Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, commonly known as ADHD, is the center for a lot of controversy within the medical field. The common argument pertains to whether ADHD is over diagnosed or underdiagnosed. Evidence can be applied to support both sides, but when it pertains to children, studies tended to attest that ADHD is typically over diagnosed. The reasoning for this can be generalized around one idea: misdiagnosis. Symptoms that appear to be ADHD are: inattention, which can be noticed within a child’s school work; hyperactivity, noticing that a child has a hard time sitting still; and impulsivity, referring to frequent interruptions and lack of patience. Considering there isn’t a biological test to confirm suspicions of ADHD, these …show more content…
This concept mainly appears in children who suffer from a preexisting disability. In this sense, children who have ADHD are not able to receive the necessary treatment they need. Without that treatment, whether it be medication, therapy, etc. they will not be able to perform in school and other activities in the way that people without ADHD can. In order to be able to make an assumption about the preceding arguments, it is important to focus on the negatives of both over diagnosing and underdiagnosing ADHD. Prescribing children medication that they don’t need could cause a lot of problems; but at the same time, not treating children for their disorder will significantly impact their ability to …show more content…
Professionals tend to base a lot of their reasoning for diagnosis off of comparison to children within the same age group (Thomas and Batstra). This is due to the idea that everyone should be performing at a similar level when they have the same amount of education. Symptoms of ADHD are most prominent when looking at young boys(Thomas and Batstra). A research paper, designed to compare generations and diagnoses, concluded that medication treatment is used significantly less by older children (Elder). Based on this information, it is evident that the viewpoint on ADHD has changed over time; meaning, it is more common now than it ever has been before. The reasoning behind this has to do with the idea that young children appear to show symptoms of ADHD, but in reality, they are just immature. With this in mind, it is estimated that approximately 20 percent of the 4.5 million children identified as having ADHD have been misdiagnosed
This growth creates a necessity for our society to consider the effects that this disease and its treatment have on our generation. According to research by two professors at Berkeley University, they expect that the number of ADHD diagnosis will increase by nearly 47% over the next 5 years (Hinshaw and Scheffler). Not only is this a staggering rate of growth, but the large majority of the new patients will be children, and they will set the precedent for how we view the treatment of such disorders. Therefore, the significance of the issue of ADHD and its treatment cannot be underestimated, and demands attention to the moral and medical consequences of the use of ADHD
In the article “ADHD Is Overdiagnosed”, by Caryn Carlson, the author Carlson is discussing the factors that are leading to ADHD currently being overdiagnosed and overtreated. According to Carlson, based on recent studies there is reason to believe that ADHD is being overdiagnosed in certain regions of the U.S., namely the use of the drug methylphenidate has skyrocketed soon after the turn of the century. Its usage had doubled from 2001 to 2006, with its largest increase stemming from teenagers and young adults. Carlson states that the dramatic increase most likely supports the theory of over diagnose. One of the reasons behind this is that clinicians sometimes diagnose without assessing all criteria and rely mainly on parent reports.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder which stands for ADHD is a common behavioural disorder.
This many children having ADHD is highly unlikely, and researchers have been discovering the causes for the rise in diagnoses. ADHD is being overdiagnosed because test scores now affect funding for schools, proper evaluations are not performed, and the educational system expects too much from children.
I. Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, more well-known as ADHD, is a disorder that affects 9% of children in the U.S. When left untreated, ADHD can lead the sufferer to be unable to cope in school or socially and possibly leads to depression. ADHD is a hyperactivity disorder with many symptoms that can be treated through therapy, emotional counselling, and use of medications. II. There is a plethora of symptoms when it comes to ADHD. A. Symptoms are separated into two categories, one is inattentiveness and the other is hyperactivity 1.
Which leads to parents pressuring doctors to ‘fix’ their child (Perlman 1). The children being medicated are the youngest ones in their class, but they are just expected to act older than they are (Weber 2). Society has tricked people into thinking there is only one way a child should act. It is true that some children need medicine, but four out of five do not need to be (Richard 4).
