7. ADHD Nation by Alan Schwarz
This is one that caught my eye because there's been some concerns raised over DS1's development, and the possibility of ADHD is something that's come up, although he is as yet too young to be assessed for this (at least in the UK).
Non-fiction. Covers the history of ADHD - how it became recognised as a condition, how drugs were accidentally discovered to have an effect, and the impact this had. It's written in a very readable style.
It's an American book so focuses on ADHD treatment in the USA, and the mishandling of ADHD.
The author is clear that ADHD exists and that appropriate treatment, including medication, can be beneficial for individuals severely impacted by ADHD.
However. The author is extremely critical of the pharmaceutical industry, and their efforts to promote ADHD to doctors, teachers, parents and to the general public in an effort to sell more ADHD medications (the benefits of non-drug treatments being downplayed).
He talks about huge levels of misdiagnosis - the book makes it sound like it's remarkably easy to get diagnosed with ADHD and be prescribed pills in the USA. Some of the cases he discusses were diagnosed and prescribed ADHD drugs in the space of one short doctors appointment.
There's some American states where 30% of all boys have been diagnosed with ADHD. More than 10,000 toddlers across the USA diagnosed and medicated for ADHD. And he describes rampant misuse of ADHD medications in US colleges, where students keen to get their hands on the medications (which improve concentration in even NT individuals) easily fake symptoms to get prescriptions.
It's quite chilling to read about how aggressively the pharmaceutical industry is promoting ADHD in the pursuit of profit.
Looks like a well researched book too. It's 338 pages long, and the last 69 pages are filled with the notes and bibliography.