Midwest:: Agreed.
Health: Actually, several things have been added to the DSM through politics – such as binge eating and combining the sociopathic personality disorders into antisocial personality disorder in the next edition. PMS, a very real disorder which has plenty of scientific research to back it, is not in the DSM for political reasons. You can google for more.
Whoever said that the DSM included ADD so that people could be paid for treating it is absolutely right, as that is the primary practical function of the DSM. Unlike its medical counterpart, the DSM is not “scientific” in the sense that the diseases do not correspond to biological conditions and therefore there is a lot of leeway in it to change diagnoses.
So back to the issue, it makes most sense to present ADHD as a learning issue rather than a mental health issue. It’s more about whether the person found a niche wherein to use their abilities than whether the person has a problem. Many kids with ADD today, would have been great in the shtetl where they didn’t need to sit 12 hours a day learning.