveal that educational policies are most directly correlated with the dramatic rise in ADHD diagnoses. When states began passing educational accountability policies in schools in the 1990s, such as No Child Left Behind, schools were incentivized to boost test scores and achievements. It comes as no surprise that through the late 1990s those same states saw huge rises in ADHD diagnoses.”

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Health, Economics, Policy and Law: Book Review

“Most mental health problems are formally identified according to an assessment of clinical symptoms, rather than by taking blood tests, scans, etc. As such, particular care in arriving at a diagnosis is required if these or similar symptoms can to some extent occur in the general population. Such symptoms may of course be influenced by societal factors, which would be less likely with physical health problems and it is probably safe to say that we have now reached a consensus that genes, personal circumstances and the environment each play a part in the manifestation of most psychiatric disorders. Stephen Hinshaw and Richard Scheffler in The ADHD Explosion focus on the contentious issues surrounding this particular condition, particularly those to do with recognition and treatment.”

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An Authoritative Look at ADHD

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is among our most controversial disorders. Is it really a disorder or a function of schools’ inadequate response to active kids’ needs? Is the increase in prescribing stimulant drugs for ADHD mainly because it’s helpful or because drug companies are pushing it?

Stephen Hinshaw is an authoritative voice on ADHD. He’s Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, Vice-Chair of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco and co-author with Richard Scheffler of The ADHD Explosion: Myths, Medication, Money, and Today’s Push for Performance.

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Dr. Diller Mentions Two New Books

The ADHD Explosion: Myths, Medication, Money and Today’s Push for Performance by Stephen Hinshaw and Richard Scheffler (Oxford, New York, 2014) is the most recent best survey of the ADHD/medication “scene” to be published recently. The authors truly see ADHD as a neurological isse but defined with different contexts as problems. They bring full circle back to the academic mainstream thinking of ADHD as a biopsychosocial disorder (something I stated quite clearly sixteen years ago in Running on Ritalin). It would have been nice to received a little bit of credit but that takes nothing away from the importance of this book as an up to date exploration of the ADHD phenomenon in America today.

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Strategies for Living interview on “The ADHD Explosion”

Are we at war with ADHD? David McMillian talks with co-author Richard Scheffler about his book “The ADHD Explosion – Myths, Medication, Money and Today’s Push for Performance.” Together they explore how the recents changes in the health care sector and the push for excellence in standardized tests resulted in a rise of ADHD diagnosis in […]

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