There are many who genuinely suffer from ADHD and their parents did not allow them medication due to ignorance. And they have the exact opposite story to tell.
It's a tale of ignorance all around. Overzealous diagnosis leads to problems which leads to mistrust. People who get misdiagnosed suffer, and those who are properly diagnosed, but assumed to be misdiagnosed also suffer.
Exactly. My parents shied away from looking into ADD/ADHD treatment for me because of the blowback about overdiagnosing, instead ascribing to the more regressive and I daresay petulant "kids will be kids" outlook of my behavior and educational issues growing up. I didn't last one semester at college, and my life was a mess for close to my first ten years of adulthood, at which point I finally overcame the "this is just the way you are" mindset and sought treatment. Started on medication and my life turned around overnight.
So while it's certainly important to keep an eye on pharma, it's also wildly irresponsible, unfair, and unscientific to claim "it's mostly made-up because I don't like the implication that a lot of people have a mental problem". Particularly disgusting is including the anecdote about the person who faked ADHD symptoms to get stimulants, then killed himself when his supply was cut off: prescription drug abuse/addiction is a serious issue, but one that is completely separate from the proper diagnosis of a medical condition.
There's rightfully been a backlash against the "better living through chemistry" postwar mindset that every problem should be medicated. But I think in this case it's ultimately less about medicating and more about fear of and unwillingness to address mental issues.
