More and more parents pay attention to the problems of child mental illness as the rate of mental disorder increased in children. But studies have shown that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), one of the most common mental disorder in children and adolescents, might be overdiagnosed in younger children compared to others in the same grade. The health news article Why a child's birth date predicts whether they'll be medicated for ADHD that is published in The Sydney Morning Herald discusses the ADHD diagnoses process and argues that the probability for the youngest children in the class to get ADHD medication is significantly higher. The study shows that children’s immature behaviors may be misdiagnosed as symptoms of ADHD. The …show more content…
Statistical uncertainty, which is errors due to measurement or calculation mistakes, is balanced out by the large amount of data, which is less significant comparing to the systematic uncertainty of the …show more content…
Although there is some systematic uncertainty of the research study, the article reveals the fact that children’s immature behavior can be detected as signals rather than noises, which in fact cause bias in the diagnosis judgment. As a result, misdiagnosis or overdiagnosis in younger children may lead to errors such as false positive and false negative. Detecting and distinguishing signal and noise may be the most important when making an accurate diagnosis. Since the whole diagnosis is mostly based on subjective factor, which is the behavior of the child, the accurate detection by the pediatrician and a precise criteria of the diagnosis is required. In order to decrease the misdiagnosis of ADHD on younger children, the recommendation is that before making a diagnosis judgement, try to make a long-time observation on not just the children’s behavior, but also other influential factors such as family background as the child grow up. As the accuracy of the diagnosis result improve, more children, whether they have ADHD or not, will have a much better childhood experience and
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.
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.
The author begins by giving their own experience with their kin, and how they chose to avoid the teacher’s assertion. This transitions into how “…kids with IQs in the top 5 to 10 percent… are especially at risk for [an] ADHD misdiagnosis,” (Hosta). Moving forward the author asserts that giving children medication, is equivalent to abusing drugs. Consequently, with this assertion, the author maintains a demonization of medication, and uses fear mongering tactics to convince parents not to medicate their
normal immaturity for ADHD. Children who, in fact, have higher levels of intelligence than their
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (“ADHD”) is a common childhood disorder that represents developmentally inappropriate levels of inattention, impulsivity and overactivity. It occurs in 3% to 5% of the school age population as stated by (Craighead, Craighead, Kazdin & Mahoney, 1994). Another author (Barkley, 1981) stated that ADHD occurs in at least one child in every classroom. As a result of these statistics, ADHD has become one of the most commonly referred and heavily studied psychological disorders of childhood. Studies show that about 50-60% of children with ADHD in the age range of five to seven years are hostile and defiant. By the
When children begin to develop “symptoms” of ADHD, parents begin to become frustrated and lose patients, so they think they need to go to the doctors and have their own child put on medication. It is very common that children are misdiagnosed with ADHD. Eighty-two percent of teachers and sixty-eight percent of undergraduates agreed that ADHD is over diagnosed. “According to many critics, such over diagnosis raises the specter of medicalizing largely normal behavior and relying to heavily on pills rather than skills, such as teaching children better ways of coping with stress” (Lilenfeld).
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.
The first is the medicinal point of view that perspectives ADHD a physiology infection. The second point of view portrays ADHD as subject to the medicalization procedure that changes numerous behavioral issues into therapeutic issues. The third point of view depicts ADHD as a social issue emerging from changing elucidation of conduct instead of kids' physical capacities. The hidden suspicion of restorative model of a turmoil is that some perceived standard of conduct, one that is shown by most of the masses, is truant in a person. The nonattendance of the normal conduct is ascribed to an ailment or malady, which, once legitimately analyzed, can be dealt with to help achieve more sought conduct. Numerous analysts, therapists, doctors, and different clinicians, and additionally guardians, educators and individuals from the overall population, trust this model is suitable for ADHD. The possibility that mindlessness and hyperactivity in kids show a turmoil started close to the term twentieth century. The molded, the named hyperkinetic response of youth, was authoritatively perceived by the American Psychiatric Association in the second release of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in
Four percent of all children in the United States Of America are diagnosed with ADHD (“When Will America Just Say No”). From 2008-2012 the rate of children diagnosed with ADHD went up 30 percent ( While there are this many diagnoses’ not all of them are correctly given. Some people pretend to have ADHD so that they can abuse the medicine with it. This is one of the reasons people are divided at giving their child the medication and not. Although some people think their diagnoses is correct, a lot of times it’s not and it could be solved by making the test more complex because we don’t want children on medication they don’t need, it can have harsh side effects, and pretty much anyone who wants it can get it for their own reasons.
Many researchers are finding more valuable discoveries about ADHD. With these new researches will parents raise a concern about their child’s health? Chances are, most parents will ask questions, as well as do research for logic reasoning. Although most parents should consider using treatment like therapy or counseling. These options should be considered first, instead of prescribed medication.
In discussions of ADHD, one controversial topic has been the possible over- or under- diagnosis of patients with ADHD symptoms. In her article, Diagnosis is Key to Helping Kids With ADHD, Tanya E. Froehlich insists that the medical community must open up its doors to diagnoses to less privileged patients so that they may receive the appropriate treatment and diagnosis for their current state. Dimitri Christakis, however, argues that while ADHD is certainly a problem in current society, ADHD exists on a spectrum, and therefore cannot be separated into clear black and white territories in his article The Diagnosis Does a Disservice. Still, Keith B. Wilson, in his article, Worrying Disparities in Diagnosis of Black and White Children, maintains
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’
In a 2010 study in the Journal of Health Economics, researchers found that the youngest children among U.S. kindergartners (those born in August) were 40% more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD and twice as likely to take ADHD medications as the oldest kindergartners studied (those born in September). Similar results were found in a study of children ages 6 to 12 published this year in the Canadian Medical Association Journal" (Newmark, 2013). According to this, the professionals making the diagnosis were not digging in to find the real issues to the patient's problem. They were too quick to just prescribe medications and diagnosis ADHD.
These symptoms might represent expressions of internalized conflict or unmet emotional or educational needs that differ from child to child. Each child ideally should have a full medical, educational, and psychologic or psychiatric evaluation, prior to drugs being introduced and giving to the child. There isn’t a neuropsychological test result is that shows someone has ADHD, and no genetic indicator has been steadily recognized, and heritability studies are confounded by household environmental aspects. Furman concluded t after careful review of the evidence obtainable; it is not obvious that ADHD is either a disease or a neurobehavioral condition. ADHD is an assortment of symptoms, namely, inattention, impulsivity, and over activity, that overlay with other major and minor mental health
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