A Disease Called Childhood: Why ADHD Became an American Epidemic

“This reflective, carefully researched and well-written book exposes the cultural wounding of our children by Big Pharma and ill-advised adults. Wedge's book is a much needed call to action for advocates of children everywhere.” —Mary Pipher, bestselling author of Reviving Ophelia and The Green Boat   "One of the most important and persuasive books I've read in years. If you are a parent, teacher, or doctor of a child diagnosed with ADHD, you owe it to the child to read this book."—Irving Kirsch, author of The Emporer's New Drugs: Exploding the Antidepressant Myth "In this ocmpelling book, Marilyn Wedge provides readers with an in-depth understanding of the rise of ADHD, a skillful deconstruction of the science used to promote the selling of stimulants for the disorder, and–most important of all–a guide for thinking of alternative approaches to helping our children. This is an antidote to the common wisdom about ADHD that our society needs to know."—Robert Whitaker, author of Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America “A Disease Called Childhood is strongly recommended for parents who wish to understand  the ADHD diagnosis and  learn specific techniques that may be helpful for their children.” —Stuart Kaplan, M. D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Penn State College of Medicine and author of Your Child Does not Have Bipolar Disorder   “A Disease Called Childhood is a very readable analysis of the hoax that American psychiatry and Big Pharma have perpetrated for the past 40 years to redefine children’s normal behaviors as some form of brain disease. Marilyn Wedge has written a proper antidote to this unnecessary medicalization, by encouraging us to re-examine the quality of the family, school, and social environments that we provide for our children.” —Stuart A. Kirk, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Luskin School of Public Affairs, UCLA, author of The Selling of DSM, Making Us Crazy, and Mad Science "[Wedge's] affable approach and compassionate universal concern for the wellness of  children are evident throughout. In an important read for open-minded parents, Wedge offers fresh perspectives and practical approaches to the continuing ADHD conundrum."—Kirkus Reviews "It's one of those parenting books that I just wanted to jump on the roof and shout about because it's really that good. It's not just for parents who are at the end of the road with schools wanting a psychiatric diagnosis for the behaviour of their children, it's also a roadmap on how to not end up there in the future."—Blogher