ADHD International Consensus Statement – based in truth?

Dr. Barkley, it seems, would rather we accept that ‘ADHD’ is what HE says it is because he says that’s what it IS!

Then he can roll out his 'cause and effect relationships' and his ‘research results’ and all his ‘facts and figures’ without the inconvenience of having to deal with obvious questions like, “Why should I take your word for that?” or “How do I know you’re not making that up?”

Perhaps Dr. Barkley doesn’t want to talk to us in his International Consensus Statement about his ‘diagnostic criteria’ for ‘ADHD’ for the simple reason that he doesn’t want us to have all the pieces of the jigsaw in the same place. We might just put them all together and find that the picture we get is different to the one on the box!

A lot of people are already there.

I, myself, observed earlier that the ‘diagnostic criteria’ for ‘ADHD’ as published in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) are “so vague and subjective they would surely be in constant danger of an interpretation to suit just about ANY conceivable purpose”.

Clinical psychologist Dr. David Keirsey makes the following observations in his article “The Great ADD Hoax”:

“… the essay on attention deficit in the DSM-IV is so poorly written that it's a wonder anybody takes it seriously.”

“The other problem with the idea of attention deficit is that the medics apparently believe it is caused by its symptoms. For sure the medics have got it backwards, and some of us are surprised that they haven't noticed such an obvious error. Even though medical practitioners aren't scientists they ought to know better than that. It's preposterous to say that the symptoms of attention deficit cause the deficit of attention.”

Then there’s this:

Next, ADHD Diagnostic Criteria

ADHD-Report.com: The concerned parents' guide to childrens' attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD/ADD)

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