I am reluctant to classify ADHD as a genuine disability. It basically does not cause psychologoical disorders such as anxiety and depression and hallucinations which its more severe counterparts, autism, bipolar schizophrenia and depression cause. I do not see any manner possible whereby ADHD could cause anything that would truly cause temporary, but absolute dysfunction. There are CEOs, lawyers, doctors, etc with ADHD. It is a developmental disorder- not a mental illness. Do not even go there by suggesting it is a mental illness-IT ISN’T. The only thing it compromises is full potential.

ADHD is just a lack of discipline. If a student/child or adult truly had ADHD then it would be across the board thruogh their entire life style. They would not be able to play sports or watch a movie because they could not concentrate long enough. Most of my students who are “diagnosed” with ADHD can listed and pay attention when they want to. ADHD is just an excuse!

Scott

Has anyone stopped to think that this “condition” may be the result of working too many hours and doing the job of multiple people for too long of a time? Americans are renowned for being workaholics, and corporate America is ruthless when it comes to piling on more responsibilities while cutting staff; people can only do so much. It may be coming to a head at this time and in this manner.

It’s obvious to me that you all have never had to raise a child with ADHD, or is a person with ADHD or has ever researched the subject. First if you truly have ADHD, you would have had childhood symptoms, which negates your workaholic theory. It is has absolutely nothing to do with discipline or lifestyle. ADHD children CAN watch movies and read books IF it can grab their attention. They can play sports extremely well, practicing is the problem. They can also hold jobs very well, especially if it’s not a “desk” job. Lawyers and doctors are always on the move … Although a lot of people with ADHD have problems with memory. It is a psychological disorder and anxiety and depression are usually another part of this person’s disorder. I suggest you all do a little more research and check out http://www.chadd.org for more information.

Gee, I wonder which drug company funded this study. I mean, they have got the kids on their psychotropic drugs, now all that is left is the parents. They want us to all be mind numbed robots. We are just supposed to sit in our cubicles and do what they tell us. They don’t want anyone thinking creatively, because then, they might be found out.

i have adult add. and ill tell you what taking meds for it really helps. im not in that “zone” i can see where the lost work comes from, just being lacksidaisical and or just daydreaming not giving things there full attention. i havent actually taken it in about 4 days because i ran out, many of my coworkers have noticed a change in my behaviors or moods.

Too all those who care. I suffer from ADD but not ADHD. If you want to know the difference LOOK IT UP.ADD is where the frontal lobes of the brain do not “fire”. This firing is what allows a person to concentrate. This lack of firing has further side effects which makes a person “fidgety”. Furthermore, this not something that just goes away. It’s something that I will live with all of my life. You either learn how to deal with ADD or you don’t. There are plenty of treatments available. I would recommend to all those who suffer from ADD to look into a drug called Strattera. Its non-simulate…again look IT up. And don’t allow others to hold YOU back from being successful just because they ignorant.

My last day of work after 22 1/2 years in the same institution is this coming Friday. It’s a triumph for me as an ADD person. I didn’t know about ADD in adults until about 12 years ago when I happened upon an article in the newspaper. I got the chills reading the symptoms and knew suddenly that my quest for an understanding of my differentness was over. Just knowing about it gave me the courage and strength to work on my shortcomings, including detail work and managing multiple priorities. My absenteeism was nil over the years. I can’t even remember the last time I took a sick day. One of the answer is education. Those with ADD need to know what they have and how to work around it. How to take the shortcomings and turn them into strengths. How to use the hyperfocus mode to the best advantage. How to build on success and how to work through failure. Honestly, I have such empathy for those with ADD. But please — have hope!!!

I used to be married to a man with ADHD who quit his medicine once he got out of high school. Having to live with someone with this is awful. Nothing ever gets finished around the house. Everything was always half done because he’d lose interest and want to start something else. We fought constantly. Jobs would be changed out every few months, friends, vehicles included. He refused to go back to the doctor and didn’t want to be ‘labeled’ so just continued to not succeed at anything. After years of this, i could not take it anymore. It was like having a child around you and always having to ‘clean up’ after this ‘grown up’. Money was always an issue. Even though we made plenty of it, he never paid one bill and spent like it was going out of style. I had to do and fix everything and i’m much happier being away from that.

