Harley1980 wrote:
Economic analysts, noting the sharp increase in ADHD-related disability claims over the past decade, have posited an epidemic of ADHD among younger generations. These analysts, though, ignore advances in psychoanalytical classifications. ADHD is now listed as an official psychiatric disorder in the DSM-5, whereas those with ADHD were simply treated as undisciplined and irresponsible in the past. Therefore, a greater number of serious cases are recommended now for disability, because Human Resources workers are more likely to identify these behavior patterns as ADHD.
Which of the following, if true, provides the most support for the argument?
A) Most economic analysts have no more than a rudimentary knowledge of psychiatric classifications.
B) Even though ADHD is a psychiatric disorder, coaching in skills related to responsibility and self-discipline help many such individuals lead more productive lives.
C) Human Resource employees now receive basic training in the psychiatric disorders that most commonly lead to disability claims.
D) In some cultures in the past, the lack of responsibility was viewed as one of the most serious moral failings.
E) According to studies, psychiatrists are diagnosing children with ADHD at increasingly early ages.
Dear
Harley1980,
I'm happy to respond.
This is an old question I wrote a while ago.
The question is why the number of ADHD diagnoses has risen precipitously in recent years. Some people say there's an epidemic. The economic analysts counter, telling us that it is not an "epidemic" of ADHD in modern times; instead, better diagnoses are just identifying the problem more. In other words, the problem was always there, but undiagnosed in the past. The change in modern times is not that people have gotten worse --- it's just that diagnoses have gotten better.
That's the argument we want to support.
(A) Most economic analysts have no more than a rudimentary knowledge of psychiatric classifications.A distractor. The economic analysts are not doing the analysis and diagnoses themselves! They are merely describing a mass phenomenon in culture.
(B) Even though ADHD is a psychiatric disorder, coaching in skills related to responsibility and self-discipline help many such individuals lead more productive lives.This addresses how to help folks with ADHD, and that is laudable, but it's outside the scope of the argument.
(C) Human Resource employees now receive basic training in the psychiatric disorders that most commonly lead to disability claims.
If HR folks get this training, then they will be able to recognize it, and either diagnose people, or at least recommend that people see professional who can diagnose them. Either way, this would explain why better diagnoses of this condition are becoming more common, so this strengthens the argument.
(D) In some cultures in the past, the lack of responsibility was viewed as one of the most serious moral failings.This may be true, but this only explains why the problem was undiagnosed in the past; it doesn't explain how modern diagnosing has gotten better.
(E) According to studies, psychiatrists are diagnosing children with ADHD at increasingly early ages.That may be true. It would explain why some people go through most of their lives with that tag, but in and of itself, it doesn't not explain why the number of diagnoses has gone up.
The best answer is the OA,
(C).
Does this make sense?
Mike
_________________
Mike McGarry
Magoosh Test PrepEducation is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. — William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)