Argumentative Paper On Overdiagnosis

ADHD is a very common neurodevelopment disorder of childhood. It is usually diagnosed in late childhood, around the age of seven by the teachers. The symptoms are typical during ages 3-6 and if not treated properly becomes chronic and persists even after entering adulthood. Children with ADHD may have trouble paying attention, staying organized and controlling impulsive behaviors. It is very difficult to diagnose and when undiagnosed the children can grow to be mislabeled as trouble makers in their adulthood.

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

The expansion of hyperactive diagnosis is not the result of new scientific discoveries about the biomedical nature of the disorder. It is the result of studies done by numerous teachers, doctors, psychologists, and researchers. While a number of studies indicated that symptoms in children are usually society based, studies show that society affects the ADHD child positively and negatively. In a positive way society wants to help the child; this is a common treatment of any person with a disorder. In a negative way society treats the child as a defect or as bad material because society is scared of something it knows very little about. The lay promotions of ADHD and the predominance of self-diagnosis contradict some of the

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) seems to be the affliction of this generation of children. It seems more prevalent every year. However, diagnosis criteria for ADHD is so subjective, what qualifies, who qualifies? There is no specific clinical cause for ADHD but it obviously exists. So many questions remain to be answered about ADHD. Are more children really being diagnosed with ADHD annually and is it really on the rise as it appears? Are too many children being wrongly diagnosed with ADHD as an easy way out because of other behavioral problems? And when ADHD is properly diagnosed are we overmedicating our children to make it easier for parents and teachers to cope? How often are other afflictions

The increase of ADHD is a trend because it has been occurring for several years. ADHD is one of the most well – known neurodevelopmental disorders Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), (2016). The possible consequences of the increase of ADHD is that the ADHD diagnosis will continue to rise, patients will not receive proper care, and ADHD diagnosis and medication will be overused. According to Gordon, J (2013) a study from the state of California showed the diagnosis of ADHD increased by twenty-four percent between the years 2001 and 2011. The awareness of ADHD may have contributed to increasing of ADHD diagnosis in the United States. Many doctors and physicians have noticed the rise in ADHD diagnosis occurring over the past several years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discovered in their data that parent-reported cases of ADHD led to the increase by 22 percent between the years 2003 and 2007 Gordon, J

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)”

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.

Families who have children with ADHD often experience much higher anxiety and stress levels. A large number of children, almost half, will exhibit signs of ADHD by the age of four. However, most children are not diagnosed until he or she reaches elementary school. The behaviors that are associated with ADHD in children put them at risk for a host of other problems and complications such as completing their education, alcohol and other drug abuse, and an increased risk for delinquency. There has been much research on ADHD in recent years and many different types of medications and interventions have proven to be quite helpful. With the proper diagnosis and treatment, children with ADHD can learn to cope with the daily demands of the classroom, social situations, family interactions, and life in general.

What is attention deficit hyper disorder? ADHD is a “chronic condition that affects pre-school or very young school children (Zivkovic 3822). ADHD symptoms are difficulty sustaining attention, impulsive behavior and hyper activity (3822). There was a research conducted by Cordest hat ADHD prevails in 3 to 5% of preschoolers and is more common in boys than in girls (3822). Children as young as three and four years of age are being diagnosed with ADHD and are being given medications. Parents with children between the ages of two and six should not medicate their children that are diagnosed with ADHD.

Attention Deficit with hyper activity Disorder commonly known as ADHD is classified as a disruptive behavior disorder usually diagnosed in childhood. ADHD is the most commonly diagnosed behavior disorder of childhood. It appears to be more common in boys than it is girls. This Disorder is more common in boys than in girls and approximately five in one hundred children are affected (Busing). There are three subtypes: Predominantly hyperactive-impulsive, predominantly inattentive, combined hyperactive-impulsive and inattentive (most children have the combined type of ADHD)(nimh.nih.gov).The age of onset of ADHD is usually in preschool to early elementary school years.

Langberg, Epstein, Urbanowicz, Simon, and Graham (2008) is in agreement with Smith et al. (1998) that children with ADHD will display off tasks, impulsive, and disruptive behaviors in the classroom (Langberg, Epstein, Urbanowicz, Simon, & Graham, 2008). Also, Raggi and Chronis (2006) state that academic difficulties for children and adolescents with ADHD include failure to complete homework, poor comprehension of material, poor study skills, low test and quiz grades, poor preparation for class, disruptive behavior, peer conflict, and conflict with teachers (Raggi & Chronis, 2006). Adolescents can also experience new sets of problems due to physical and social maturity such as automobile accidents, traffic tickets, difficulty in romantic relationships, vocational problems, and substance use and abuse (Evans, Timmins, Sibley, White, Serpell, & Schultz, 2006). Although these problems usually do not occur until high school, these negative outcomes usually start in middle school (Evans, Timmins, Sibley, White, Serpell, & Schultz, 2006). Children and adolescents with symptoms of hyperactivity can have an effect on their academic functioning such as difficulty staying seated in the classroom; excessive fidgeting; greater touching of objects; and playing noisily (Raggi & Chronis, 2006). Negative consequences can occur because of hyperactivity such as increased discipline and negative teacher attributions in the classroom and lower

The brain is an electrical system that communicates with other subsystems within our brains to get the smallest to the most complex things done and our brains do this constantly. This system operates on low voltage electrical impulses that carry messages from one tiny neuron to another in fractions of a second, these neurons are not physically connected; there are gaps at each point of connection and to get messages from one neuron to another, an electrical message needs to jump the gap (Brown, 2013). So, essentially children with ADHD cannot release these chemicals or they don’t jump the gap fast enough to get transmitted properly. While these factors may make the child's symptoms increase in duration or they may get worse, they are not the root cause. There are multiple possible causes that scientists are constantly researching but it still remains that researchers do not know the cause of ADHD.

Children who seek help right away will be able to live a normal life and score well academically.

Children with ADHD may be hyperactive and unable control their impulses. Or they may have trouble paying attention. These behaviors interfere with school and home life.