Ribhu Singh Blog ADHD WEEK 4

This article was admittedly a difficult read for me as a person diagnosed with ADHD, and as the child of a father who just so happens to be a Psychiatrist. I can recall upon my diagnosis with ADHD by a school psychologist, and the subsequent prescription of medication that it entailed, of my father and his response. My father, a stout self admitted "old-school" Psychiatrist, my father was appalled by the prospect of giving children powerful stimulant medication, and was furthermore frustrated by societies "medicalization" of behavior. I find it disheartening that this phenomenon dis-proportionately effects the lives of people from disadvantaged racial groups such as African American and Hispanics. The fact that a child in the United States is 10x more as likely than a European child to be diagnosed with ADHD in my mind offers credence to the statement that ADHD is indeed a cultural construct. Psychiatry, as a field has the capacity to help millions and mental health is not a topic to be brushed aside; however, the medical model of behavior has been used by the discipline of Psychiatry to pathologise and implicitly stigmatize everything from homosexuality to fidgety children. The question then: Is this necessarily useful?