ADHD diagnosis and treatment have reached epidemic proportions. According to official US stats, the diagnosis rate went up 42% between 2003 and 2011. The prescription rate has been climbing much faster – 28% in just 4 years.

What’s at the root of this? Is it twitch media? Is it food additives? Is it the environment?

Here’s a huge study from the International Journal of Epidemiology. They reviewed thousands of research papers on ADHD and discovered something remarkable. When you use strictly standardized diagnostic criteria, the incidence of ADHD does not change from country to country or from year to year. Kids are kids are kids.

So what IS changing if it’s not the incidence ADHD itself? It’s the rate of diagnosis and treatment. Diagnosis and treatment is the epidemic – not the condition itself.

Let’s pause for a moment and look at three simple facts:

#1 – diagnostic rates are highly variable.

In the USA it’s about 10% of kids, in France it’s a tiny fraction of that – Much less than 1%. Are the kids really so different? The short answer is “No.” The medical model is different.

#2 – Where is the huge bulk of mega-pharma dollars that get funneled into wooing and supplying doctors with ADHD meds? You guessed it. Right here in North America where diagnostic AND pharmacological treatment rates are so high.

#3 – Some big names in medicine are finally calling for a sweeping change in how and even IF we should be diagnosing for ADHD and (by the way) many other disorders as well.

Leading the charge are people like Dr. Allen Frances, author of Saving Normal and Chairman of the DSM-IV, the entire British Psychological Society, and a new Ontario coalition of neurologists who are basically trashing all the diagnostic labels and analyzing behaviours instead.

This is great news for us as parents and especially for our focus-challenged kids.

Here at Maxi Mind Learning we are perfectly in tune with the new alternative trends in medicine. We look at the full range of behaviours that are getting in the way of a child’s success and happiness and then coach them through brain stimulating activities that teach them to master their focus and boost their learning skills. And all without meds.

Get a free consultation today and discover a drug free solution for your child’s ADHD