Beth

I agree with Scott. ADHD is just a lack of self disipline. A lot of people just find it easier to drug people to make them calm down then teach them discipline. Its just a way people try to not take responsibility for their own actions

This report was everything I have come to expect from crew led by a Harvard based Ph.D.
I found the collections of reports long shoddy and find a false conclusion.
Science has no requirement for consensus. Mediocre results have a great need for consensus to make up for a lack of verifiable information

As one who has lived with Adult ADHD, I have 12 weeks on the books in sick days. I show up for work and overtime. Take your meds, and you will be fine. Meds are a bit costly sure.
No doubt this so called study will be held up by employers and insurers as a reason to abuse the ADHD class of folks.

I reject this study in whole

I am a 29 year old adult living w/ ADHD. I work for a non-profit independent living center who helps individuals with all disabilities (as well as family and friends) with a variety of issues-free of charge. People should utilize Independent Living Centers go to http://www.ilru.org to find one in your area. You don’t always have to use medication and IL Centers can help you find a number of coping mechanisms to help overcome any kind of difficulties that one may be having.
My father has it and was employed with the same federal law enforcement agency for 28 years and like me only missed work when the kids were sick or it is vacation time. Life doesn’t end and it isn’t something that employers need to SCREEN for. It is something that can be managed. Also, it is a persons right by law whether or not to disclose any information regarding a disability of any kind. You could see people “screening for it” and then not offering positions that the person was otherwise qualified for. I see that everyday. It is sad, people just need to be educated on their rights as both from a employer/employee standpoint.

I don’t think ADD/ADHD is real “disorder”. After learning about different personality types, ADHD description sounds exactly like sanguine personality.
1. Arrogant, cocky, indulgent, confident; day-dreamy and off-task to the point of not accomplishing anything and can be impulsive, possibly acting on whims in an unpredictable fashion.
2. Persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity, as well as forgetfulness, poor impulse control or impulsivity, and distractibility.
I recently met someone and was picking them as being of the sanguine personality. Later I found out they happen to be diagnosed with “ADHD”. It seems to me that ADHD people have a sanguine personality and those with a sanguine personality are diagnosed with “ADHD”. Go figure.
I bet if there was a study done with the number of children raised in day care and rising number of ADHD cases, there would be a direct correlation. Not to mention the amount of time kids spend indoors now compared with 50 years ago.
Doctors are full of bologna. That is definately my opinion (based on many personal and related experiences).

By the way, if you didn’t figure it out, number 1. is Sanguine and number 2. is ADHD.

This story says employers should screen employees for adhd. That’s great, another reason to discriminate people based on a disputable study outcome. No company is going to do anything constructive to help us with the problem. People like Scott should maybe have an open mind, I was recently diagnosed with it and I never would have imagined during my childhood I had it, it’s just now I have too many things going on to concentrate at one thing at a time.

ADHD is completely over-diagnosed. I am a teacher and have seen it’s true form on very rare occasions even though many that come through my classroom are diagnosed as having it. This article/research is a window of opportunity for those who have lost their job because they were incapable of their duties to sue to get their jobs back. Pure crap.

More crap—Who is wasting all their time on this stuff. Only fools buy into this. There is a pill for everything now and the commercials are endless—I had no idea that a person could have so many defects. The companies behind this crap are getting rich off the idiots that actually buy into this. Restless leg syndrome my ass. ADD is more of the same. Brandy/Karen and the rest of you out there need to get a life and if you ever had to suffer real hardship you wouldn’t have the time or patience to waste on this.

