Myths

How many times have you heard well-meaning people try and pinpoint the “cause” of your ADHD? “Not enough discipline at home.” “Too much TV.” “Too many computer games.” “Too much sugar.”

There has been a lot of public attention around alleged links between food additives, sugar, colourings and “E” numbers as causes of ADHD.

However, the majority of clinical trials that investigated these possible causes have not proved conclusive. Some publications have suggested a possible link between hyperactive behaviour following consumption of some artificial colours; nonetheless, at this time there is no consensus in the scientific community on whether a chronic disorder such as ADHD may be caused by food additives.

Is ADHD Real?
Some people believe that because ADHD symptoms can be found in everyone at one time or another, the disorder doesn’t really exist.

Indeed, doctors have recorded cases of unusually inattentive children for over a hundred years. In 1865, the German physician Heinrich Hoffman wrote a poem “Fidgety Philip,” which describes a child who cannot sit still, who wriggles and giggles, swings back and forth on his chair and who is “restless ... rude and wild;” he exhibits many of the symptoms we have now come to accept as helping to define ADHD.

Today, researchers are gathering more evidence about the existence of ADHD by studying brain scans. These images suggest there are subtle differences in the way the brains of people with ADHD process information when doing cognitive tasks.