ADHD/Autism/Asbergers is overdiagnosed. I am living proof of that fact.

I know this has been an issue discussed on this website and discussed on conspiracy theory sites in general as just a "theory". However, I wanted to delve into a bit of my personal experience with these things since I've been dealing with the phenomenon my whole life.

If you don't like seeing too much sensitive information or personal information... I'd recommend that you leave this topic. This is just a warning. Usually most of my topics are more outwardly based, but, I am going to be sharing my personal experiences, because, this part of my life is over... and some of it may be a bit either graphic, or, if not graphic (I don't mean in the violent sense), a bit unnerving for those people that do not wish to acknowledge that people can commit harm to other people even though they have their best intentions at heart.

Anyhow, I believe that the entire medical industry is a gigantic fraud. It diagnoses people incorrectly when they have certain diseases they think they have, and, for most of the time, if people share symptoms to any one of these diseases-- they automatically assume that you are autistic, or, you have ADD/ADHD, or asbergers.

Let me get to my life's story. It is necessary for me to go in my life's story for a bit. I grew up having many developmental issues. It's not like I didn't have any friends growing up. That wasn't the issue. But, when I was younger I didn't have any contacts, so, I couldn't see properly. I admit... there was a time when I couldn't really sit still, or control myself, and my thoughts were somewhat perverse.

But, who doesn't have those kinds of thoughts when they're a child? Society has collapsed to the point where they don't appreciate children anymore. They think that children who think obscene things, or, that children that make immature comments, or, that have issues have ADHD.

I was somewhat shy when I was growing up, and, for a good reason. I had a chronic ear infection all the way up until I was in the 8th grade. It also didn't help that I didn't have contacts or glasses. My vision was pretty much 2-20. So, I was pretty much almost blind, or, near-sighted. No one stopped to try to think about this for one moment. Everyone else assumed that I had poor motor control, and, they didn't take into account my talents, so rather than accentuate my strengths-- which is that I've always been a good typist, even when I was a kid, they always focused on the negative. They thought that because I had problems with my handwriting, and for some weird reason, they assumed that I had trouble concentrating, that I had ADHD. The thing is they always assumed I had ADHD when I was a kid. Even though year after year I kept getting good grades in school and I was fine. That was in elementary-middle school. Being put on ritalin severely dumbed me down and I think that while I had my other problems... being medicated made me more zombie like, as, opposed to making me more sociable, and, kept me from having a normal interaction with other students, and, kept me from enjoying life.

Then, comes high-school. When I was in high-school I had constant struggles with my parents. They wanted to put me in special education classes. I think that's what really pushed me over the edge. I think due to all the stress that I was receiving at home I had a mental breakdown. I wasn't able to think straight for about 3 years in high-school, and, I did poorly. I ended up leaving my first high-school with a GPA of 2.22. All of the stress from home kept me from doing well in school. My Mom demanded excellence out of me that I couldn't possibly do myself, and, my Dad wanted me to go to some mental hospital, or something like that. My Dad was convinced that I had some mental disorder of some sort. I was really tired at this point of being treated like I was just a child, and, I didn't like going through the special education ordeal, because, it was just naturally assumed that I had mental problems... so for me, after that, I kind of went to my own fantasy world, I think I just wanted to deny what I was going through at the time.

My social life was in the pits. I had maybe say one or two friends and I don't know how they've managed to stay with me all these years. They are now my best friends and they probably know all the stuff that I was going through and I am surprised they haven't turned on me. As far as school went... I was having some random outbursts as a result from me withdrawing from the real world and into my own fantasy world. If you were to look at a diary that I wrote at the time you would be able to see my fantasies replaced my real world and how I didn't want to see the real world for being the real world back then. This brings me to my next point... psychologists and therapists were almost worthless when dealing with the problem.

