Inventor of ADHD: “ADHD is a fictitious disease”

[reeay]

Like autism, there are evolutionary advantages to being a particular way. Unfortunately, we do not live in a society that is amenable to these particular ways. For a child with ADHD to thrive, there would have to be extra effort on the part of parents and teachers (and other significant persons or institutions) to work flexibly to create an optimal environment. You would need a social change instigated by changes in our consciousness. Can our parents and teachers and social institutions take responsibility to structure our children's environment in a way that best suits their needs instead of making them a problem and passing out labels and using outdated forms of education?

ADHD itself doesn't exist organically as it is socially constructed, just like concepts such as money and nation/country. What does exist is the experience of people who have accurate diagnoses (which should be around 6% of children in the US) who are experiencing debilitating distress and disability due to being wired differently. There are clear patterns that point to existence of neurological functioning and challenges in the area of cognitive abilities that correlate with behavioral, emotional and social consequences. ADHD as a concept is a just a concept, but the experience is 'real.'

My critique here is that this article does disservice by presenting highly inferential evidence without direct evidence for its fictitiousness, when, there are evidence to show that people are wired differently and they *may* experience severe distress & disability due to it. When there is a position taken to overthrow everything in such a way, it risks invalidating the experience of those who do experience something called 'ADHD'. What's fictitious too is how the general public think they understand about 'ADHD' and 'mental illnesses.'