High school teacher (grade 9) one of my best students got diagnosed with "muh ADHD" this week. Here's what he told me.
The doctor (a GP) gave him a list of ten questions. It went something like this:
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Do you sometimes struggle to finish tasks?
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Do you sometimes have problems paying attention in class?
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Do you sometimes get bored?
Who the F is going to say no to any of this? Anyway, he got diagnosed with muh ADHD and now he's on pills, probably for life. The pills he gets are amphetamines by the way. Yes, really.
I'm a fucking teacher and I get bored by my class sometimes. Guess I need speed too.
This is 90%+ student by the way. Imagine diagnosing a complex mental condition (if it even exists) in five minutes, tops, and then being put on pills for life.
Absolutely disgusting.
ADHD is a very real condition but it is probably over diagnosed. Something interesting to note. Getting a proper amount of social interaction can reduce problems with ADHD. It sets the mind in a learning mindset. Usually, school is designed so there is practically no social interaction. A few minutes between classes is not good enough for social interaction. More introverted people can't even use a small blocks of time at all so they practically get no social interaction.
As for a proper diagnosis. For older kids, it is usually done with an IQ test. A proper multi-hour one. For young kids, they have another type of multi-hour test.