A large-scale study of patients belonging to the Kaiser Permanente health care system has found "a significant increase in the number of children diagnosed with Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)." The study involved about 850,000 patients ages five to 11, and showed a 24 percent jump in diagnoses from 2001 to 2010. It is possible that the increase in part or in whole due to "better diagnosis." (KPCC)

  • http://blog.tysonwilliams.com/ Tyson Williams

    Best headline ever! LOL

  • rvernon

    One word:  coffee.  Millions of self medicating ADD peeps.  Me being one of them.

    OH!  My coffee is almost out.  Need more coffee.  I don’t really like coffee with all that stuff in it.  I wonder where this coffee comes from?  Is it blood coffee?  My cups getting dirty.  I’ll get another cup.  They all are dirty!  I’ll clean the break room.  Why is the janitor closet so messy?  That reminds me, my closets are messy at home.  Maybe I’ll leave work early and……………

  • geoelectric

    I don’t mean to be humorless and all, but stereotypes about medical issues sometimes don’t ring funny to the people who suffer from them, you know? ADHD can be crippling.

  • William Hurley

    According to the results of several recently concluded meta-analyses of the extent and etiology of ADHD, approximately 12% of the global population is living with the disorder.  Of that population a mere 4% have been diagnosed in the US.  It’s fair to say that a 24% “jump” in the number of diagnoses made by providers in California is a rather small step in toward identifying and aiding millions of Americans living with the condition unknowingly.

    By comparison, approximately 10% of Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s Disease all of whom, by definition, are Americans over the age of 50.  In short, there are millions more Americans living with ADHD than Alzheimer’s but it is the latter not the former that draws the bulk of resources and serious public attention.  As such, would it be a newsworthy item were there to be a 24% increase in the number of Alzheimer’s diagnoses rendered?  The question answers itself.

  • destroy_all_humans

    its a lot easier to sell medicine if everyone is “sick”

    • Alan Ball

      It’s this kind of mindset that has allowed mental illnesses in general to go untreated. If you lived with it, you wouldn’t be calling foul. 

  • v_vsn

    Best headline ever.

  • AirPillo

    While many of us try to have a sense of humor about our problems, especially since they’re *usually* mild compared to more crippling mental disorders, I can’t help but think you wouldn’t make a joke like that about Down Syndrome or Autism in a headline.

    It’s inappropriate in the same way as making a casual, mildly sexist joke is inappropriate: not terrible, but you’d be annoyed with me if I did it in front of you.