This particular research study had several limitations related to it. The first issue was the location of the study. This writer sampled a population that resides in a Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility on the Multi-Needs unit, and did not sample populations from the remaining units at the facility. Consequently, the sample cannot be generalized to other children. Participants in other settings, and/or programs, may produce different results.
ADHD affects behaviour and social development in that they get easily frustated, which could be the same children with Autism this affects there Emotional and social development. Dyslexia is a condition that affects learning literacy so what they think they are reading may not be what is actually there so they get stuck with understand letters they may
Brief Summary The paper mainly explores the personality disordered patients, to determine their matching to adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or non-ADHD groups, by sorting them on the basis of violent or disruptive nature and the degree of behavioral disorders. The objective of the survey is to propose proper instructions and improved guidelines for the treatment of patients with ADHD symptoms for better and long-term consequences. The technique used by the authors for measurement of childhood symptoms is Wender-Utah Rating Scale (WURS) and DSM-IV Checklist of symptoms is employed for the analysis of adults. The recognized group of people carrying symptoms have a higher ratio of severe incidents as compared to counter group.
A person suffering from this disorder may have difficulties concentrating
Many children have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), and the amount of those children being prescribed a medication for their disorder has grown largely in the last couple of years. This caused concern to arise in doctors; some of them went as far to say that most children diagnosed and treated for ADHD are really just immature and undisciplined (Koplewicz). Even if this is untrue, they say that the children would do better if treated with alternative options. Children diagnosed with ADHD are in serious distress, but not because of bad teaching or parenting. It is because their brains work differently than others, and they need to be treated properly.
The three mental ailments associated with ADHD are inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsivity. Living with these conditions is no easy task. Anyone of those symptoms can individually lead to not having good grades, or even losing track of a simple conversation. Put all of them together and you have a dangerous mix that in undoubtably going to lead to poor school performance and an inept social life, if the proper means are not taken. Therefore, the effectiveness outweighs the risk when it comes to this medication, which in turn makes ADHD medication a promising and efficient treatment for children with attention deficit hyperactivity
Children with ADHD Attention Psychiatric Association says that up to 11% of children in the U.S have been diagnosed with ADHD. This is a concerning percentage considering the possibility for misdiagnosis. Many children have been misdiagnosed with ADHD due to parents being overwhelmed by their high energy children, Schools not questioning a misdiagnosis because they get more funding for a child with a mental handicap, and because doctors choose the easy way out when treating a child with high energy. The first reason why children are being misdiagnosed for ADHD because parents are being overwhelmed by their high energy children.
Over the past fifteen years, there has been a growing interest in the Sluggish Cognitive Tempo (SCT) construct, which is characterized by symptoms of excessive daydreaming, mental fogginess, hypoactivity, lethargy, mental confusion, and apathy (see Becker, Marshall, & McBurnett, 2014). Some earlier research suggested that SCT may facilitate the identification of individuals who show attentional problems, but few or no symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity (Carlson & Mann, 2002). However, as the literature has grown, a number of studies conducted with children (Barkley, 2013; Becker, Luebbe, Fite, Stoppelbein, & Greening, 2014; Garner et al., 2014; Lee, Burns, Snell, & McBurnett, 2014; Penny et al., 2009; Willcutt et al., 2014) and adults (Barkley,
In today’s society people have the freedom of choosing whether or not to have children, but have you ever thought of the pros and cons within having a child from the beginning? In past years, it was based off of an individuals social expectation in deciding to bring a child into the world, but our society today has shown that each individual has the right to bring a child into our world. But on a side note, have you ever thought of how you take care of yourself determines and impacts a great amount on your child? To start with many people experiment through life but choose to not look at how overall their decisions affect their family, friends, or even child. According to the article “Neurotoxicolgy & Teratology” it was said that amphetamine