Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) does not exist and was invented by Big Pharma in conspiracy with government regulatory agencies to hook young and vulnerable children on lucrative psychiatric drugs, according to leading American behavioral biologist Dr. Richard Saul.

“After 50 years of practising medicine and seeing thousands of patients demonstrating symptoms of ADHD, I have reached the conclusion there is no such thing as ADHD,” explains Dr. Saul.

“This so-called condition has apparently spread like wildfire across the globe in recent years, with a huge increase in its diagnosis and medication,” Dr Saul continued. “More than 4 per cent of adults and 11 per cent of children in the U.S. have been diagnosed with ADHD.”

We all have scatterbrained moments where we struggle to get organized, zone out, or have an angry outburst – all signs of ADHD. Many assume medication’s the answer, which explains the uptick in children being treated.

However, a new report was released by Express Scripts last month that revealed an alarming statistic: Between 2008 and 2012, the number of Americans who use medication to treat ADHD rose 36 percent.

Are the Signs of ADHD Actually Signs of Other Issues?

“In my view, not a single individual is afflicted by the disorder called ADHD as we define it today,” says Dr. Richard Saul, M.D., behavioral neurologist and author of “ADHD Does Not Exist.”

Signs of ADHD are related to more than 20 medical diagnoses (such as poor eyesight, sleep deprivation, and bipolar disorder) and when they’re treated, the attention-deficit and hyperactivity symptoms disappear.

“We define this ‘illness’ by its symptoms, rather than its cause,” he explains. “Nasal congestion can be a symptom of a cold, allergy, or many other conditions, but a runny nose is not a diagnosis.” His book is causing quite the uproar in the medical community, as well as with people who have ADHD.

Regardless of whether you agree with him or not, the firestorm the book is creating is nothing but good: We’ll now go to our physicians with a greater awareness to make sure we’re being treated for the actual issue, and not the symptoms of the issue.

The one thing I’m sure we can all agree on was put best in the Express Scripts study:

“The trends here signal a need to look more closely at how and why physicians prescribe these medications for adults and the need for prescribers to fully assess the entire psychosocial landscape of an individual patient prior to reaching for the prescription pad.”

There’s never been a time where we’re as distracted as we are now: Our everyday technology makes us feel like we’re missing out if we’re not paying attention to a million things at once, and we ladies are already suckers for multi-tasking. Sigh. Sadly, the increase in ADHD medication usage didn’t surprise me at all.

It’s time we open the dialogue and shift our way of (unfocused) thinking toward the possibility that one day it might be called “the disorder formerly known as ADHD.”