I am so glad to see that there are reasonable people out there that see these so called diseases for what they really are. For decades the numbers have continued to explode, it is all a made up bunch of baloney. Starting with the kids, this is all about poor parenting, all kids can have a tendency to get out of control, it is the parents responsibility to manage properly or else blame something else for a situation they can not control. And these made up diseases are an easy out for them. Just fill them up with pills & patches. Then those out of control kids grow up and continue to struggle with the rest of life because they were spoiled or coddled as having some uncontrollable behavior problems all their lives. They never have to take full responsibility, because they always have this crutch to fall back on. Don’t get me wrong, I know there are many real diseases or people with real mental or physical issues that can hinder their lifestyles, but I, like many others here believe that this just a scam by the Doctors, Pharmaceutical Co’s, clinics, etc to steal $$ from many weak willed families. Good luck to all those with real problems, as for the others, you may need to look in the mirror for the true answers.

ADD/ADHD is real. But it is also highly over-diagnosed. I taught public elementary school for 15 years and saw maybe four real cases of ADD/ADHD. One of those was my older son. He is now an adult, has NEVER taken meds, and has a good stable job in law enforcement and is advancing rapidly in his field. He has not missed a day of work except for when he was sick with the flu. He learned how to both compensate for his weaknesses and make the most of his strengths. And believe me, ADD/ADHD characteristics can be strengths in different areas of work.

I also have ADD/ADHD. I have studied this extensively in order to be a more effective teacher and parent. If I had a dime for every time a parent said to me “why won’t he behave for me at home as well as he does for you at school?” I’d be a millionaire many times over.

Gee did you ever think about doing YOUR job - PARENTING? I do the parents’ job at school and the kid acts fine. And then the kid leaves my class at the end of the year and becomes a problem again.

ADD/ADHD is just another excuse for not accepting personal responsibility for one’s actions.

I am an adult in my 50’s with ADHD, and now being treated for OCD. It took my whole life to figure this out. I always struggled in school. I stayed after school for extra help. Back in the 6o’s there was no mention of learning disabilities. I have been in and out of jobs, because no matter how hard I tried, I didn’t grasp something right away, in processing files. I left each job, because I feel people saw me as a loser. I have difficulty remembering names, but I can remember what I had for dinner at Grandmothers house 50 years ago. My mother died at age 36 years, I was six years old, and have two sisters. My father remarried a woman with three girls of her own. We had a step mother who was very controlling, who went into rages if we spoke of our biological mother. We were pulled out of bed, and beaten when she had huge arguments with our father. All day in school, I kept dwelling in my head perhaps I left an empty glass in the sink, or my clothes were not folded extremely neat in my drawers, and I may come home to find all my belongings on the floor of my room. I never knew if I was to come home to get my hair pulled, and smashed against the wall. I was blamed for my step mothers heart attack. If I warmed up to my father, it would lead into an argument, and I would be blamed. So I would avoid hugs from my father. I tried so hard to be good, that I became forgetful and froze up when I was being hollered at. I married a very supportive and loving husband, and have 2 beautiful sons. One with autism pdd and institutionalized due to aggressions since he was 10, abused and neglected in group homes , and another son with adhd with a temper. My in laws, very controlling, and I’ve grown up to believe I am at fault. My ocd, and anxieties have increased so badly, that it interupted my daily life. I struggled during therapy, but my therapist couldn’t work with me because I was always in tears, and was constantly terrified. I had belathomistic thoughts regarding religion, and lived in constant fear. in and I have been in and out of counceling. I finally had gone to see a psychiatrist for help, and he described what I had was called ocd, that many people would have disorder. I was just one step away from being admitted into the hospital, but I fought and fought it because for the love of my husband and children. My sister suffered with bi polar disorder as an adult, and my oldest sister, constantly feels guilty because she felt she never measured up to the daughter my father wanted, especially in placing guilt on her that she didn’t act quickly enough when my became sick and died.
I am now taking Prozak, and I feel much better. The intrusive thougths are gone, my therapist after seeing her for 8 years, convinced me I am not a bad person. That it is ok, to let people know they are stepping on my toes. I am working in a small office job which I love. I smile, I am content, and I am happy. My sons are doing so much better. I thank God everyday that he gave me the courage to work hard to battle my disorder.