Diagnostic criteria for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder*

A. Either (1) or (2):

1. six (or more) of the following symptoms of inattention have persisted for at least 6 months to a degree that is maladaptive and inconsistent with developmental level:

Inattention

1. often fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, work, or other activities
2. often has difficulty sustaining attention in tasks or play activities
3. often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly
4. often does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace (not due to oppositional behavior or failure to understand instructions)
5. often has difficulty organizing tasks and activities
6. often avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to engage in tasks that require sustained mental effort (such as schoolwork or homework)
7. often loses things necessary for tasks or activities (e.g., toys, school assignments, pencils, books, or tools)
8. is often easily distracted by extraneous stimuli
9. is often forgetful in daily activities

 

2. six (or more) of the following symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity have persisted for at least 6 months to a degree that is maladaptive and inconsistent with developmental level:

Hyperactivity

1. often fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat
2. often leaves seat in classroom or in other situations in which remaining seated is expected
3. often runs about or climbs excessively in situations in which it is inappropriate (in adolescents or adults, may be limited to subjective feelings of restlessness)
4. often has difficulty playing or engaging in leisure activities quietly
5. is often "on the go" or often acts as if "driven by a motor"
6. often talks excessively

Impulsivity

7. often blurts out answers before questions have been completed
8. often has difficulty awaiting turn
9. often interrupts or intrudes on others (e.g., butts into conversations or games)

B. Some hyperactive-impulsive or inattentive symptoms that caused impairment were present before age 7 years

C. Some impairment from the symptoms is present in two or more settings (e.g., at school [or work] and at home).

D. There must be clear evidence of clinically significant impairment in social, academic, or occupational functioning.

E. The symptoms do not occur exclusively during the course of a Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Schizophrenia, or other Psychotic Disorder and are not better accounted for by another mental disorder (e.g., Mood Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Dissociative Disorder, or a Personality Disorder).

If right now you are saying, "Wow, that was me as a kid!" you are not alone. So did we! The top psychiatrists in the country have decided by way of vote what is abnormal and normal childhood behavior, and this is the result. The range of childhood normality has intentionally become so narrow so as to make everyone a potential psychiatric drug customer. Remember these words of comfort the next time you hear a concerned parent talk about their child who has just been diagnosed with ADHD: If you are not a compliant, emotionless automaton, then you must have ADHD!

We all knew other kids who acted inattentive, hyperactive and impulsive at school and at home. Those with inattentive ADHD were the under-achievers, the slackers, the sleepers, the "anywhere but here" crowd. They certainly didn’t have a mental disorder requiring psychiatric medications! Those of the hyperactive breed were the class clowns, the socialites, the ones with the good ideas, the clique leaders, the high-energy, motivated types. And they certainly didn’t have a mental disorder requiring psychiatric medications. Those of the impulsive type were the ball hogs, the line cutters, and the loudmouths. You guessed it—they didn’t need meds either. All of these kids were just being kids, and eventually they grew up and learned how to act in the real world.

The ADHD diagnosis is an attempt by psychiatry to label normal childhood behavior as abnormal and create multitudes of paying drug customers who think they have a medical disease. When in reality, those with ADHD-like symptoms are just being kids. Yes, the diagnostic criteria above state there must be "clinically significant impairment" and symptoms must appear "to a degree that is maladaptive and inconsistent with developmental level," but "clinically significant" and "to a degree" can be interpreted in myriad ways, and based on the millions of children taking ADHD drugs, the bar for abnormality is in practice quite low.

While psychiatry blames ADHD-like behavior on uncontrollable chemical imbalances in the brain that determine our behavior, the Bible teaches that ADHD-like behavior stems from folly, immaturity and selfishness—behavioral choices for which we are responsible.

While psychiatry’s solution for ADHD is a drug prescription to fix an imaginary chemical imbalance, the Bible regards ADHD behaviors as correctable and controllable. What does the Bible teach parents about how to deal with inattentive, hyperactive and impulsive children? If we could sum it up in three words, it would be love, teaching and discipline:

"…that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God would not be blasphemed." Titus 2:4-5

"And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord." Ephesians 6:4

"Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him." Proverbs 22:15

"The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother." Proverbs 29:15

The Bible is simple but profound. Instead of ADHD, the problem is folly. Instead of drugs, the solution is discipline. It doesn’t take a psychiatrist to raise a child—just obedience to God’s Word.