Ever since 1937, when Dr. Charles Bradley discovered that children who displayed symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity responded well to Benzedrine, a stimulant, we have been thinking about this “disorder” in almost the same way. Soon after Bradley’s discovery the medical community began labeling children exhibiting these symptoms as having “minimal brain dysfunction,” or MBD, and treating them with the stimulants Ritalin and Cylert. …
Today, the fifth edition of the DSM only requires one to fulfill five of eighteen possible symptoms to qualify for an ADHD diagnosis. If you haven’t seen the list yet, look it up. It will probably bother you. How many of us can claim we have difficulty with organization, or a tendency to lose things; that we are frequently forgetful, distracted, or fail to pay close attention to details? Under this subjective criteria, the entire U.S. population could potentially qualify. We’ve all had these moments, and in moderate amounts, it’s a normal part of the human condition.
This is a sterling example of how scientism parodies religion, in this case, religion of the crudest sort. For it is hard to read this and not be reminded of how certain human communities have, from time to time, practiced child sacrifice. All you have here is pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo. Witch-doctoring.
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