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Hannah Rogers
Dr. Maxfield
English 111, Section 22F
1 December 2015
ADD/ADHD Diagnosis to freely given?
ADD/ADHD is a common diagnosis to children of all ages. Doctors, parents, and
teachers have all noticed the incline of diagnosis and the use of prescriptions used to treat this
mental illness. Is the diagnosis of ADD/ADHD too freely given by doctors and pediatricians?
Doctors know the diagnosis of the ADD/ADHD medications will not only help children, but help
marketing become successful. Marketing plays a huge role in the prescribing of medications to
patients. Doctors and parents should think about the environment of the child, and the natural
alternatives from the medicine to help children, instead of loading them up with the harmful
medications. And Lastly, patients do not know the side effects of this medication. Is it more
harmful than helpful? Children will be children, some want to play and be more hyper while
others want to read and do math problems. The only way to answer research questions is to look
further into the disorder of ADD/ADHD and medications prescribed to these children as ways to
bring about their natural way to live up to their natural intelligence.
Drug marketing is one of the biggest money makers for doctors today, from emphasizing
the thought of typical ADD/ADHD to bad behavior consisting of thoughtlessness, and eagerness.
Also dramatizing the pills benefits when in reality they have terrible side effects (Schwartz).
Little do parents know, but the diagnosis of ADD/ADHD sky rocketed to 3.5 million from
600,000 in 1990 (Conner). Drug marketing advertises on television by stating the common

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symptoms that can occur in many children such as, poor grades and forgetfulness as an
insensitive to taking medication to reach excellent school work that matches up to the childs
intelligence (Schwartz). Marketing also advertises in magazines such as Good Homes, to reach
out to parents of hyper active children. They can see the common symptoms and put their kids on
medication to fix the family tension by keeping the kids inline and focused (Schwartz). In
families with tension parents are more likely to give their hyper active medication because they
think it will make the family life happier in the long run. In long time studies, doctors have found
that children that have been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD have too many inconsiderable
symptoms but have still been treated with strong doses of medication. Leaving ADD/ADHD as
the second most common long term diagnosis in children just behind asthma (Schwartz). With
childrens drug market prospering the business is now offering similar selling techniques to
adults with ADD/ADHD, which could be even more profitable (Schwartz). This year almost 16
million ADD/ADHD medications were prescribed to adults with the ages of 20 to 39. When in
comparison to the 5.6 million prescribed in 2007 (Frances).
For example, when a patient comes into the doctor and explains the symptoms that are
going on, the doctor is very fast acting to prescribe medication even when it is not needed. When
the author was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder the doctor did not ask any other
questions other than which pharmacy would you like to pick up your Ritalin at? The marketing
in the medication is huge. Doctors are firm believers in medication and they no not go for any
other alternatives. The marketing in this medication is doing very well, considering the parents
who do not think of other alternatives, and rely on the medication. The parents think the
medication fixes the child (Rogers).

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Before patients jump straight to medication, they should think about the childs
environment. Research done on an infants brains explains that, infants watching television have
a higher chance of having an attention disorder by the time they are seven years old (Lotus).
When an infant watched television it re-wires their brain by changing the way an infant think
through problems, and how the infant restrains impulsive responding (Lotus). Damage usually
does not show up until age seven, when they start school and have problems paying attention or
sitting still in a school setting. ADD/ADHD can come from genes as well, usually when a father
has had a form of ADD/ADHD the child is four times as likely to have the disorder than a child
who does not have a parent with the disorder (Martin). Children with ADD/ADHD have thinner
brain tissue than children who do not have the disorder. Research however has showed that when
a child grows up, the brain tissue develops into regular or normal thickness and most symptoms
of the disorder go away (Martin). So instead of jumping straight to medications that have
harmful side effects, doctors should educate their patients on the natural alternatives to
medications. Such as special nutrition, and vitamins people can use as substitutions for
medication. Special diets have helped children focus with ADD/ADHD, such as eating more
protein based diets. More protein such as lean meats, beans, real turkey and chicken have been
proven to help with focusing levels of the brain (Martin). Other methods of vitamins have been
proven to help children with ADD/ADHD. Such as taking supplements of omega-3 important
part of the developing brain, and helping thicken up the tissues in the brain. Studies have shown
that children with ADD/ADHD have iron levels of 22 while children without the disorder have
iron levels pf 44. Improving the levels of iron helped children with ADD/ADHD symptoms as
much as taking the stimulant medication. Also raising zinc and magnesium levels can help as
well, zinc helps with impulses by reducing hyper activity but not inattentiveness. Magnesium

