Editing Indigo children (section)

=== Relationship to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder ===
Many children labeled indigo by their parents are diagnosed with [[attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder]] (ADHD)<ref name = jayson/> and Tober and Carroll's book ''The Indigo Children'' linked the concept with diagnosis of ADHD.<ref name=Carroll1999/>  [[David B. Cohen (psychologist)|David Cohen]] points out that labeling a child an indigo is an alternative to a diagnosis that implies [[Mental disorder|mental illness]], which may appeal to many parents.<ref name = jayson/>  Cohen has stated, "The view in medicine is that ADHD is a defect. It's a disorder. If you're a parent, the idea of 'gifted' is much more appealing than the idea of a disorder."<ref name = jayson/>  Linking the concept of indigo children with the distaste for the use of [[methylphenidate|Ritalin]] to control ADHD, [[Robert Todd Carroll]] states "The hype and near-hysteria surrounding the use of Ritalin has contributed to an atmosphere that makes it possible for a book like ''Indigo Children'' to be taken seriously. Given the choice, who wouldn't rather believe their children are special and chosen for some high mission rather than that they have a brain disorder?"<ref name = Carroll>{{cite web | url = http://skepdic.com/indigo.html | publisher = [[The Skeptic's Dictionary]] | last = Carroll | first = RT | author-link = Robert Todd Carroll | title = Indigo child | access-date = 2009-04-13 | date = 2009-02-23}}</ref>  Stephen Hinshaw, a professor of psychology at the [[University of California, Berkeley]], states that concerns regarding the overmedicalization of children are legitimate but even [[Intellectual giftedness|gifted]] children with ADHD learn better with more structure rather than less, even if the structure initially causes difficulties.  Many labeled as indigo children are or have been [[Homeschooling|home schooled]].<ref name = Leland2006/> Many children labeled as indigo children have the same identifying criteria as those children who have experienced being raised by a narcissistic parent, and are considered to have been emotionally abused.<ref name="NamkaL"/>

A 2011 study suggested parents of children with ADHD who label their children as "indigos" may perceive problematic behaviors emblematic of ADHD to be more positive and experience less frustration and disappointment, though they still experience more [[negative emotion]]s and conflicts than parents of children without a diagnosis.<ref>{{Cite journal 
| last1 = Lench | first1 = H. C. 
| last2 = Levine | first2 = L. J. 
| last3 = Whalen | first3 = C. K. 
| doi = 10.1177/1087054711427401 
| title = Exasperating or Exceptional? Parents' Interpretations of Their Child's ADHD Behavior 
| journal = Journal of Attention Disorders 
| year = 2011 
| pmid = 22166469 
| volume=17
| issue=2
| pages=141–51
| s2cid = 945004 
}}</ref>