Child psychologist Marilyn Wedge (Pills Are Not for Preschoolers) wrote this fascinating and chilling book after her Psychology Today article "Why French Kids Don't Have ADHD" received seven million hits. Wedge's book may be a bitter pill to swallow for the legions of parents who are medicating their kids in order to help them concentrate better at school or to end violent tantrums. Her point is blunt and clear: while there are situations where a diagnosis of ADHD is both valid (an injury, traumatic event or seizure disorder) and treatable with medication, there are also droves of parents medicating children who have been misdiagnosed by doctors.
Wedge's message is as controversial as it is hopeful. Her theory shifts the causes of ADHD from something chemical and biological within the child to environmental factors that are often well within the control of parents. Wedge shares case after case referred to her, young patients accompanied by beleaguered parents clutching prescriptions for various narcotics. Wedge determined that in nearly every case, not only was an external stress factor (parents' troubled marriage, financial strain, a lack of structure within the home) responsible for the purported ADHD, but that when these issues were resolved, not only did the ADHD disappear but the need for medication vanished as well.
And that's a good thing, because Wedge recounts a 2014 study finding that stimulant drugs have deeply concerning effects on the long-term function of the pro-frontal cortex in children. Until more research is done, Wedge is urging people to just say no to drugs for kids (even doctor-prescribed ones) and just say yes to this book showing another way to heal. --Natalie Papailiou, Author of blog MILF: Mother I'd Like to Friend