Re: International ADHD Consensus Statement

[Wgreen]

Rumpelstiltskin.

You can’t discuss a problem, much less contend with it, until you define it. In the fairy tale, when the miller’s daughter at last learns the imp’s name, she finally has some leverage. This is archetypal. As long as we continue to argue about what ADD is, we’ll remain stuck in the mud. If it means whatever anybody wants it to mean, we’ll remain… stuck in the mud.

Barkley et al. are trying to define a neurological phenomenon, a phenomenon that is admittedly complex and slippery, so we can move on to other issues—coping, treatment, public policy, etc. While I have no doubt that our understanding of ADD will evolve, I find it useful that a group of mental-health professionals has tried to delimit this “thing” we struggle with day in and day out.

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