The ADHD Explosion: Myths, Medication, Money, and Today's Push for Performance

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most controversial and misunderstood medical conditions today. With skyrocketing rates of diagnosis and medication treatment, it has generated a firestorm of controversy. Alarming questions have been raised about ADHD in recent years, including:

• Why are one in nine children and adolescents in the U.S. now diagnosed with ADHD, with projected rates still rising?
• Why are nearly 70% of those diagnosed with ADHD prescribed medication?
• What is causing the fast-rising diagnosis and medication of adults? And why are over a quarter of all college students using stimulants for academic performance?
• In some southern states, why are boys over 9 years old diagnosed at rates of almost one in three?
• Can we trust the stories we read and hear about ADHD, even in major media outlets?
• What is driving the current ADHD explosion: is it parents, doctors, schools, culture, the healthcare system, or Big Pharma? And will it end?

Stephen Hinshaw, a distinguished psychologist, and Richard Scheffler, an eminent health economist, uniquely blend clinical wisdom, current science, medical and school policy, and global trends to debunk myths and set the record straight in The ADHD Explosion. They describe the origins of ADHD and its huge costs to society; the science behind its causes as well as medication and behavioural treatment; and the variation in diagnosis and treatment across the U.S. Dealing directly with stimulants as smart pills, they describe the epidemic of medicalisation, arguing that accurate diagnosis and well-monitored care could ease the staggering economic burden linked to ADHD.

"This is a unique, highly informative, science-based, and hence incredibly useful book about ADHD and the numerous controversies surrounding it. No disorder in recent times has been so controversial, so terribly misrepresented and sensationalized in the media, or so polarizing among the general public as this one. The authors do a superb job cutting through the nonsense with facts to portray ADHD both sensibly and sensitively. While a very useful book for parents and educators, professionals, students, and journalists will also find this book to be invaluable for its clear representation of what is known about ADHD and for its even-handedness and thoroughness in explaining the source of the many public and professional controversies."
- Russell A. Barkley, PhD, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, Medical University of South Carolina

"This is a wonderfully readable and very timely book, authored by two of the world’s pre-eminent scientists. [...] They have produced the most thoughtful, scholarly, and simultaneously intuitively complete and ‘commonsensical’ exposition of ‘what ADHD really is’ to date. Despite the intricacies of the many lines of research that converge on this seemingly ubiquitous disorder, they have distilled these scientific complexities into a seamless, spell-binding story that accurately presents our current scientific knowledge about ADHD."
- Peter S. Jensen, MD, President and CEO, The Reach Institute, Professor of Psychiatry and Vice-Chair for Research, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, The Mayo Clinic

"The authors provide a wide-ranging and extremely thoughtful assessment of the causes and consequences of ADHD. This book not only dispels many myths but also offers a tangible path forward for children, their parents, and governments."
- Thomas Rice, PhD, Distinguished Professor, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health