At what point did boredom become a mental disorder? Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) seems to have become an epidemic in the United States, with roughly 19% of Americans diagnosed.
Meanwhile, in France, the diagnosis rate is only .5%. So what explains such a wide disparity?
Well, first and foremost, one must recognize that ADHD is an extremely questionable “disorder.” A few decades ago, ADHD would have just been called “boredom.”
In fact, even Dr. Edward C. Hamlyn of the Royal College of General Practitioners stated, “ADHD is fraud intended to justify starting children on a life of drug addiction.”
Confessing before his death, Leon Eisenberg—one of the “founding fathers” of ADHD as a psychiatric disorder—said, “ADHD is a prime example of a fictitious disease.”
In France, there are numerous cultural differences compared to the U.S. Generally, the French discourage the consumption of chemical/processed foods much more than in America. This is especially true for children in school, who often eat meals that are prepared by chefs-in-training using ingredients from local produce and livestock.
With all the high fructose corn syrup, GMO foods, stimulants, allergens, etc. in our children’s diets, no wonder they cannot focus or stay calm. Plus they are children!
Children naturally tend to be active and energetic, which is why constraining them to an assigned seat in a prison-like classroom provokes misbehavior.
Do schoolchildren have a “deficit in attention”, or are they just bored out of their minds?
When you cannot pay attention to a boring film, do you assume it is because you have a mental disorder that inhibits your ability to focus?
Of course not!
You walk out of the theater and demand a refund!
Instead of questioning what we feed our kids or the schools we put them in, our default assumption is that there’s something inherently wrong with our children.
This mentality not only justifies poor dieting and schooling environments, but it also defends the mainstream pharmaceutical industry that profits from selling “treatments” for what are often overblown or overdiagnosed mental “disorders.”
Contrarily, in France, ADHD is preferably treated with socializing and talk therapy, rather than harmful chemicals that come with numerous side-effects and create addictions.
As Paul Fassa of RealFarmacy.com describes it:
“Psychiatrists traded in their note pads used in talk therapy for prescription pads as their professional stature diminished a few decades ago…So then psychiatrists could have patients visit for 15 minutes then prescribe them pharmaceuticals.”
Even more disturbing is the fact that Ritalin is a stimulant that is chemically similar to cocaine in molecular structure. We “stimulate” kids with “stimulants” because school is not “stimulating” enough for them.
While the “war on drugs” targets non-violent pot smokers, it completely ignores the toxic, and unnecessary drugs pushed onto children by Big Pharma.