Do many people think that ADHD is not real?

[Ilovecranberries]

Was having remote drinks with a friend and his wife yesterday. She's a secondary school teacher in a quite "rough" school (not in the UK). I was quite surprised when, discussing something quite abstract about how different people think and react differently, she had said quite breezily that the majority of teachers she knows "don't believe" in the existence of ADHD.
Incidentally, one of my children is currently being assessed for it, but it is not news that I had shared socially outside of my immediate family. I wasn't offended, but I wonder if it is actually a widespread view behind the closed doors?

Hopefully not within teaching circles

I do however think the amount of parents just claiming their children have ADHD without a diagnosis doesn't help fight the ignorance around the condition.

Much like certain food intolerances, many used to just accept it as a thing but then after many started self diagnosing, people became more skeptical

@katiegoestoaldi I think you have misunderstood me. We cannot tell a doctor anything other than what we see at school. We work with parents closely and look for signs of behaviours they see at home and report as such. In no way would we, could we or should we tell a medical professional a child 'doesn't have adhd,' because that's not our place. Take your spite elsewhere.

@Iwalkinmyclothing
Thank you for the answer. I had many comments linked to DC's misbehaviour in public (I mean, we don't do guests anymore exactly for this reason), but it was more along the lines "your DC needs a manly hand in the house" or something like this (single parent here). It did not occur to me that if there is an actual official diagnosis, the comments will just change into suggesting treatments with fairy shit instead.

@mistyrivers87

NC'd for this because I know I'll get flamed and chased down with pitchforks.

I think ADHD is a load of bollocks. It does not exist. It was a term concocted to deflect the blame from parents when they've got a naughty child. No parent wants to admit they've failed in their discipline, they'd rather place a label on it. ADHD is a fantasy of a condition. People need to simply realise they've lost their way with their discipline.
I have two children myself and yes they are naughty and yes I am not perfect by any means and yes I'd love to say that when my son kicks off that he simply has ADHD as it would reassure me that I haven't slipped up somewhere. But no, I take responsibility for my child's actions and refuse to blame an imaginary illness.

DS has ADHD. He is not naughty and undisciplined, he is polite, well behaved, friendly and clever. However his brain just does not switch off. As soon as he is awake he is moving and speaking and doing things at a million miles an hour, and will be all day until the long long loooong slog to get him to sleep begins. You can see the effort it takes him to sit still and concentrate. Literally, see him straining to contain himself and he gets so upset with himself when he cant. He has been in tears countless times that he's different from his peers. It has been a long path, the many many appointments, learning different parenting techniques, extra help at school and medications to get to a point where he is doing well at school and with friends.

The fact that you, as an adult (I presume), thinks it just naughty children being raised by feckless parents is shocking to me.

@GnomeOrMistAndIceGuy no spite, just a parent whose child struggled through school because teachers had no idea about masking

@ExpectingatChristmas completely agree. There needs to be more education on the subject. I've been branded "offensive and ignorant" so maybe i am one of those people who needs educating. And I definitely agree that it needs encouraging that people should be recognised for being good at different things. Would be a boring place if we were all the same !!

@katiegoestoaldi I completely appreciate that, but I don't appreciate being called ignorant when you don't know the lengths my colleagues and I go to to push for our children's right to correct diagnoses.

I trained as a secondary teacher about 10 years ago - we had one lecture about ADHD and it was very much about whether it was diagnosed too much so therefore possibly not a “real” condition... with not a huge amount of reading giving any other viewpoint.

They happened to uses statistics from two health authorities I’m familiar with and know that the difference in diagnosis rates is actually mostly because of ease of access to the diagnostic service, not as was implied that they over diagnose.

So I chose the essay question related to that lecture... but if other people didn’t it’s entirely possible they did no further research and left to become teachers thinking it might not exist.

@qnc01
Just to burst your bubble my family is not chaotic. Mum and dad married both working in professional jobs, with two children, older one fine younger one ADHD to the extreme. No drugs or alcohol or DV at home, extended family living nearby loving grandparents involved . Live in “nice home“ no money worries should be all good according to you.
I work in children’s social services I know what a chaotic family looks like. Thanks for the parent blaming though I’ll just add it to my long list.

The thing is there's more than just one type of ADHD but the most mentioned is hyperactive type so people imagine naughty behaviour.

I have inattentive ADHD and have no hyperactive element at all, in fact I'm a quiet introvert.

Is it true that lots of ADHD diagnoses are given to children from chaotic households? What is the definition of chaotic in this instance? Could it be that for this group the chaotic household itself is due to their adult relatives having undiagnosed ADHD traits? I don’t see how coming from a chaotic household itself means the diagnosis is false

@mistyrivers87
I am not offended by your views. To be honest, the first person I tried to blame was myself - for being too lax on discipline, for working and leaving DCs in care of various, often transient nannies and babysitters, for not forging a healthy and strong support network. I can see how it can be easy to think exactly the same from the outside. If my other child hasn't been such a Perfect Peter, I'd probably just think that it is 100% my parenting failure and I would have never agreed with the school's suggestion to seek professional opinion.

@katiegoestoaldi when one of my DC was being assessed by CAHMS for ASD his teacher told them that in her opinion I was making it up and the HT did a safeguarding referral saying that they suspected I had FII. All totally unfounded and proven to be incorrect. We changed schools, assessments concluded he did/does have ADHD and we made a formal complaint about the original school which was upheld by the governors as they had hugely overstepped their bounds. The assessment concluded that they could not diagnose ADHD as their process had been inconclusive due to it being too difficult to say whether DS behaviours were due to ADHD or were due to undamaged sensory needs. They said to give it 12-18 months of putting in place a sensory diet and then to see if things had improved or not.

Pyjamaface - lots of your experience is mine too.
DS1 is great in school but masks brilliantly and can be violent and abusive at home. He's very sensitive and great with babies and toddlers (he's 12).
He cannot focus, his executive function skills are very poor, his self esteem is rock bottom.
DH and I have been on so many parenting courses!
He was diagnosed with combined ADHD last year. He also has severe anxiety.
Believe me, CAMHS really don't give out diagnoses like sweeties.

And, worldwide research suggests prevalence of adhd as 5% of the population. Diagnosis here in Scotland is 1%. So, not over diagnosed.

And, worldwide research suggests prevalence of adhd as 5% of the population. Diagnosis here in Scotland is 1%. So, not over diagnosed.

It’s a behaviour issue - it’s not something your born with

I'm absolutely shocked at all the Mumsnetters who think they know better than experienced medical doctors. It's a long and detailed process to get an ADHD diagnosis.

My DD has ADHD, contrary to the uneducated view of ADHD, she has always been the best behaved and cleverest child at school and home. She's used to gasps of 'you can't possibly have ADHD that's for naughty boys!' from people with no knowledge of what they are talking about.

It's always such a coincidence how children with ADHD come from homes which are really chaotic - their behaviour is a response to their* environment

Do they?
I came from a lovely family who were very firm but fair and I wasn't a naughty child. I had one other sibling and he's very successful and doesn't have ADHD.
My parents were both well educated and had successful careers, they were also very down to earth and respectable.
My home was far from chaotic thanks.

It’s a behaviour issue - it’s not something your born with

Considering that genetics play a large part of whether someone is likely to develop ADHD, or indeed other neurodevelopmental conditions, I'd say that yes - you are born with it.