Myths, Misconceptions, and Stigma Tied to ADHD: Part 2

The information below, can help you sort the truth from fiction. And if you feel that negative stereotypes about ADHD are affecting your self-esteem or relationships with other people, talk to your doctor about ways to manage these feelings.
   
        Myth

1.  There is no such medical condition as ADHD.   

2. ADHD is caused by bad parenting.                                                                                             

3. ADHD is a life sentence                                          

4. Having ADHD means the person is lazy or dumb.                                                                               

5. The diagnosis of ADHD is confired if certain medicines (psychostimulants) have a positive effect on what seem to be symptoms of ADHD      

6. Medicine for ADHD will make a person seem drugged.                                                                           

7. Medicine prescriptions for ADHD have greatly increased in the past few years because the condition is being overdiagnosed.                          

 8. Psychostimulants are no longer useful after puberty.                                                                             

9. Children with ADHD learn to use the condition as an excuse for their behavior.                                   

10. Children outgrow ADHD.                                      

11. If a child had ADHD, he or she can always be diagnosed in the doctor's office.                                 



          Fact

1. ADHD is a medical disorder, not a condition of the

child's will. A child with ADHD does not choose to
misbehave.

2. ADHD is not caused by bad parenting. But parenting All child needs is good discipline. techniques can often improve some symptoms and make others worse.

3. Although ADHD symptoms usually continue into adulthood, the person learns ways to cope with the symptoms. People with ADHD have plenty of energy, are creative, and can often accomplish more than people who do not have the condition.

4. ADHD has nothing to do with a person's intellectural ability. Some highly intelligent people have ADHD.

5. Children without ADHD respond to psychostimulants with ADHD. A trial of medicine is not used to diagnose the condition.

6. Properly adjusted medicine for ADHD sharpens a person's focus and increases his or her ability to control behavior.

7. ADHD is estimated to affect about 3 percent to 7 percent of all school-age children in the United States. There is little evidence to support claims that ADHD is overdiagnosed and that ADHD medicines are overprescribed.

8. Teens and adults with ADHD continue to benefit from medicine treatment.

9. ADHD is a disability. Children with ADHD have to learn ways to deal with their symptoms (inattention, impulsivity, and

hyperactivity) that cause them to have difficulties in life.

10. About 70 percent of children with ADHD continue to have symptoms during their teen years and about 50 percent have symptoms into adulthood.

11. A child may not always show symptoms of ADHD, especially in in an unfamiliar setting. Evaluating a child from one office observation may result in failure to recognize or diagnose symptoms.