Your post is coming across as dismissive. Probably not how you intended it, but that the way it sounds to me.
I completely agree that meds are way over-prescribed. I have several medical conditions that require me to take meds, but I always find out about alternatives and discuss my situation with my doctors and read up online before beginning a new med. I have refused some meds because I didn't think they were completely necessary, based on my situation and other options.
The ADD specialist did suggest ADD meds for me, for use in specific situations. If I decide to go back to school, I might want to take them for the entrance exam (is that what they call GRE, LSAT, etc?) and class exams. But make no mistake. That would not give me an unfair advantage. That would level the playing field for me. (I would also get additional time for taking tests, if I presented an official ADD diagnosis.)
::Disclaimer:: I'm including the following because I guess it's necessary to present the wide discrepancies in my own situation. Yesterday I got an IQ score of 135, the 99th percentile. This was from an "official" IQ test. It qualifies me for Mensa. I was shocked to get my score. I scored (I believe) 460 and 480 on SAT math and SAT verbal, respectively. I took the business school entrance exam (can't remember if it was the GRE and honestly don't feel like googling it), and my score was barely enough to qualify (I think it was about 500 or so).
I agree that there is misuse of these drugs. Students take them to hyperfocus and parents give them to children so they can do better in school. And these are people who do not actually have ADD. And it does give them an unfair advantage. That is a current trend, as is "redshirting," the practice of holding back children from K for another year if they turn 5 a couple of months before the cutoff. Parents believe they will do better if they are among the oldest in their class, but if often backfires.
For me, ADD meds and accomodations might allow me to retain more information from classes and perform on tests to a level that better reflects my academic abilities.
I read recently that gifted children are often misdiagnosed with ADD because they may exhibit some ADD symptoms: boredom, restlessness and behavioral problems, for example.
I have a theory on the explosion of ADD diagnoses. Yes, doctors are pushing diagnoses and drugs on people. Pharmaceutical companies are enormously powerful and fill our media with insidious advertising and give out samples like candy. But I don't think that's the whole story. Our world is very different now than it was, say, 50 years ago. Time practically stood still back then. Ever go back and watch a crime drama from the 70s? Compared to a show like CSI they're a joke. Big yawn. SSSLLLLOOOOWWWWWW. Now everything is a blur. Sound bites, commercials, graphics -- our brains are not evolved enough to process the barrage of information we are exposed to on a daily basis. It's poison to the developing brains of children. And many children are eating crap food, watching crap TV and playing with crap toys. And who knows about environmental factors such as pollution.
So I think the explosion in diagnoses is partly misdiagnosis, partly the availability of better diagnostic tools and access to information (I would not know that I have ADD if the web didn't exist) and partly lifestyle. Just my theory.
Oh, and FWIW, I have no plans to try ADD meds now. That wasn't the purpose of being tested. I just wanted some answers, and now I have them. I do plan to explore alternatives such as nutrition, coping strategies, support groups, etc.
