Blowers 1

Henry Blowers

Debra Jizi

UWRT 1104-017

07 April 2017

Why is ADHD more prominent in our children today?

"Why ADHD Is on the Rise." EverydayHealth.com. N.p., 22 Nov. 2010. Web. 07 Apr. 2017.

This source describes many possible reasons why ADHD is becoming more prominent in

todays society. It gives possible explanations such as increased attention to video games to

increased ADHD causing stressors. These doctors explain their professional opinion on why

they believe certain things about why the number of children getting diagnosed with ADHD is

rising.

This article interested me because I had never thought of a lot of these reasons why

ADHD is becoming more common. It contains basic easy to understand information from

doctors who are studying ADHD in children and what they have experienced from their research.

My perspective on this is that today we are getting a lot more attention for this in children and

that todays culture is causing more stressors that increase a childs chances of developing

ADHD.

This is a credible source because through research of these doctors who wrote about this

subject their background information checked out and I found that they have been researching

childrens ADHD and working as child psychologists for years and one of the doctors who

provided a lot of information about possible causes is a board certified psychiatrist. These

doctors are from all over the country and have different experiences with children from all over

so together they have come and shared their experiences.

 Blowers 2

Caroline Miller is the editorial director of the Child Mind Institute. "Video Games and ADHD |

ADHD and Attention Disorders in Children." Child Mind Institute. Caroline Miller, n.d. Web. 07

Apr. 2017.

The sources overall objective is to provide you with information from doctors about

ADHD and their relation to video games as well as explain to you her findings from what these

doctors said. Biologists say that ADHD is possible from early tribes when they needed their

camps watched. Being hyper vigilant for dangers was beneficial and has transferred over to

todays world. Kids with ADHD are more interested in video games due to the fact that they are

full of action with no gaps in the games for their mind to wander and involves immediate

gratification for the children. Dr. Steingard suggests the short burst of action that are back to

back in video games compel children with ADHD to them.

This information intrigued me because it suggests that ADHD roots back to our very

early ancestors and gives an explanation as to how it might have been useful. The article also

said that there is no evidence that video games cause ADHD however stated that children with

ADHD are more compelled to video games because of their nature of being action packed. My

perspective is it makes sense that video games would attract children with ADHD just because it

is based off the idea of immediate gratification.

The article is made by Caroline Miller who is the Editorial director for The Child Mind

Institute. The article also uses the quotes from Doctors Natalie Weder and Ron Steingard who

are child psychiatrists at the Child Mind Institute who gave her the valuable information about

ADHD and video games. The author also used a study from Iowa State University and explained

what they did and the results in an unbiased manner.

 Blowers 3

Newmark, Sanford, MD. "A True ADHD Epidemic or an Epidemic of

Overdiagnosis?" Psychiatry Advisor. N.p., 11 Mar. 2016. Web. 07 Apr. 2017.

This article proposes the idea that a lot of the modern ADHD diagnosiss are incorrect.

The author explains that in order to properly diagnose ADHD it requires the doctor to consider

all the possible reasons for the symptoms from learning disabilities to PTSD. The doctor must

fully understand and acknowledge the patients living environment. When you think of this and

all these things it seems possible to believe that a lot of the diagnosis of ADHD could be

incorrect when what the patient is suffering from could be something completely different.

This is an interesting topic because it explains that how ADHD could be misdiagnosed

and are just be a different ailment for the patient however since social pressure is on the doctor to

say its ADHD due to the broadness of the disease it does not mean it is correct. This relates to

the inquiry because it adds the possibility that a lot of these numbers for the ADHD epidemic

are misdiagnosed.

The author, Sanford Newmark, MD, is the Medical Director of the Osher Center

Integratice Medicine Clinic at the University of California San Francisco. He has written a lot of

articles about ADHD and is an respected Pediatrician. Throughout the article he mentioned

multiple studies that have been going on throughout the world as well as a lot of statistics about

ADHD and children of different ages.

 Blowers 4

Barbara T. Felt|Bernard Biermann|Jennifer G. Christner|Param Kochhar|Richard Van Harrison.

"Diagnosis and Management of ADHD in Children." Diagnosis and Management of ADHD in

Children - American Family Physician. N.p., 01 Oct. 2014. Web. 07 Apr. 2017.

ADHD is associated with deficits in brain structure and neurological functioning. This

article gave a lot of key information and statistics showing how annually the number of people

diagnosed with ADHD increase 3% from 1997- 2006. It also showed that teens with ADHD

have a higher probability of being involved in a motor vehicle collision. It described how

patients with poor attention spans and hyperactivity should be tested for ADHD if they are over

the age of 4 years old. The exam for patients is mainly history taking and physical examination.

This interested me because it showed what it consisted of for a doctor to diagnose a

patient who may possibly have ADHD and what to look for in people who might have ADHD.

This is revelant because it explains the process a doctor goes through to diagnose a patient with

ADHD and what they look for. It also provides key information for my inquiry that shows how

the amount of cases of ADHD in children has increased over the last couple years.

The author is credible because it is a lot of different sources before the article even starts.

The article is a collaboration of a lot of different people who have been studying this topic for

years and have a lot of experience in the field. These are a lot of respected doctors who have

gathered from their experiences what they know about ADHD and gave it to the article in order

to inform the reader.

 Blowers 5

"Medscape Log In." Medscape Log In. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2017.

ADHD is becoming more prevalent. Boys have been diagnosed with this 3 to 4 times

more often than girls. However over the years this ratio has lowered. Through research ADHD

has been found to be genetic and that the likelihood of it being passed through generations is

likely. ADHD is a lot easier to detect today than 20 years ago because we have done a lot more

research on it and understand exactly what it is. However since it is easier to diagnose there is

the possibility that the increase in cases of ADHD is just because we can diagnose ADHD easier

today than before.

This is interesting and opened my eyes to the possibility that instead of misdiagnosis or

an ADHD epidemic that the technology to diagnose ADHD was not there 20 years ago and we

did not know enough about it. The increase in diagnosis could be because of the better

technology today to recognize the disorder and treat it. This pertains to the inquiry because it

shows how the increase in technology to diagnose ADHD and the increased attention it is getting

from the media it could just be that it was overlooked in the previous years due to the lack of

technology.

The author, Jay M. Pomerantz, MD, is a doctor who specializes in psychiatric disorders

such as autism. He is in many articles about psychiatry and practices in Massachusetts. He is an

overall respected doctor and has a lot of experience in this field and I trust his information.