Anti-ADHD columns detrimental

Parenting columns need to have a balanced viewpoint

This letter is being written in response to the Albuquerque Journal’s April 11 Parenting column by John Rosemond, “More Evidence ADHD is an Invention” and “Children’s Brain Disorders are Fiction.”

I am a board-certified pediatrician and child and adolescent psychiatrist with 60 years of experience and am astounded that the Journal would publish an article implying that this medical field, and that of psychologists and other health-care professionals, is based on the false assumption that behavior and other mental health disorders exist in children and adolescents, and, indeed, were “invented” for the benefit of health-care professionals and the pharmaceutical industry rather than that of the individuals whom they treat.

My concern is that an uneducated parent who has a troubled child and reads this column will turn away from seeking the professional assistance needed to assess, and if necessary, treat the child, with both potential therapy and medication.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder — both DSM IV and V — have relevant information in their introductions and also under the section on ADHD, an excellent description of the symptoms of this disorder. Any parent — including myself — who has raised a child with ADHD knows how very difficult it can be and is blessed when effective treatment is available. To negate this option is a serious error.

One can choose not to give a diagnostic “label” to a child/adolescent with a combination of symptoms ongoingly interfering significantly with his/her functioning, but this does not mean that the symptoms do not exist. If, by giving a name to a disorder it then becomes possible to seek and find effective treatment that enables the individual to function effectively, who would not choose to do this? And when there is an effective medication for a specific disorder, one should be grateful that has been discovered. It is true that child and adolescent psychiatrists are scarce and pediatricians and other health care professionals are not always well educated in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders, which are often complex and in need of multi-faceted care — as is true also for disorders such as diabetes, hypertension, etc. None of the above factors negate the need for recognition of the field of child and adolescent mental health. There is also more and more scientific evidence of difference is the brain structure in specific mental disorders. The concept of the ongoing interaction of body-mindspirit is becoming more and more recognized and is very relevant to the concerns expressed above.

I hope that the Albuquerque Journal will find a physician to write a Parenting article presenting the contrasting scientific (and) medical information as expressed in this letter.