Over-diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

According to Dr. Rosemary Hutchinson, ADHD is one of the most difficult conditions to diagnose and at least three evaluations with the family should be done before making a diagnosis. It is important for a doctor to have knowledge of the child’s illnesses, developmental milestones, and family life. ADD/ADHD have the symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity are common to a number of other conditions that can be mistaken for ADD/ADHD. Children may show signs of these behaviors due to family and social problems. (Hutchinson)

In the United States at least 4.5 million people have been misdiagnosed with ADHD under the age of eighteen, ( University ). ADHD ( attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder ) is the chronic condition including attention difficulty, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness. Dr. Brown, a student finishing her residency at John Hopkins Hospital had realized that some of her patients had been diagnosed with ADHD. Most of the children lived in violent households and neighborhoods. These children's parents found it hard to manage, and teachers described them as inattentive and disruptive. Dr.Brown knew these were typical symptoms, as she looked closely she saw something

Some of the cases are hard to see and diagnosis. 17% of the 1,000 mental health professionals surveyed some of the mistaken diagnosed kids with adhd. There was errors for the boys because they fit the clinician's stereotypes. And in girls it is underdiagnosed in girls because of the subter symptoms like daydreaming and spaciness.

Whether or not ADHD is a true illness is subjected to debate. Despite the continuous efforts of experts in updating ADHD criteria within the DSM, the diagnosis for it continues to be controversial due to over reliance on vague evidences obtained from perceived irregularities in a patient’s mood and behaviour (Szasz, 2008). I believe ADHD, particularly in children, should not be considered legitimate illness.

Here is the report you requested in November on why Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is often misdiagnosed. It has come to our attention that if we reanalyze

The qualifications are being changed which in turn increase the rates. However, the main reason so many incorrect readings of ADHD occur is because of when people begin to get tested for ADHD. Nowadays, children are tested as early 6 years old (preschool/kindergarten). The difficulty in doing that is misreading a behavior that is simply common in a 6 year old and tagging the child with ADHD. Usually the central behaviors in relation to ADHD are inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. These terms are often used when describing a child’s behavior. As most people know, children are usually hyper, disorderly, and undisciplined. These behaviors that are considered as signs of ADHD are often confused with natural youthfulness. In the findings of studies conducted in New Zealand, Canada, Germany, and the UK show a prevalence rate of 3% to 7%, similar to the US. A notable fact came in the difference in children diagnosis of ADHD. Prevalence rates climbed up to 12% in six to twelve year olds. The jump in rates between children and the average population show the enormous amount of children being diagnosed. To quantify whether or not children are just experiencing early childhood or actual symptoms of ADHD, a Swedish research screened 422 first graders for signs of ADHD. The screening was a standard ten-point questionnaire (conners 10-item scale) and three years later they checked the kids’

This is the reason why the diagnosis is so high in children. The rise of ADHD brings many child psychologists, parents, and teachers questioning the condition of ADHD and what is being ignored about the condition such as the related symptoms of ADHD with other behavior conditions, for example, gifted children, dyslexia and disruptive behavior disorder are all being categorized and diagnosed as ADHD. Moreover, many child psychologist and parents also question the over diagnosing of ADHD that leads to over medicating our children, which research shows can lead to adult psychosis (Moto-Castillo). In addition, parents need to be aware that there are many alternatives to adjust a child(s) behavior in school, and at home; alternatives will avoid the high statistics in ADHD.

Children with ADHD are being medicated unnecessarily. The problem is there are no biological tests for the disorder, and it cannot be revealed through a blood test. ADHD should be the last resort for a diagnosis, but it is often the first choice. In many cases a child who is disruptive in class or

The incidence and prevalence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in the child population of the United States has rapidly increased over the past thirty years (Thomas, Mitchell, & Batstra, 2013). Many researchers and psychologists are concerned about the possibility that ADHD is over-diagnosed or even misdiagnosed, as many children who receive the diagnosis are reported to have mild cases that may not be clinically significant and many of them are diagnosed without fulfilling the diagnostic criteria for ADHD. The standard process of diagnosing ADHD is flawed because there are no tests to objectively detect the disorder (Thomas, Mitchell, & Batstra, 2013), so a therapist’s biases and interpretations always play a role in the