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helps with sleep and relaxation, people with ADD/ADHD have trouble sleeping. So taking
magnesium can help with the attentiveness by heling the child be not as tired. And lastly, taking
vitamin C can help the neurotransmitter dophamine, which helps with the ability to focus
(Germano)
From personal experience, lack of sleep will show through the way a person focuses.
When a family friend who happens to be a doctor recommended natural alternatives such as
change of diet and more sleep it helped tremendously. Getting a good night of sleep resulted in
better test scores, and higher reading levels. Not just before a big test but when changing the
sleeping schedule to an average of eight hours. Also the change of diet, eating more vegetables,
and meats was more helpful than the diet before which contained sugars and carbs. The
vegetables have Focalin in them and help a person focus better than just plain sugars and carbs.
Also trying different vitamins helped tremendously. Taking iron, and a multivitamin made the
year more bearable and easier to handle than taking the medication which makes some patients
angry and irritable (Rogers).
ADD/ADHD medication is helpful in many ways including focusing, keeping children
calm and being able to process when to sit still, and making it so children can go to school and
succeed to their full potential. However, there are many side effects included with some of the
ADD/ADHD medications. ADD/ADHD medications have been linked to sudden deaths in
patients with heart conditions. Leaving people to get heart evaluations before being put on
medication. ADD/ADHD medication have led people to be hostile, aggressive, depressed, and
paranoid. These symptoms appear in people especially with a history of suicide, depression, or
bipolar disorder. Also people abuse the medication, such as selling the medication to college
students to give them a boost after cramming for a test, or pulling an all nighter for homework

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due the next day. Others have taken the medication for weight loss supplements (ADD/ADHD
Medications). Reactions to medication are different in everyone, some are worse than others. But
in other studies, the average symptoms are loss of appetite, insomnia, upset stomach, vomiting,
headaches, dizziness, mood changes, and occasional hallucinations. Also showing that people
have been lead to symptoms being worse when they reach adult hood by taking medication, and
not learning how to get past being able to focus (ADD/ADHD Medications). By taking natural
supplements a person can reduce the symptoms of these medications significantly. Natural
vitamins and diets can change the way a person lives day to day. Also changing the way a childs
brain develops into an adults brain. Giving the brain time to develop and change the tissues in the
brain to being thicker and better at focusing.
The side effects of ADD/ADHD medication changed the authors life her junior year.
Resulting in irritable behavior and getting mad every minute of the day. Making the person eat
less, then feel sick. The author got sick because she would not eat lunch school or dinner at
home. Because of the irritableness, the author had no friends because they never knew when she
was going to snap or flip out because the medicine was wearing her nerves thin. Resulting in
having to quit the medication because it was doing more harm than good. With the correct
environment and right diet, the author learned to focus when needed and not to believe they had
ADD. Proving that doctors need to perform better tests and better alternatives to people who had
ADD/ADHD symptoms (Rogers).
Before taking an ADD/ADHD medication make sure to check out all other options
included. Medication is a good thing for the modern world today, but if a person has a history of
depression it is never good to take something that can increase those chances. By looking at the
marketing of drug companies, other alternatives, and side effects of ADD/ADHD medication a

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person will now know not to over look the medications assigned to a child or someone they
know. Knowing that ADD and ADHD is over diagnosed a person should try other alternatives to
medication before taking the medication from the doctor. Doctors should be made to try other
alternatives before prescribing the medication but they are not. Parents need to read about other
methods of focusing to try before putting their child on medication. ADD/ADHD symptoms are
found in a lot of children, just because a child has more energy does not mean he or she has a
hyper activity disorder. Sometimes it is just learning to cope with the hyper activity and knowing
when to focus and when to be hyper. Medicine is not the answer to family problems, or family
tension. If the child has Attention or hyper active problems, check the environment and change it
if needed before using the medication.

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Works Cited
ADD/ADHD Medications. Help guide.org. n.p. n.d. Web. 1 December 2015.
Conner, Daniel. Problems of Over diagnosis and over Prescribing in ADHD.
Psychiatric Times. np. August 2011. Web. 17 November 2015.
Frances Allen. Attention Deficit Disorder is over diagnosed and over treated.
Huffington Post. n.p, 5 March 2012. Web. 17 November 2015.
Germano, Michelle. Clinical Evaluation After Long Chain Omega-3
Supplement. Nutritional Neuroscience. February 2007. Web. 1 December 2015.
Lotus, Jean. T.V. Linked to Attention Deficit. Whitedot.org n.p. n.d. Web. 1
December 2015.
Martin, Ben. ADHD Causes PsychCentral.com n.p n.d Web. 1 December 2015.
Rogers, Hannah. Personal Interview. 3 December 2015. Rogers, Hannah.
Personal Interview. 3 December 2015.
Schwartz, Alan. The selling of Attention Deficit Disorder. NewYorkTimes. N.p
14 December 2013. Web. 1 December 2015.

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Fat Paragraph
For my Research paper the major revisions I made were putting personal experiences in. I know
first hand what it is like to not be able to focus. My English teacher called my mom and told her I
needed to be checked for attention issues. Then my mom put me on medication because she
trusted my teacher. Telling her the medication made me nothing but angry and friendless she
took me off and brought me to our friend who is a doctor. She told my mom about diets,
vitamins, and a better sleep schedule could improve my focusing habits and make me less
irritable all the time. It ended up working and I have been better ever since that visit. I made
these changes because my paper was not long enough and I needed to put more detail in my
paper. They improved my paper by showing first hand what it is like to be on a medication that
works for one thing then makes another thing worse. Such as the focusing was much better, but
the appetite loss, and irritableness was making my life much worse.