All the therapists and psychologists I've visited in my life have been for the most part worthless except for one that I used to see a few years ago. I liked him because he was good to talk to, but, I didn't feel comfortable sharing intimate details about myself other than what I had to do school and politics, and, it would feel pointless to keep talking to him just for the sake of talking to him since I would be wasting my Mom's time and money. Anyhow, most of the therapists I met wanted me to take MORE MEDICATION. You see, therapists and psychologists aren't interested in curing the patient. If they were they would be trying to figure out the root causes of problems and trying to fix them. They want to subscribe the patient medication. They're there to figure out what disorder someone has and try to "normalize" the patient by giving them medication. Well, I'm sorry, but it doesn't quite work that way.

I would simply not be normalized by medication. I was a bit slowed down. My wits weren't at their best. When I talked to one of these therapists they didn't ask me any questions that really helped. They were interested in how I was doing socially even though it was obvious that I wasn't doing well socially. If I was doing well socially at the time why would I even be going there in the first place? They didn't take the time to understand my family situation or why else I might possibly be stressed. They didn't think that all the internal stress and pressure that I was feeling from my family could have had a negative effect in my mind.

So, which brings me to the next phase in my life. I went to a different high-school, and, this is when my Mom suddenly got obsessed with the idea that I might have autism or be on the asberger spectrum. Autism and asbergers is now an umbrella term for people with social issues. At this point I was pretty much over the phase in my life where I was in my fantasy world. I was slowly coming back to the real world, and, things were starting to be on the upside. However, things didn't get better at home. I was still getting in tons of arguments with my Mom. My Mom was overly protective about me.

Oh yeah, I forgot one thing that I didn't mention here. My Mom colluded with the therapist I was seeing at the time to make me take abilify, some medicine that was supposed to help cure my problems. It was another one of those cure-all drugs. These cure-all drugs just simply don't work. I took the drug for a year and my weight skyrocketed from 110 pounds all the way to 170- pounds. I've managed to get my weight back down to 135 pounds. The medicine didn't have that much of a negative effect on my emotion other than the personality disorder that I was starting to develop because of my overly protective mother, and, because of my Dad-- that was constantly pushing me to be medicated because he thought I had issues, and, because of my brother who didn't stand up for me at the time. But, it resulted in rapid weight gain. I'm lucky to have lost most of that weight and now I only weigh about 135 pounds. It's pretty decent for being 5'4 and all. But, I still hated not being able to eat what I wanted to eat. I think my Dad actually was somewhat sympathetic to me during this time the year after I was off the medication and he really was supportive of me in trying to lose weight, so, maybe he changed his mind after seeing what the medication did to me that time.

She always compared herself to me and said that she always got As in school and said that she was disappointed that I wasn't putting nearly the same effort into academics. I was taking community college classes at the time when I was at my second high-school and my Mom wanted me to be a complete study nerd like she was. She didn't want me to put other areas of my life into consideration over my community college and other things in my life. I went to a quasi private school... but, yeah. my Mom's complaining got to me for the first part of the year. She assumed that I had autism, and, she tried to act like it wasn't a bad thing because people like Albert Einstein had it. This is the selling point that the people in the industry try to use-- if you can reduce your disability, then, perhaps you can become really successful, like Albert Einstein, or some other people. It's just a load of crock that they use to try to make it not seem that bad that they are diagnosing all of these people with more diseases.

My education turned out all right and now things are fine in my life... I now go to a 4 year college, and, I've been able to turn myself around. And, I think pretty much for the most part my family agrees that I was misdiagnosed, and, it's something we don't talk about that much... but, I just wanted to bring this to ATS's attention. I feel kind of comfortable sharing this with you guys since it would confirm a lot of your beliefs that big pharma is in bed wih psychologists, and, what not... but, I just wanted to make it clear at the same time, that, this is a very real issue, so, while all you people here might be sitting at your fingertips, and talking on the computer about this kind of stuff... I have lived through it, and, I'm kind of a veteran of the whole thing. It's had a very negative impact on my life, and, I'm lucky I was able to win my family back to my side, and, now I don't see those people anymore.

