I believe that there is a very high number of children with ADHD in America that are being misdiagnosis because diagnosing ADHD is extremely hard and society views ADHD as a disease opposed to the disorder it truly is. In recent years there has been a major increase in the number of children diagnosed with ADHD. According to an FDA advisory committee, in 2014 "2.5 million children now take stimulants for ADHD" . 2.5 million people is roughly the population of Toronto, it's hard to look past a large number of diagnoses of a disorder let alone it being in children. With that high of a number of cases of ADHD, it's not hard to believe that ADHD is "the most prevalent childhood psychiatric disorder" . As I previously stated, ADHD is commonly
Analysis of parent-reported data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) 2011–2013 found that 10% of children ages 4–17 years were diagnosed with ADHD (Pastor et al. 2015) Boys (13.3%) are twice more affected by ADHD than girls (5.6%)(Pastor et al. 2015). A similar study found that the prevalence rate of ADHD diagnosis increased from 7.0% in 1997–1999 to 10.2% in 2012–2014(ADHD General Prevalence. (2014).
In recent years, the number of cases diagnosed with ADHD skyrocketed from 4 million per year to 10.4 million in children (King, 2013).
Understandably of course it's a money making machine between the cost of therapy, medications, and depending on the medication weekly to monthly blood draws. There's lots of money to be made off of people diagnosed with ADHD. More than that though, is that it's become sort of a trend. “Few topics have generated as much public concern as the diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, outpatient visits for ADHD jumped from 1.6 million to 4.2 million per year from 1990 to 1993” (ADHD—Overcoming the Specter of Overdiagnosis. (2002). ADHD has
Is the overdiagnosis of ADHD a product of societal pressure or a looser standard of qualification for medical assistance/diagnosis for ADHD? There is no question on whether or not ADHD is being diagnosed more often. In 2011 there were 6.4 million ADHD diagnoses, and many people are looking for answers of why this is happening. Immediately, most people point to the higher stresses from our advancing society and the pressure from other parents and people to the major increase. Although some believe the stressful environment created by our advancing society is at the core of the increase in ADHD diagnoses, the lack of proper procedure when handing out psychostimulants is the more prevalent issue regarding ADHD overdiagnosis. This can be attributed to the age of the child within their grade, a lack of understanding in adults.
The increase of ADHD diagnosis has raised many concerns among doctors in the United States. In 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported new data that showed the number of children diagnosed with ADHD grew by 22 percent in a four-year period Brown University, (2013). The information from the Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) raised questions and concerns about the growth of ADHD diagnosis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also stated that the percentage of children with a diagnosis of ADHD continue to increase in the United States. This information was provided by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) to inform the public and raise awareness for ADHD. Researching the growth of
For many no matter what facts are available ADHD is simply not real. It is easy to understand where people with this point of view are coming from. Starting off with the fact the ADHD doesn't seem to be present in other countries around the world. Children's psychologist Angela Southall claims that 90% of the worlds Ritalin is being prescribed in the United States (Southhall). So yes ADHD is more prevalent in the United States than anywhere else in the world. This leads many to believe that ADHD is something made up by the United States pharmaceutical industry as some sort of hoax. This is certainly an argument that can be credited even by the opposing point of view. It does seem that pharmaceutical companies are marketing their ADHD medications strategically in the United States to get as many people onboard as possible. On the opposing side of this argument it has little to do with stating whether ADHD is real or not. The ideas of the disorder did in fact come up far before pharmaceuticals were involved in the treatment.
According to the research conducted by Erinn L. Rigney, among the key factors for there being more people who do not actually have the disorder but still have access to ADHD medication is the vague procedures for diagnosing ADHD. It is noted in the excerpt from the DSM-IV-TR, the criteria used for ADHD diagnosis, that, “In a child six to twelve years old who presents inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, academic underachievement, or behavior problems, primary care clinicians should initiate an evaluation for ADHD. (Rigney, 2012, p.1038)”
doctors prior to making the decision of whether or not to medicate their ADHD children. Capaccio, George. ADD and ADHD. Tarrytown,
ADHD is indeed a part of the Western Culture. People are familiar with the term, treatment and some behaviors that ‘shows’ its existence; and since it has become part of the culture itself it is considered as something relatively normal -or at least common. Both sides of the debate agree on the fact that the behaviors called ADHD do exist, but is it a biological disease? A conduct disorder? Or are we as humans trying to narrow our behaviors in the way where anyone who is not as ‘efficient’ as us are considered to be ‘sick’?
