The staggering increase of ADD/ADHD diagnosis among children may have alarmed the nation but, there are many factors that can explain this without giving us the impression that there is something wrong with our children. Some cases of out-of-controlled children diagnosed with ADD/ADHD could be due to nutritional imbalances and deficiencies. Cases caused by allergies and sensitivities as well as ones that are caused by changes of child rearing.

Many supposed disorders are due to factors that influence the social, emotional, and environmental development of children. It is because of these factors that ADD/ADHD landed in the American Psychological Association?s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) as a psychiatric disorder. In truth, it is likely that ADD/ADHD is not best described as a psychiatric disorder at all, but rather as more of a personality type.

Some experts insist that many conditions which are currently classified as psychiatric disorders shouldn?t even be in the DSM. Certainly, individuals who have been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD do not feel as if they suffer from a psychiatric condition. And, like many conditions which have been classified as having psychiatric roots, there is no overwhelming evidence that ADD/ADHD falls into the psychiatric category.

Those suffering from ADD/ADHD may well just be different

As well as other conditions such as asthma and diabetes, a person suffering from ADD/ADHD should not be classified as having a psychiatric condition nor should they be in DSM.

Diagnosis of ADD/ADHD is not backed with concrete evidence.

In the rush to diagnose and medicate individuals to fit into the mold that society creates for the majority of people, the medical community has labeled an entire generation of children as unmanageable. And in that rush, millions of children are being medicated on a daily basis. But some evidence suggests that the problem is not with those who suffer from ADD/ADHD, but rather the problem is with a society that feels these individuals must be suppressed.

Changes that have been made in parenting, education, and the rules of society may be more responsible for an ADD/ADHD diagnosis than any actual psychiatric disorder. Individuals who have ADD/ADHD often feel that there is nothing wrong with them at all other than the fact that they process, perceive, and react to internal and external stimuli.

Once upon a time, children were allowed to interact with their environment. Children were encouraged to run and jump and play at will. But, increasingly, children are not responding to such restrictions. The demands of conformity along with the stresses of modern life may have a significant effect on people who cannot manage to fit into the mold.

Yet, this is not necessarily the fault of the unruly individual. They may be just wired differently than most other people. Being different doesn?t mean being defective; it merely means that concessions need to be made.

Is something the matter with parenting, society, and the environment that could be directly linked to ADD/ADHD?

With all the rush that we have imposed upon our children it is no wonder that they have become the individuals that are hyperactive. Children used to be pampered at home by housewife mothers. They are free to sleep, eat and explore their childhood. Now, children are rushed to school and even preschool and daycare by their working parents, given prepackaged food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Parents who have no time for their children would usually resort to providing entertainment in the form of television. All these has negative effect in a sense that parents are neglecting the fact that these children needs to be slowed down to enjoy life a little.

But, before the blame for ADD/ADHD, Autism, Tourette?s, and a host of other psychiatric disorders is placed squarely on the shoulders of mom and dad, it?s important to realize that the problem is with a society that forces people into a position where childcare and education is so expensive that warehousing children is the only affordable option, where a two-income family is no longer a choice but a necessity, and where children are forced into regulated, narrowly focused, and task-oriented behavior far earlier than they once were. Just like the child with asthma is not well-suited for outside play, and the child with diabetes is not well-suited for a ?regular? diet, the ADD/ADHD child is just not well-suited to this type of lifestyle.

The failure in recognizing other form of treatment for ADD/ADHD may have led to the current situation. The FDA has also labeled some food additives as safe. This then shows that parents are not the only people to be blamed. They are just doing what they think is right after all. It is then required that parents think thoroughly about the choices they make for their children.

The medical community have been making an easy turn to pharmaceutical treatment when in comes to treating ADD/ADHD all these while and more and more are beginning to realize this as the trend shows that they are shifting to natural, non-medicinal, alternatives for treating such health conditions.