But, I think it is problematic that the medical industry starts diagnosing children from an early age and once they're given that label they're given it for life for the most part and it's hard to do anything about it except to avoid these people that want to label you. I recommend to anyone that if they are thinking about seeking medical help from a psychologist or a therapist that they should think twice about it and think about what they're doing in for... and, try to avoid getting your children diagnosed with autism, or, trying to see if you/someone else you know has one of these issues.

An interesting post and a very important issue. Mis-diagnosis is a huge problem, especially for children who are still growing and developing, the wrong chemical imbalance can severely alter ones mental and physical state. Well done for being strong enough to talk about this and intelligent enough to understand yourself better than so-called experts.

Thanks for sharing your story.
I've suffered anxiety for as long as I can remember, which has always been unsuccessfully addressed with meds, instead of the root cause. I've been off all meds for the last 2 years.
My 18yo son has struggled with this also, & was put on meds for the last 2 years. They dulled & numbed him, but didn't touch the root cause either. Hes currently coming off them & I pray he can stay off them.

I'm sure medications have a place, but I would bet that it would be around 5-10% of how its currently perscribed.
I'm glad that you've found your way through it all with your mind & heart intact.
Gives me hope we all can.
Love & peace to you

Nice post OP. I think your right on the mark. My daughter went through/ is going through the exact same "symptoms" you had. She is a teenager. The difference being, I never took her to the doctor, nor do I think there is anything wrong with her. She is just a dreamy kid.

I am sure there is some need for medication, but, I think what you went through, and what my daughter is going through right now is called "growing up". Young kids often cannot sit still in class. Especially now a days because they don't get the same amount of out door activity they used to when I was a kid. Computers, T.V.,video games. These are the activities that children do after school now.

And I very rarely have met a teenager that is fully focused and not in there own dream world. I encourage it with my child. I think it is what has helped our race to become so technologically advanced. Imagine if the caveman never dream't about being able to make fire? Or if the wright Brothers never dream't of flying?


Maybe we are too worried about our kids behavior. We forget that they are kids. And don't take the time to remember how we were as kids.

Good for you that you were strong enough to work your way through your lifes obstacles. And had enough belief in yourself to know that you weren't the problem. Just remember what you went through when you have a child of your own.....

Wow, very detailed and interesting post OP

I have to agree. It seems that big pharm is trying to get us medicated for anything and everything these days. The fact is, they are trying to medicate us for a condition known as "Humanity". It seems that all these issues that people have with growing up, maturing and learning lifes lessons is a disease that must be cured.

The worst part is the side effects of most of these meds. So, I can take this one small purple pill and be free of anxiety, BUT, I may die of a coronary pulmination, stroke, brain tumors or cows growing out of my butt.

Teachers tried to do the same to me, wanted me to go to special classes, see if I had ADHD, etc. Found out that the problem was the teachers as much as me. They weren't doing their jobs. So my parents had it out with them and all that. Later it was found that I also had heavy allergies so it was no wonder that I'd get angry and tell the other kids to # off when I felt sick most of the time. Once that was solved (allergy medication) I went to school normally, got good grades in middle school and A/B/C's in highschool. Mostly in class and testing (cared little for homework). But it just goes to show that what people could think is adhd retardism could be allergies or something else.

Continues to prove my theory that teachers are living fact books that are just stupid.

Originally posted by DerbyCityLights

I have to agree. It seems that big pharm is trying to get us medicated for anything and everything these days.

I'm a bit sick of people whinging on about 'big pharma'. In many cases, the families are as much to blame. They want a label for their kids 'condition' and they want a pill to fix it.

Originally posted by starchild10

Originally posted by DerbyCityLights

I have to agree. It seems that big pharm is trying to get us medicated for anything and everything these days.

I'm a bit sick of people whinging on about 'big pharma'. In many cases, the families are as much to blame. They want a label for their kids 'condition' and they want a pill to fix it.

