You are sitting in class, dreaming of life outside of the small, too hot or too cold room, as you doodle an impressive collection of spirals around the heart inscribed with the names of you and your crush. Do these brief moments of inattentiveness mean you have ADHD? Or, like many teenagers, are you just trying to waste time as your teacher drones on for over an hour about a topic you have little interest in?

According to a recent survey, 52 percent of students who were not previously diagnosed with ADHD believe that the disorder is to blame for their attention problems and procrastination, a trend that correlates with the growing number of cases being reported. 36 percent of students did not believe that ADHD was to blame for their procrastination, while 12 percent were unsure.

Whereas national studies show that between three percent and seven percent of school-aged children have ADHD, other reports show that 7.8 percent of children are diagnosed with the condition in the U.S. Studies done by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) also show that between 1998 and 2006, the number of diagnosed cases of ADHD increased three percent from year to year. This rate increased to a 5.5 percent growth each year between 2003 and 2007.

The use of psycho-stimulants such as Ritalin to began in the 1960s as a way to treat a disorder that later became known as Attention Deficit Disorder. According to a review done by the Commission for Scientific Medicine and Mental Health concerning the over diagnosis and overuse of medicine, the 1990s showed a 700 percent increase in the use of these drugs. The same study showed that in 1998, psychotropic drugs were mentioned an average of 2.3 times per physician visit, as established by the Health Care Financing Administration.

While issues focusing or procrastinating may be universal, there is a huge difference between avoiding tasks that seem unpleasant and having ADD or ADHD. People with ADHD have difficulty completing even routine tasks, such as chores and homework assignments. They will frequently shift from one task to another before finishing and exhibit disorganized working habits. Forgetfulness is also a large part of ADHD, as many cannot remember to bring the right books to class or whether or not a paper is due on Monday or Wednesday. It is not a conscious desire to avoid the task, but rather an inability to remember or complete the task before moving on to another. Unfortunately, the symptoms are extremely common, especially among younger children. The exponential growth in diagnosed and treated cases of ADHD in the past decade has led many to question its legitimacy as a neurological condition.

“The only reason I do not believe ADHD is real is that I saw a documentary called Generation X,” senior Beniyam Eshetu said. “It explains that ADHD and ADD are man-made psychological disorders they created so they could give drugs to children to make them all operate the same way.”

Despite some concerns over the legitimacy of the disorder, 53 percent of students surveyed agreed that ADHD was a real condition, while 25 percent believed that students diagnosed with ADD or ADHD used it as an excuse. However, 37 percent of students did agree that ADD and ADHD are over diagnosed by doctors, while 20 percent did not think over diagnosis was an issue and 43 percent was unsure.

Studies done by the CDC in 2007 showed that between 9.6 percent and 10.9 percent of children living in Virginia were diagnosed with ADHD, compared to a low of 5.6 percent in Nevada and a high of 15.6 percent in North Carolina. Overall, the amount of diagnosed cases of ADHD are significantly higher on the east coast than the west coast. The question is, why? Many relate it to parents making excuses for behavior or academic issues displayed in younger children. As of 2003, between 5.5 and 6.5 percent of children were being medicated for the disorder.

“The west coast is more easygoing and we are closer to the government on the east. I think the way parents raise kids has a lot to do with the higher rates of ADD and ADHD diagnosis on the west coast,” sophomore Shelby Barber said. “There is a ton of pressure on kids to do well in school.”