A DISEASE CALLED CHILDHOOD

A leading researcher and family therapist reframes our understanding of the American ADHD epidemic, and offers parents and educators the possibility of a healthier, less medicated future for their children.

Marilyn Wedge, Ph.D., struck a nerve with her Psychology Today article "Why French Kids Don’t Have ADHD." In it, she pointed out that eleven percent of children in the United States have been diagnosed with ADHD, with two-thirds of them on medication; whereas in France, as well as Finland, the UK and Japan, the number was a measly half of one percent. The article received more than six million hits and established Dr. Wedge as one of the most sought-after voices in the field.

Now she delves deeper into the subject, investigating how specific cultural and social conditions, doctors, Big Pharma, the food industry, modern approaches to education, and the evolution of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) have come together to diagnose children’s behavioral problems as strictly biological, ignoring external causes ranging from dysfunctional environments to media influences to diet. The result: a generation addicted to stimulant drugs, some of whom have been prescribed what is essentially speed from the age of four with long term dependency and abuse issues into high school, college and beyond.

Concerns about ADHD are once again in the headlines, but there are few general books addressing this issue. A Disease Called Childhood is written for the millions of parents who wonder if their child has ADHD, or—if their child has been diagnosed—whether to put him or her on medication. Drawing on techniques gleaned from family therapy that looks at causes and solutions, rather than just symptoms, Wedge hopes to establish a new paradigm for child mental health—and a better, happier, and less medicated future.

MMarilyn Wedge, Ph.D., is a practicing family therapist with a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Chicago. She received a grant from the prestigious Danforth Foundation and had a postdoctoral fellowship in Ethics at the Hastings Center for Bioethics. She speaks regularly at professional conferences and has written a book on family therapy for professionals and parents, Suffer the Children, published in paperback with the title Pills Are Not for Preschoolers. She lives in Oak Park, California.