They want a pill to fix it because we are being led to believe that stress and curiosity of the human spirit is a disease that cna be cured. We "whing" about Big Pharm because they are pushing their crap down our proverbial throats and the crap they say will cure us of one thing, kills us with another...

Originally posted by starchild10

Originally posted by DerbyCityLights

I have to agree. It seems that big pharm is trying to get us medicated for anything and everything these days.

I'm a bit sick of people whinging on about 'big pharma'. In many cases, the families are as much to blame. They want a label for their kids 'condition' and they want a pill to fix it.

And I'm a bit sick of people that don't have the mental acuity to see real problems where they exist in a dysfunctional culture.

Want a big dose of "big pharma"?

Watch TV and see how many ads there are for everything from depression to irritable bowel syndrome.
Do you think possibly that this may have an impact on the culture of instant gratification and mindless acceptance.

It's just a glimpse of what the future has in store for America. Not pretty is it?

sorry for straying off topic...

Glad you are doing better FI...sandf for your candor!

Thanks so much for sharing your personal experiences with this.

A lot of it rang true for me...

I was one of those, odd kids. But completely opposite from underachieving. In elementary school I used to get into trouble for finishing work and tests much earlier than the other kids. They used to make me copy the dictionary and the periodic table whenever I finished anything early because they didn't know what else to do.

I had friends... but wasn't exactly close with anyone. And I certainly wasn't popular. But it wasn't until middle school that I retreated into my fantasy world. I don't really remember much of middle school because my mind literally wasn't there. My body worked on autopilot while my mind frolicked in a romantic fantasy (I was a little girl, obviously my fantasy world is going to be romantic and fairy-tale like.. haha).
People in middle school thought I was weird because of the things I was interested in and the way I looked. This was before I had any piercings or tattoos, and I went to a private school where you weren't allowed to wear make up and everyone wore the same uniform. So I honestly couldn't have looked that much different from everyone else.
Anyways, all the girls despised me, and only a few guys talked to me... so I ended up being more comfortable around men than women.
Near the end of middle school, I started to get piercings. Or rather, I started to pierce myself. I liked the way it made my peers even more wary of me. It kept them away, and since they weren't all that nice to me to begin with... it was nice finding something that kept them away.

In high school things were supposed to get better. By this time I had, what I thought was, a close group of friends (they all attended the public middle school, so I didn't see them much). And I decided to go to the public school so I could at least have a chance to express myself and be able to go to school with the friends I didn't have in middle school.
I don't really remember what happened... but my sophomore year, I got sick. The doctors still have no idea what it was, whether it was something legitimate or if it was my mind that made myself sick. But obviously, they took that opportunity to medicate me silly.
After I got physically ill, my mind started to shut down along with my body. And I snapped completely. It was during this time that I was in multiple psychiatric wards and they were assuming that I had Aspergers (they also thought I had narcissistic personality disorder, which is very weird because it was right after a suicide attempt that they tried to diagnose that). In the wards, they put me on Zoloft, Xanax, Trizadone, Seroquel, and god only knows what else.
I remember at one hospital, us patients classified each other based on how much seroquel we were taking. After all, everyone was on it.
The interesting thing is... every psychiatric ward I was admitted to let me out after the minimum time (a week here, 10 days here, etc). Despite the fact that I was apparently crazy enough to hurt myself to the point where I needed 57 stitches, I wasn't crazy enough to be kept locked up. (And I'm fully insured, so if they wanted to, they could have kept me in there for a while).

They just put me in, medicated me, then let me out. I remember one doctor telling me that my problem was my mental control. I could make myself believe ANYTHING if I tried hard enough (which I guess, explains my vivid fantasy life).

Anyway, I'm rambling now. That was all back when I was 15 years old. I'm 22 now, and I'm still the exact same person that I was in middle school... but I'm not labeled the same way that I was back then. Maybe times have changed... or maybe there was nothing wrong with me to begin with and people just needed to find something wrong to explain how different I was.

