ADD/HD has been one of the top, steadily increasing diagnoses for children. The statistics are both amazing and alarming that suddenly you can’t go anywhere that some child or adult doesn’t either know someone or is someone who has been diagnosed.

Of course the fact that the process by which one is diagnosed is observational and by the very definition subjective in nature has made it an easy bandwagon to jump on. It also has made the process one that can be easily very influenced, and has been, by:

• Institutions with agendas (over-crowded and under-funded school systems, drug companies, and publicly funded programs such as CHADD).
• Individuals that have a vested interest (educators, legislators, researchers, and doctors).
• Those in the middle of it all (over stressed parents, siblings, and caretakers).

These agendas have influenced legislation, funded research projects whose results are to be spun to support the finder, most often drug companies, and supported the government supporting the families who medicate their children over the ones who are seeking other ways of dealing with issues surrounding ADD/HD. We have reputable institutions, such as Harvard, who forgets to mention the millions they have received from drug companies while touting a drug-based approach. Or respected physicians being paid millions by drug companies to tour around speaking on the wonders, if not the necessity, of medicating.

But what about the long term side effects of others choices, let alone the medications themselves?

ADD/HD, as an evolutionary process and a broadening of the bandwidth of humanity, will not go away, it is not supposed to. However the damage we do, through the negative impacts on their self-worth and self-esteem, which keeps those individuals from never even getting close to their potential, is incalculable. The loss of cutting edge insights, brilliance and creativity that is sacrificed to help them fit in is immeasurable and at the end of the day them becoming everything that they are here to be and benefiting humanity can only be accomplished through them managing their gifts, not living in medically induced zombie land.

In truly learning how to better help them, just the way they are, in teaching them how to help themselves, just the way they are, and not only in recognizing all the gifts that they have but to love and respect themselves in the process is the best way to go.

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