I think that adhd is being overdiagnosed. Some of the cases that are not adhd can be hard to see because the diagnosis can be hard and some can almost be the same the same. In some cases there has been heart attacks,stroke, and even sudden death. It is being overdiagnosed big time . We need to stop it now so more people don’t die.
Foster child, Annalisa Carrion, was replaced from the non-kinship therapeutic foster home of Carmen Arvelo and Miguel Quiles (Ms. Arvelo’s husband) on June 22nd, 2015. A report was received on June 26th, 2015 with the allegation of laceration, bruises, welts, and inadequate guardianship regarding Annalisa Carrion against Miguel Quiles.
ADHD is frequently prescribed to children. Many people do not even know what ADHD really is, or if this disorder even exists. People who have this disorder are not able to, or have a hard time: focusing, being over reactive, or not being able to control their behaviors, or a combination of these traits. Richard Saul, who is a neurologist states, “ADHD is a collection of symptoms, not a disease” (Smith). These symptoms may just be acts of acknowledgment from children to their parents. Many doctors give children the misunderstanding statement of have a disorder, but really it is just their personality or their parenting. Numerous amounts of children and some adults are being diagnosed with ADHD, so they think.
ADHD is a very different beast, to be perfectly frank. You may have heard whispers and statements on how it leads to ‘hyperactivity’ and ‘impulsiveness,’ but it goes a little bit beyond an overzealous person. Sometimes, you say words you don’t exactly mean, words that come out of your mouth that you instantly wish to take back and erase. This innate fear is justified, as I have come to fear incarceration for saying the wrong thing. Now you may be well aware of the dos and don’ts of a human’s sentence memory, but for kids with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, the lines can be a bit more blurred. In fact, you could be arrested for “hate speech,” intentional or not; according to Doctor Barbara and Fletcher, it’s a good 22.5% chance that you could be arrested if you have ADHD. That scary… but even then, there’s a chance. There’s a chance that you don’t even have to worry about it, provided you know what to say. There is a chance, and there always will, that you could rise above your disabilities and become something greater; something I strive to do, now that I saw the gravity of my decisions. And before I go onto this long discussion about ADHD, it’s tears, it’s troubles, and it’s triumphs, I’d like to state something. If your name is Mary Scimone, Tony Scimone or Megan Crowley, if you are a
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is very common disorder diagnosed among children. What is ADHD? ADHD: a short attention span accompanied by excessive activity (Cowerdly & Allen, 2012, p. 174). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) 11% of children ranging from ages 4 to 7 were diagnosed with ADHD in 2011: making this an average increase of 5% per year from 2003 to 2011 (2016). Why is it that other countries such as France are not having an increase diagnosis of ADHD? In France .5% of children are diagnosed with ADHD (Molland,2012). There is no reason why the United States should have more children diagnosed with ADHD than France. Are we trying to say children in the United Sates differ from children in different countries? According to Molland children in France are not different: the psychiatrist in France just happen to have a better method for dealing with children with behavioral problems (2013). The number of children diagnosed with ADHD Continues to increase, but why?
Ritalin has been over used for too many years when dealing with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder cases or similar diagnosis that called for it. One of the major reasons that Ritalin isn’t prescribed as much anymore is because there have been several cases where it would cause more damage than good for the patients that were taking the medication. Another reason is that several parents that had children sensitive to the medication would not listen to their children until they had to act out and show how much they medication was causing them problems. When this would happen they were seen as trouble maker children or students that would act out for no reason or just to get attention.