Either way, I'm glad for all the misery I went through in my sophomore year of high school. I ended up going to a private school after all my stints in the mental wards (only because I had missed over 6 months of school... and if I returned to the public school, I would have had to make up the time, so I opted for the second option and went to the private school so I would only have to have 3 1/2 years of high school.)
I had a great time at the new high school, I was popular and graduated with a 4.4 GPA (since AP classes were out of 5) and I spent most of my time there just dicking around with friends. Not to mention the next four years of college, they were great too, despite the fact that most of the kids at my college were similar to the middle school kids I had to deal with (sillily enough, many of the kids who graduated from my middle school actually ended up at my college... so in one respect, they literally were the same kids).


It's just funny to think back on all the crap I had to go through just because I was different. After all, different doesn't necessarily mean defective.

reply to post by blend57


I would tend to mostly agree with you. I think that society is in a big rush to try to get children to grow up quickly, so, they want for normal childish behaviors to be seen as mental disorders. Failing to sit still in class, or, not being on topic 100% of the time, means you have ADHD. If you have some problem... rather than fixing it on your own, and, with society acknowledging that people have social problems, they like to label everyone with some sort of disability of some sort. I think they do it just to feel better about themselves. They like to think that they're that way because their brain works that way rather than the fact that these people are still learning, and, trying to understand the world, much like how I was. Unfortunately, those people at the same time didn't understand me.

reply to post by jewells


I'm glad that my story inspired you. I used to struggle with anxiety myself. I used to have a lot of social and personal anxiety about myself and my Mom mentioned it frequently. I think that the solution to dealing with anxiety doesn't require medicine. Medication would only help suppress the emotions that people are feeling with relations to that certain anxiety. If you truly want to deal with your anxiety correctly you will need to deal with the symptom of the problem, and, only until then, whatever that problem is, your anxiety won't really go away. Medication can't just fix this sort of thing. It might help lower the feelings that you have, but, usually anxiety is somewhat justified, and, needs to be dealt with by confronting the problem head on.

reply to post by Frankidealist35


Odd kid here as well. So is my son. Different schools, different diagnoses.
Cheers to a great thread!

And then there are people like me, who were adults before anybody bothered to take interest in their difficulties at all. My entire life, especially childhood was hell for me because I am autistic, and no parents, teachers, school faculty, church people, scout leaders, or anybody at all even cared. My difficulties went entirely ignored, untreated, and unmedicated, despite my severe difficulties, because I came from a "poor white-trash family."

Too many people are diagnosed autistic simply because they are shy. It goes well beyond shy for me: I was verging on tears last week when I went to enroll in college, and had to have my mom go with me, because I had never been there before and also because there would be other people there, and my brain cannot handle those things.

I'm 30 years old. I didn't recieve a proper diagnosis or treatment until I was 28. Getting a proper diagnosis and treatment is like winning the lottery, pretty much random luck.

You've illustrated really well the personal side of this issue and hinted at the political side of it.

Both are important, though this website leans in the direction of politics.

My sources tell me that the source of this push to get everyone on drugs is psychiatry.

But it actually goes deeper than that. We all have to deal with a certain amount of mental junk. Some more, some less. Psychiatry insists that they know all about this and that everyone else who claims to have answers is wrong.

But psychiatry and psychology aren't fixing the problem; it was never really their intention to fix it. The psychiatric leadership has a different plan. War, crime and so forth are allowed to fester in society to distract us from seeing what's really going on. Well, ATS is concerned with this aspect of it. What's REALLY going on while we worry about war, crime, poverty, and mental health?

Meanwhile, the human suffering continues. The stories of the people who get sucked into this game are important, too. And many who survive become ardent advocates for changing the system.

There are answers to these problems. They just aren't being implemented. This is something everyone should be aware of. I was taught that technology can't go in if ethics are out. So that's what we are trying to handle first. But be assured that if we can get some good people on the job, our mental health could actually improve.

So well done for pointing out the out-ethics that you personally observed. It's an important contribution.