“Just try harder,”. That's what many adults and children hear every day. Those people have ADHD, Attentive Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. According to the American Center for Disease control, or CDC, 9.5% of children between the ages of four and 17 have been diagnosed with ADHD since 2007. I am one of these patients. They hear all the time that they are 'not trying hard enough' or are 'doing it for attention'. However, that's not even the idea of what ADHD is. ADHD is a mental impairment, not laziness. This is a stereotype we need to abolish and we need to learn what ADHD patients are really like.

There is an entire threshold of facts and figures that show this is a real issue, both statistical and general. In an article from the Washington Post, Dr. Tanya E. Froehlich made this statement; "There is a perception that ADHD is overdiagnosed and overtreated. But our study shows that for those who meet the criteria for ADHD, the opposite problem -- underdiagnosis and undertreatment -- seems to be occurring.". What this means is people think that people with ADHD are given too much attention, when really they are not given enough attention. In fact, out of the 9.5% of U.S children with ADHD, only 32% are getting the treatment they need. For a more specific understanding, 2.4 million children between the ages of eight and 15 meet the definition of ADHD, but about 1.2 million are not yet diagnosed or being treated. Males are also more likely to be diagnosed than females. But ADHD does not just affect children, which is another misconception. Many adults have it too, about 4-5%. An estimated 60% of children of ADHD will still have it as an adult. The adults suffer similar side effects as children, such as concentration problems, poor organization, impulsiveness, behavioral problems, and difficulty with anger and frustration, which is the part about being emotional. The one thing that does not stick with most adults is the hyperactivity. Also, many adults with ADHD showed poor educational performance. The statistical evidence shows ADHD is an issue, but it is what people say about people with ADHD that is the real issue.

There is an abundance of things people say about ADHD patients, the vast majority of which are not true and/or are offensive. Let's start with one I have heard a lot as an elementary schooler; you're not trying hard enough. It may seem that people with ADHD have control over their actions and are doing it on purpose, and do not 'want' to focus, but this is absolutely not true. Remember, ADHD is a chemical imbalance in the brain, not laziness. They want to be able to sit still and stay organized and get those papers in, and try their hardest, but they are mentally incapable of doing so. Again, I have problems with ADHD sometimes, but I really have no control over it. Yet I still get my work in and remember things, although I do forget to do certain tasks a lot. It is not necessarily impossible for them to focus, but it is very difficult. Some people also believe that ADHD is not a real disorder, but scientifically, it is a mental disorder that has an inherited biological component, says Psych Central.com. Here is a good one I have heard throughout my childhood; you are am doing it just to get attention. Really? Nobody would never blurt out in class to purposely disrespect the teacher and risk missing important information just to get attention. Sometimes someone does act out in front of other people, but that is more for their own amusement. There is a difference between being goofy and expressing yourself for fun, and then not being physically able to control yourself. All these assumptions people make really bring things into prospective, do they not?

One possible solution to help control and diminish this issue is to help people with this disorder and make sure they feel cared for. This is something we could do as an entire society. I was relieved when I read all this information, because for a while I felt like it was just me, but now I better understand that it is an incapability. I am not at all saying that we should baby these people and give them all the attention in the world, because there are obviously bigger issues that still need to be addressed. I am simply saying that we need to guide these people through these difficulties and let them know that they are not alone. We need to inform them that if they can not focus or meet certain obligations, it is not entirely their fault. We need to help them, not criticize them.

This essay has addressed many issues associated with ADHD and solutions to solve these problems. ADHD should be treated as a mental illness, not someone not trying hard enough. Take it from someone has ADHD, and knows what it is really like.









Works Cited
"ADHD in Adults: Symptoms, Statistics, Causes, Types, Treatments, and More." WebMD. WebMD, 03
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Prevention, 24 Jan. 2013. Web. 05 Feb. 2013.


 Reinberg, Steven. "9% of Kids Have ADHD." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 04 Sept. 2007.



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 Tartakovsky, Margarita. "9 Myths, Misconceptions and Stereotypes about ADHD | World of



Psychology." Psych Central.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2013.