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A disease called childhood : why ADHD became an American epidemic / Marilyn Wedge, PhD.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : AVERY, a member of Penguin Group (USA), [2015]Description: xxii, 250 pages ; 22 cmISBN:
  • 9781101639634
  • 9781101982884
  • 1101639636
  • 1583335633
  • 9781583335635
  • 1101982888
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 618.92/8589 23
LOC classification:
  • RJ506.H9 W432 2015
Contents:
Introduction: a season in childhood -- An American epidemic -- What is ADHD? -- A tale of many cultures -- How did we get here? -- How a diagnosis became an epidemic -- Big pharma and biological psychiatry -- The message in the media -- Saving our children -- Why American schools have to change -- Let food be thy medicine -- Tweens, teens, and screens -- Time-tested tactics for good parenting -- Protecting children in the age of adderall.
Summary: In 1987, only 3 percent of American children were diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, also known as ADHD. By 2000, that number jumped to 7 percent, and in 2014 the number rose to an alarming 11 percent. To combat the disorder, two thirds of these children, some as young as three years old, are prescribed powerful stimulant drugs like Ritalin and Adderall to help them cope with symptoms. Meanwhile, ADHD rates have remained relatively low in other countries such as France, Finland, and the United Kingdom, and Japan, where the number of children diagnosed with and medicated for ADHD is a measly 1 percent or less. Alarmed by this trend, family therapist Marilyn Wedge set out to understand how ADHD became an American epidemic. If ADHD were a true biological disorder of the brain, why was the rate of diagnosis so much higher in America than it was abroad? Was a child's inattention or hyperactivity indicative of a genetic defect, or was it merely the expression of normal behavior or a reaction to stress? Most important, were there alternative treatments that could help children thrive without resorting to powerful prescription drugs? In an effort to answer these questions, Wedge published an article in Psychology Today entitled "Why French Kids Don't Have ADHD" in which she argued that different approaches to therapy, parenting, diet, and education may explain why rates of ADHD are so much lower in other countries. In A Disease Called Childhood, Wedge further examines how myriad factors have come together, resulting in a generation addicted to stimulant drugs, and a medical system that encourages diagnosis instead of seeking other solutions. Writing with empathy and dogged determination to help parents and children struggling with an ADHD diagnosis, Wedge draws on her decades of experience, as well as up-to-date research, to offer a new perspective on ADHD. Instead of focusing only on treating symptoms, she looks at the various potential causes of hyperactivity and inattention in children and examines behavioral and environmental, as opposed to strictly biological, treatments that have been proven to help. In the process, Wedge offers parents, teachers, doctors, and therapists a new paradigm for child mental health -- and a better, happier, and less medicated future for American children.
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Holdings
Item type Current library Home library Shelving location Call number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Book Book Anita & W.T. Neyland Public Library Anita & W.T. Neyland Public Library Nonfiction 618.9285 WED (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 43185000874352
Book Book La Retama Central Library La Retama Central Library Nonfiction 618.928589 WED (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 43185000959872
Book Book Owen R. Hopkins Public Library Owen R. Hopkins Public Library Nonfiction 618.928589 WED (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 43185000545846
Total holds: 0

Includes bibliographical references (pages 237-242) and index.

Introduction: a season in childhood -- An American epidemic -- What is ADHD? -- A tale of many cultures -- How did we get here? -- How a diagnosis became an epidemic -- Big pharma and biological psychiatry -- The message in the media -- Saving our children -- Why American schools have to change -- Let food be thy medicine -- Tweens, teens, and screens -- Time-tested tactics for good parenting -- Protecting children in the age of adderall.

In 1987, only 3 percent of American children were diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, also known as ADHD. By 2000, that number jumped to 7 percent, and in 2014 the number rose to an alarming 11 percent. To combat the disorder, two thirds of these children, some as young as three years old, are prescribed powerful stimulant drugs like Ritalin and Adderall to help them cope with symptoms. Meanwhile, ADHD rates have remained relatively low in other countries such as France, Finland, and the United Kingdom, and Japan, where the number of children diagnosed with and medicated for ADHD is a measly 1 percent or less. Alarmed by this trend, family therapist Marilyn Wedge set out to understand how ADHD became an American epidemic. If ADHD were a true biological disorder of the brain, why was the rate of diagnosis so much higher in America than it was abroad? Was a child's inattention or hyperactivity indicative of a genetic defect, or was it merely the expression of normal behavior or a reaction to stress? Most important, were there alternative treatments that could help children thrive without resorting to powerful prescription drugs? In an effort to answer these questions, Wedge published an article in Psychology Today entitled "Why French Kids Don't Have ADHD" in which she argued that different approaches to therapy, parenting, diet, and education may explain why rates of ADHD are so much lower in other countries. In A Disease Called Childhood, Wedge further examines how myriad factors have come together, resulting in a generation addicted to stimulant drugs, and a medical system that encourages diagnosis instead of seeking other solutions. Writing with empathy and dogged determination to help parents and children struggling with an ADHD diagnosis, Wedge draws on her decades of experience, as well as up-to-date research, to offer a new perspective on ADHD. Instead of focusing only on treating symptoms, she looks at the various potential causes of hyperactivity and inattention in children and examines behavioral and environmental, as opposed to strictly biological, treatments that have been proven to help. In the process, Wedge offers parents, teachers, doctors, and therapists a new paradigm for child mental health -- and a better, happier, and less medicated future for American children.

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