Normal Variations in Brain Development Misdiagnosed as ADHD

As seen in this ABC News Report, regarding new research in ADHD

"In children with ADHD, the brain matures in a normal pattern but is delayed by three years in some regions, when compared to children without the disorder," said the study's lead investigator, Dr. Philip Shaw, a child psychiatrist at the National Institute of Mental Health.

Seeing as there are well known variations for humans reaching sexual maturity, ranging from age 12 (and younger) to age 18 (and older), it is not surprising that there would be a similar variations in brain development. In fact, it would not surprise me if it followed a bell curve distribution.

As a comparison for numbers, in 1998, a study suggested that approximately 7 to 10 percent of the adult population was left-handed. Studies indicate that left-handedness is more common in males than females.

Similar numbers are reported for ADHD. It is argued the condition labeled ADHD is a disease, when left handedness is obviously not a disease.

There is a distinct possibility that the condition labelled ADHD is NORMAL and is in fact a prosurvival variation in development.

It now seems that these normal variations will be seized on as an excuse to drug children if they are not meeting certain social standards for behavior.

Normal variations should never be turned into a medical condition, and served up as an excuse for drugging kids.

Because the brain matures at a variable rate up to three years later (or earlier) than the average, it seems that the best treatment is TIME, not drugs.