"Different" Doesn't Necessarily mean "Disordered"!
So many kids do things that seem odd or excessive at various points in their development. Though some clearly do need professional help, many of them are victims of a culture that’s far too quick to attach a label such as ADHD, social anxiety, or bipolar disorder to every child who’s hard to manage, hard to understand, or just doesn’t seem to fit in. In recent years, more and more children have been receiving psychiatric labels – and at younger and younger ages, for fewer and milder symptoms. In fact,hard as it may be to believe, nearly one-fifth of all American children currently meet the criteria for at least one mental disorder! We need to ask: Is there really something wrong with all these kids, or is there something wrong with the way they’re viewed, categorized, and treated? If so many kids are “disordered,” what’s happened to our concept of “normal”? Maybe it's time to reclaim "normal" as a spectrum condition! Instead of pathologizing every quirk and struggle -- ...
