Good point. Considering Craig’s 9.6% is coming from a sample size of just over 1000, I think we could argue that the difference between 9.6% of this sample versus 5% of the nation’s population is not statistically significant, even without having to do any math.

A lot of people believe that kids in this country are diagnosed with ADD way too often these days (and implicitly that said kids should get off their lawns while they’re at it). Whether ADD is simply more prevalent in kids these days (like autism and life-threatening peanut allergies) or it’s just understood better than it was a generation ago and doctors recognize it better is almost irrelevant; it’s probably a combination of both factors. For the kids who really need medication in order to function (I was diagnosed in 5th grade [1996] and it changed my life), the medication is a godsend. I suppose there may be a component of kids who are misdiagnosed, but that is not usually the case.

For adults, however, it is a very different picture. Adults in the United States are woefully underdiagnosed and undertreated for ADD. I have known a lot of people who had textbook cases of ADD and refused to seek treatment. It used to drive me nuts when my ex would stay at his office until 11pm because he apparently didn’t get a lot of work done during normal office hours but managed to focus better and increase his productivity after other people went home and the place was quiet. My aunt does the same thing. I would probably be like that too if not for the medication. I get it. But I value my quality of life and don’t want to stay at work until midnight. Imagine that.

Maybe since baseball players have health insurance (must be nice!) and access to care, they are diagnosed and treated at a slightly higher rate than the average American who may or may not see a doctor on a regular basis (or may be irrational like the people I mentioned who could afford treatment but refuse it for reasons I will never understand). Just a hypothesis.

Meanwhile, there is still a lot of stigma to having ADD. I usually don’t tell people I have it, because it is poorly understood and people have so many misconceptions. I don’t have a learning disability. I have well-above-average intelligence. I graduated from a highly prestigious private research university. I’m not stupid or lazy. I didn’t ask for extra time to take the SAT (I knew people who did) or any other special treatment in school, because I’m not dyslexic or anything seriously challenging like that and didn’t want to be treated differently from anyone else. I eagerly await the day when there isn’t this kind of stigma… oh, and I’d also really like to have health insurance.

One more thing, as I almost forgot. If you are one of those people who does not have ADD and abuses the medication, please re-evaluate your life. There are shortages now because the DEA limits how much can be manufactured. So if you don’t actually need it and you are limiting the supply for people who really do need it, please stop being a horrible person.

Ugh. I am the most overly verbose person ever. Sorry this was so long. And thanks for reading the whole thing, if anyone actually did.

Hypogonadism, of course, means that person gets to take testosterone legally.