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Dr, Archer is being disingenuous.
In 1902, George F. Still, a London pediatrician and medical historian, gave three lectures (published in The Lancet of that year) on what he called a “morbid defect of moral control” in children. He didn’t call it ADHD, but so what? They used to call tuberculosis “consumption.” But by whatever name, it was still what we know today as TB. My father had ADD more than 20 years ago. I observed it—and the consequences—with my own eyes.
We’re seeing more and more “doubters” coming out of the closet. Two days ago I posted a piece about (American historian and political pundit) George Will caustically using the expression “the medicalization of a problem” on network TV. It wasn’t in the context of ADD, but the dots are easily connected.
What is truly interesting is that a mental health professional would make such a bold (or careless) remark, knowing the implications. Words matter. If it didn’t exist 20 years ago, one has to assume it doesn’t really exist at all. It’s a sham. So all of us to claim to have ADD/ADHD are akin to those who claim to have been abducted by aliens? Dr. Archer needs to be honest enough to say what he really means.
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