This episode is a deep dive into the scientific 'cherry-picking' that Pharma companies do when promoting their ADHD drugs to parents, featuring my special guest, Israeli scientist practitioner Dr. Yaakov Ophir.

Dr. Ophir is releasing his new book 'ADHD is not an illness and Ritalin is not a cure' shortly and we talked about how his own son was diagnosed at the age of 4 1/2 and told to be on Ritalin. We also further explored a ludicrous study on ADHD & Covid that he and his colleague recently wrote a scientific rebuttal to. Other topics we touched upon include:

- Psychologists' & Experts' conflicts of interest

- Getting attacked by Israeli ADHD experts

- How Science carries the burden of proof

and more...

Dr. Ophir is a clinical psychologist at the mental health center of Megilot Regional Council and a research associate at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. His main field of research concerns the relationships between psychopathology and technology.

He develops Artificial Intelligence in the age of big data and digital technology (e.g., suicide risk detection from social media through Artificial Intelligence technologies) as well as the scientific validity of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Dr. Ophir published over 20 peer-reviewed scientific articles and taught several academic courses at the University of Haifa, Reichman University, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Dr. Ophir received his Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and he is currently working with leading world experts to develop the promising field of Cyber-psychology. His research involves computerized analyses of big-data sets and focuses on the relationships between Internet and Psychopathology. Specifically, Ophir aims to develop machine learning based tools for screening and diagnosing mental health conditions.

In his clinical work, Dr. Ophir served as the director of the National Program for Children and Youth in the dead sea municipality and today he is providing short-term psychodynamic treatments as well as cognitive behavior therapies (CBT) to families and individuals in need.

In the past years, following the diagnosis of his own son, Dr. Ophir delved into the field of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Through multiple writings and media interviews (mostly in Hebrew), Ophir, exposed dozens of theoretical and methodological flaws that characterize the research on ADHD and its related clinical practices. In his view, ADHD cannot be categorized as an objective brain deficit or as a psychiatric disorder and therefore he openly declares that ADHD should be removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

Original Article - https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2019-09-12/ty-article-magazine/.premium/adhd-is-not-an-illness-and-ritalin-is-not-a-cure/0000017f-e3ef-d75c-a7ff-ffeff8260000

The ADHD & Covid article - https://connect.springerpub.com/content/sgrehpp/early/2021/01/12/ehpp-d-20-00024

His latest MAD IN AMERIC article (ADHD/COVID SPIN) - https://www.madinamerica.com/2020/09/spin-ahead-stimulants-covid/

If you order Dr. Ophir's book now, you will receive 20% off - (use promo code: WSADHD20)

https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12752#t=aboutBook

Some empirical studies Dr. Ophir has conducted on ADHD and stimulant medications:

https://connect.springerpub.com/content/sgrehpp/23/2/100

https://connect.springerpub.com/content/sgrehpp/24/1/41

Another link mentioned during this episode:

The guidelines by Cortese et al. (2020) for starting ADHD medications during the COVID-19: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(20)30144-9/fulltext

For more information on this podcast, please visit www.adhdisover.com