Apparently they do. Or at least that's what a new survey by Parents magazine and the Child Mind Institute claims. The survey asked 1,000 parents to answer a few questions regarding ADHD and found that nearly a third of them believe this disorder is "sometimes more a result of insufficient or absent parenting rather than a true medical condition." Ok, I know that's only the minority of parents responding like that, but I still find this pretty disturbing.
I mean, I know several children who've been diagnosed with ADHD and I'd be lying if I said their parents are anything but involved, caring and supportive. Plus, I just don't see how absent parenting can cause a child to have problems concentrating or paying attention.
Read more in ¿Qué más?: Are parents responsible for their kids' ADHD?
Now, what I do agree with in terms of the other results of the survey is that "kids are put on medication as a quick and easy fix." So I'm with the 74 percent of parents who felt the same way. I'm also with the 72 percent who feel "doctors and parents are too quick to put on medication for ADHD rather than looking for other solutions."
This is not the first time I express this view and I'm not surprised the majority of parents feel the same way. We live in a kind of society that wants all of our problems to disappear, as quickly and easily as possible and many times we think medication, even for a young child, is the only solution when there are actually other options.
I also agree with the 63 percent of parents who said "too many children are being diagnosed with ADHD when they just have behavioral issues." Again, this has a lot to do with wanting a quick fix to a problem that sometimes goes beyond the disorder. In other words, parents need to be more truthful and willing to look at all aspects of both their parenting styles and their child's personality before quickly agreeing to get their kid tested for ADHD. After all, many of the symptoms are pretty much the same as how one would describe a child with behavioral problems.
In the end, I don't think there's any sense in playing the blaming game. As a society, we just need to take a closer look at mental health and figure out a better way to deal with ADHD before ALL children get diagnosed and medicated for it.
What do you think of the results of this survey?
Image via kretyen/flickr
