FREE ESSAY ON MISDIAGNOSIS OF ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER

MISDIAGNOSIS OF ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER

The Misdiagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder
ADD is a disorder that is very challenging to diagnose because the symptoms can be
varying in number and intensity can show a positive diagnosis. Even the official scale of
DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders); created and updated by
the American Medical Association; can be questioned for validity. In the past ten years
there have been many studies done on the problems of over-diagnosis and
over-prescription. Because it is found in 3%-5% of children over the age of seven it is
believed that clinical psychologists are not being precise in there diagnosis. Ritalin is
being prescribed to anyone who might have a few of the symptoms but not the number needed
to meet the DSM-IV requirements. 
If it is believed that a person might have the disorder, a self-checklist can be used to
see if it is necessary to see a doctor. Although the checklist should not be used as the
only source of diagnosis it can help. The doctor should have several meeting with the
patient and should interview the parents and teachers of the child before prescribing
medications.
Parents and teachers are often busy and do not want to comply and precisely fill out the
long questionnaire that's that DSM-IV has standardized. In the September 2000 issue of
the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (Jaacap) a group
of doctors published the results of their study which stated that the ROC (receiver
operating characteristics) questionnaire was more effective because of its length and its
specificity. In this scale only 3 out of 8 criteria must be present where as in the
DSM-IV 6 out of 9 symptoms must be present. Some of these symptoms include- fails to pay
close attention to detail, fails to finish an assigned task, often easily distracted and
often forgetful in daily activities. These criteria are very vague and can be
misinterpreted which can also cause a misdiagnosis.
An early childhood misdiagnosis can be very traumatic for a child. Medications often help
lengthen the attention span of a child but if there is a misdiagnosis and medication is
prescribed carelessly and based only on good intention it can cause a long-term
dependence on the drug and can follow in many other dependencies of harder drugs such as
cocaine.
In 1990 in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry a
long-term study had found that out of the 2 children they studied 1 child grew up and had
serious mental problems as an adult including schizophrenia.
In the June 2000 issue of SELF-Magazine there was an article called "Could you get hooked
on this Pill?" It discussed how adults were misusing Ritalin a drug meant to treat ADD
and how doctors were still prescribing it to them and their children. Mothers were
"borrowing" the medication because it helped them concentrate and then coming to the
doctor saying little Billy had flushed the medication down the toilet can u prescribe us
some more. Although this article did not explain the results of the studies done it does
show that because information like this is readily available to anyone who wants to read
it, it is a real problem than affect a lot of people all over America. I have not found
any studies focusing on the long term effects of taking Ritalin but the a doctor that was
quoted in this article stated that adults taking Ritalin are in for symptoms such as
jitteriness, nervousness, and edginess. 
Many people don't understand the seriousness of this disorder and even up to 20 years ago
believed that it was only caused by hyperactivity. But now in the twenty-first century
there are large problem of people misusing medication created to help children live
normal lives. It is now that doctors must be extremely cautious when prescribing
medication because there is a greater risk of drug abuse and addiction.