Hyperactivity

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The disorders describe disruptive and restless behaviour that results in children having difficulty focusing their attention on specific tasks.

ADHD is most commonly noticed at the age of five, and as many as one in 30 British children is said to have it.

It is often treated with drugs, with Ritalin being the most commonly prescribed.

Some scientists say ADHD is a genetic disorder that does not disappear with adulthood.

But sceptics believe the diagnosis is a 'biobabble' label, which has evolved from a soundbite culture that is too prepared to medicalise anti-social human traits.

Dr Spitzer, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University in New York, now says the classification led to many people being diagnosed as medically disordered when their mood swings and behaviour were simply normal feelings of happiness and sadness.

In a BBC2 documentary series The Trap, which begins on Sunday, he says that between 20 and 30 per cent of mental disorder diagnoses may be incorrect.

His admission comes as figures show that the amount spent by the Health Service on drugs to treat ADHD and similar disorders in children trebled to £12 million in just five years, from 1999-2003.

Almost 400,000 British children aged between five and 19 are believed to be on the drugs - despite doctors' fears about side-effects.

That is the equivalent of every child in Britain each taking more than four doses of the drugs every year.

NHS guidelines recommend drug treatment for the most severely...

...ba href=/hyperactivity/a/b disorder, and had watched his father die of a heart attack in 2002, his mother, Marie Turner, told the Midland Daily News.

"He wasn't a mean person," she told the newspaper.

"He was just really sick.

I kept trying to get him help, and nobody would help him." David Turner shot 17-year-old Jessica Forsyth outside H.H.

Dow High School on Wednesday before shooting himself, police said.

Forsyth was listed in fair condition Thursday afternoon at a Flint hospital.

Marie Turner said her son and Forsyth saw a counselor for therapy the day before the shooting.

"They were fine," Marie Turner said.

"They were laughing and having a good time.

I think maybe ...

he just snapped.

...

I just know he didn't mean to hurt her.

He loved her.

He wanted to take her on a cruise." The mother said her son's relationship with Forsyth was on and off.

The two had broken up about a week ago.

Her son had gone to Dow High to return a watch and other items belonging to Forsyth, she said.

Marie Turner said he must have found a hidden key and opened her safe containing firearms.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.

All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Posted E-mail Press R...

...ba href=/hyperactivity/a/b disorder, and had watched his father die of a heart attack in 2002, his mother, Marie Turner, told the Midland Daily News."He wasn't a mean person," she told the newspaper.

"He was just really sick.

I kept trying to get him help, and nobody would help him."David Turner shot 17-year-old Jessica Forsyth outside H.H.

Dow High School on Wednesday before shooting himself, police said.

Forsyth was listed in fair condition Thursday afternoon at a Flint hospital.Marie Turner said her son and Forsyth saw a counselor for therapy the day before the shooting."They were fine," Marie Turner said.

"They were laughing and having a good time.

I think maybe ...

he just snapped.

...

I just know he didn't mean to hurt her.

He loved her.

He wanted to take her on a cruise."The mother said her son's relationship with Forsyth was on and off.

The two had broken up about a week ago.

Her son had gone to Dow High to return a watch and other items belonging to Forsyth, she said.Marie Turner said he must have found a hidden key and opened her safe containing firearms.Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.

All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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