The rise in mental health diagnoses among children, particularly ADHD, reflects a trend toward medicalizing regular childhood behaviors. Institutional pressures and expectations, combined with cultural ideals of productivity, lead to practices that may create self-fulfilling prophecies. Increased awareness has resulted in greater self-identification and prescription rates, suggesting that normal emotions are often misdiagnosed as medical disorders. This trend risks undermining resilience and promoting a narrative of being unwell rather than encouraging healthy emotional responses.
When we expect certain behaviours of others, we are likely to act in ways that make the expected behaviour more likely to occur.
The surge in mental health diagnoses, particularly among adolescents, has sparked concern that well-intentioned awareness campaigns may be fuelling overdiagnosis.
Everyday experiences such as stress, sadness, and anxiety are increasingly being misinterpreted as clinical disorders, inflating their prevalence.
Rising prescription rates and the growing numbers of young people self-identifying with conditions like ADHD risk medicalising normal emotional responses.
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