Press ignorance down to Bad Parenting?

Media response to "old news"...

Summary

A Lancet Article on a Cardiff University Genetic study of ADHD was broadcast widely in press and on TV: BBC, Sky, ITV, Channel4 etc, 30th September 2010. The Cardiff study was very over-hyped by the researchers, claiming to the first genetic proof of ADHD. The collective TV media then naively pronounced it to be the "first evidence" of genetic links, only to fall back on cliched and simplistic arguments - "is ADHD genes or bad parenting?" by day's end.

My Response

Posted on the blog site of BBC's Chief Medical Correspondent, 1st October 2010

I have watched the ADHD Lancet story unfold with interest, sadness and resigned acceptance.  I was personally contacted on Wednesday afternoon by producers from the BBC, Sky and Channel 4 (not sure what happened to ITV!?). They all called me because I run a London based Adult ADHD Support Group and hoped I could suggest interviewees for the breaking news on Thursday 30th September.  

Each producer excitedly explained to me that for the first time there was research that showed that ADHD was genetic and not down to poor parenting. They wanted a parent and child to both film and interview and to see the relief the parent would enjoy in now knowing that ADHD was not their fault.

Now I am ADHD myself, late diagnosed in my forties with a physics degree and a "successful" career from programming to starting, owning and managing several  small IT businesses. Now a coach to ADHD Adults that have included CEOs, GPs, Psychiatrists, teachers, nurses, PhD students, artificial intelligence researchers, architects, IT professionals, psychotherapists, students, unemployed people, singers, musicians, TV script writers and many others all diagnosed with ADHD as adults.

When the media folks called, I explained to each of them in turn that the genetic basis for ADHD would not be news to any parent of an ADHD child or ADHD adult, as there is extensive research into the genetic heritability of ADHD, from twin studies (brought up in completely different homes and environments), to gene studies that have identified at least seven genes most of which involve dopamine transport controls and from family studies that indicate ADHD is nearly as hereditary as height. The initial observations and studies on ADD (called minimal brain dysfunction and other such pleasant names) began over 100 years ago. ADHD is the most researched of any mental “disorder” (more so than autism, bi-polar, schizophrenia etc.), with over 100,000 scientific papers, journals and books written on it to date. This was not the news story they wanted.

I also suggested that I could put them in touch with numerous adults with ADHD who could clearly articulate the issues and discuss the stigma, they were not interested.

I recorded much of the news on my PVR (one of mankinds best ever inventions!) and watched the news unfold with sadness. Starting as a headline item, the broadcasters enthusiastically and naively proclaimed that the Lancet had shown that ADD was found not due to poor parenting!

In the morning they had struggled to find the clichéd “badly-behaved boys and exhausted mums” and so reluctantly interviewed some ADHD adults. One of whom, a client of mine, explained clearly to the interviewer that her parents had been excellent, that she had not watched much TV and eaten well. The interviewer struggled, as she said that she had always known it was genetic and that she found life as an adult with ADHD to be harder than as a child and that she had done well at school. Not once did the interviewer follow up on her comments but kept trying to return to parenting and childhood.

As the day progressed the media found more of the “bad boys and mums” to interview and also slowly realised that the Cardiff-based research was not that conclusive. They began to wheel out the old favorites like Oliver James to refute (quite un-scientifically) the evidence. By the end of the day the story had been reduced to the media cliché of “is it genes or is it bad parenting?”. Outside the media the reality is that in virtually every developed country, the governmental bodies (including the NHS and NICE in the UK) all recognise ADHD to be a very real neurological disorder.

Almost all the adults that I coach were not diagnosed as children, had good childhoods, well-educated parents, ate good diets and yet struggled at school and subsequently with many aspects of life that other people find easy. They are lacking in the neuro-chemical dopamine, so are less stimulated and more easily bored or distracted than others, finding many tasks difficult - at work and at home, especially without medication and/or support. Currently it takes around 12 months and extensive consultations to see a specialist and obtain a diagnosis in London. Most of these adults were not badly behaved as children,  are intelligent, and would seem to all intents and purposes normal, yet often they feel a sense of failure and sadness from failing to meet goals, keep jobs, stay in marriages, avoid addictions and enjoy life as other people do.

I am not so naive as to think this quite silly debate about parenting will go away soon, but let’s be clear –the overwhelming majority of involved scientists and doctors are in no doubt that it is a real neurological issue. But as with any issue you can find a crank with a vested interest to put their opposite case and the media loves to stoke the argument.

ADHD is not about pharmaceutical companies drugging normal children (for sure they want to make money) or about bad parents finding excuses (of course there are some of these) but is a very real mental difference that profoundly inhibits a significant proportion of the population, children and adults, from achieving success and happiness, that they and others might reasonably expect based on ability and intelligence. ADHD and its sufferers deserve a little more respect but I won’t hold my breath.