It is estimated that 3-5% of school-aged kids in the USA suffer from ADHD. It is also 3-5 times more likely to affect a boy then a girl, though in adults that ratio drops closer to 2 males to even 1 female. Most children grow out of the disorder as they age and gain more self control. However, anywhere between 30-80% of children that suffer from ADHD, will continue to have symptoms as an adult. Because the cause is still unknown, diagnosis can be difficult. Most children will display some symptoms of ADHD at some point in their childhood, but at low levels. Determining what is “normal” inattention is where the problem with diagnosis lies. Psychiatrists and other medical professionals use the criteria from the DSM-IV-TR to determine the presence of the disorder. To receive an ADHD diagnosis a child must display at least six of the symptoms of inattention or six or more symptoms of a combined hyperactivity and impulsiveness. The symptoms must occur before the child turns seven , must be present in a minimum of two different social environments (e.g. in the home, at school), must affect the child for at least six months, and have no traces to any other developmental or mental disorder. The symptoms on the

Children with ADHD/ADD may also be impulsive, have difficulty with self-control, and be hyperactive, but these are also symptoms of hundreds of other disorders. Children can behave as though they have ADHD/ADD, but not really have ADHD/ADD. People are too quick to say that lack of attention is a disorder. Having lack of attention could simply be caused by stress. Stress causes their minds to wander. Stress is commonly in every individual, so lack of attention does not necessarily mean that a child is ADHD/ADD. Generally, people are too quick to assume that their child or a child is ADHD/ADD based off of his/her bad behavior. Teachers and parents for example, too often parents are being intimidated and persuaded by schools/ teachers to have their child undergo a psychological evaluation because the child is highly energetic and lacks concentration (“ADD/ ADHD Misdiagnosis and Mistreatment”). Parents—not teachers—are the ones primarily pushing to have children assessed for attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (Samuels). Unfortunately, parents are often made to feel guilty if they to have their child evaluated (“ADD/ADHD Misdiagnosis and Mistreatment”). Doctors also are very quick to assume and will diagnose a child with ADHD/ADD. Before putting a medical diagnosis on children and prescribing medications to children, doctors should make sure and check that they have looked at all the possibilities before referring for medical evaluation.

ADHD is a type of disorder that affects a good majority of kids and the children that are effected by the disorder are having trouble and not being able to pay attention or focus on simple tasks other people are able to accomplish. Even though ADHD kids have behavior issues it is shown that ADHD kids are, “often creative, capable of thinking outside the box, spontaneous, and forgiving”(Nicki 11). Kids that have those qualities are unique and they are considered good to have especially when they get older and venture out in the real world. It is shown that, “ADHD is more common in boys than girls”(Susan 39). Also, “studies have shown that ADHD is hereditary”(Nicki 11). ADHD being hereditary means that children have gotten the disorder from

The problem is that ADHD is overdiagnosed and has stigmas surrounding it. The overdiagnosis is caused by a lack of understanding about the disorder and how it affects the human body, resulting in a nonexistent test for the disorder. These stigmas add to the lack of understanding about the disorder because many believe it is not a true disorder that should be studied.Children are most affected by this overdiagnosis because the disorder is most prevalent in children. This overdiagnosis also leads to an overprescription of stimulant medication, which more commonly affects children as well and produces adverse side effects. The only way to fix the problem of overdiagnosis is to create a reliable test for ADHD, which is currently being researched.

A new national survey from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that: One-third of children diagnosed with ADHD were diagnosed young – before the age of six. The percentage of children diagnosed with ADHD has increased steadily since the late 1990s and jumped 42 percent from 2003-2004 to 2011-2012. Of these cases, the majority (53.1%) were first diagnosed by a primary care physician.1 There is not a specific test for ADHD. Health professionals can only do some testing that “might” help detect this condition. In other words, they check the child hearing, eyesight and take a blood sample; To rule out other underlying conditions that may be mistaken for ADHD. For the most part, though, they listen to parents or teacher complaints of what the child is exhibiting. For instance, when parents complain of impatience, unable to sit still and lack the ability to focus. All classic signs in ADHD. However, what primary care doctors are failing to ask, is how much

As a child, I have always been taught to trust the doctor because, “The doctor knows best”. As time went on and now a mother, I find that statement to be very misleading. You always hear and read different stories about doctors’ who diagnose a patient’s problem to early, and those who just make mistakes and misdiagnose a patient completely. That’s why I choose to do my paper on Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, better known as ADHD. According to Carey, 1 to 2 percent of children likely have a brain malfunctions that warrant classification of something like ADHD, but that another 5 to 10 percent who are diagnosed with ADHD should not be (Carey, 2002).