The Drugging of Our Children

ADHD is one of the most commonly diagnosed-and widely misunderstood-neurological conditions in the world today, affecting nearly 10% of kids and a rising number of adults. But what if having an ADHD brain is actually an asset? A growing number of innovators, entrepreneurs, CEO's, Olympic athletes, and award-winning artists have gone public about their diagnosis, saying that their ADHD, managed effectively, has played a vital role in their success. The Disruptors hears from many of those game-changing people speaking candidly about their ADHD, and intimately takes viewers inside a number of families as they navigate the challenges, and the surprising triumphs, of living with ADHD. The Disruptors takes an immersive look at our approach to ADHD that debunks the most harmful myths, and examines the flip side of this trait that ultimately offers a revelatory understanding of the diagnosis, and real hope for millions of kids, families and adults with ADHD.

Faced with the challenging behaviour of their kids, more and more parents in America are turning to psychoactive medication to help them cope, even though the drugs, and sometimes the diagnoses, remain controversial. Louis travels to one of America's leading children's psychiatric treatment centres, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to get to know the diagnosed children and hoping to understand what drives parents to put their kids on drugs.

In recent years, the number of diagnoses of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder has skyrocketed. What are the reasons? Does a society geared towards efficiency use the label ADHS to weed out anyone who does not fit its frames? What are the consequences of the fact that medication treatment has become almost ubiquitous? Could Ritalin and the like have become the doping of the performance society?

Justin Cobb, a teenager in suburban Oregon, copes with his thumb-sucking problem, romance, and his diagnosis with ADHD and subsequent experience using Ritalin.

When Kendra is admitted into group therapy, she becomes overly competitive about completing her weekly goals.

For twenty years, Bruno and Malik have lived in a different world—the world of autistic children and teens. In charge of two separate nonprofit organizations (The Hatch & The Shelter), they train young people from underprivileged areas to be caregivers for extreme cases that have been refused by all other institutions. It’s an exceptional partnership, outside of traditional settings, for some quite extraordinary characters.

A 1-minute cart ride through the mental shopping mall of attention deficit disorder. Inspired by found sound of a shopper’s vlog, hand-drawn without a light table, and produced as part of the 10th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.