num_pages: 352
description: A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the YearThe groundbreaking and definitive account of the widespread misdiagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorderand how its unchecked growth over half a century has made ADHD one of the most controversial conditions in medicine with serious effects on children adults and society.More than 1 in 7 American children get diagnosed with ADHDthree times what experts have said is appropriatemeaning that millions of kids are misdiagnosed and taking medications such as Adderall or Concerta for a psychiatric condition they probably do not have. The numbers rise every year. And still many experts and drug companies deny any cause for concern. In fact they say that adults and the rest of the world should embrace ADHD and that its medications will transform their lives.In ADHD Nation  Alan Schwarz examines the roots and the rise of this cultural and medical The father of ADHD Dr. Keith Conners spends fifty years advocating drugs like Ritalin before realizing his role in what he now calls a national disaster of dangerous proportions; a troubled young girl and a studious teenage boy get entangled in the growing ADHD machine and take medications that backfire horribly; and big Pharma egregiously over-promotes the disorder and earns billions from the mishandling of children (and now adults).While demonstrating that ADHD is real and can be medicated when appropriate Schwarz sounds a long-overdue alarm and urges America to address this growing national health crisis.
language: English
title: ADHD Nation: Children, Doctors, Big Pharma, and the Making of an American Epidemic
publisher: Scribner