Is ADHD over diagnosed?

[AeneasBK]

Meh, ritalin is great, should be an option for all kids, like the option to have a hot lunch from the canteen.

[Antiganon]

ADHD is generally noticed by teachers and school nursing staff, people who have some level of training on what to look for. It is then diagnosed by a NEUROLOGIST, not a PSYCHIATRIST, just FYI. ADHD is ccaused by a chemical imbalance in the brain - it is not a mood or behavioral disorder, it is the result of your brain over or under producing certain neurotransmitters, and is easily corrected with medication.

Children with ADHD have to learn the same material, complete the same course work, take the same tests, and meet the same educational standards as children without ADHD.

To handicap those children because of some self righteous crusade about over diagnosis is the height of idiocy.

Talk to teachers, your children's doctors, and specialists, find what works best for that individual child.

[Jonnusthegreat]

Yes. There are even studies done about it.

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More accurately, what's the result that everyone feels more comfortable with?

A. Tell the parent that their child is acting up because they are a bad parent.
B. Tell the child that it's not their fault, buy some drugs, drug companies get money, doctors get a patient, insurance goes up a little.

It's even worse in the school system. Since everyone MUST pass, a student who fails is diagnosed as SPED, then the system sinks more money into them. The SPED designation sometimes allows for outright grade modification but more frequently comes with a million conditions that teacher must satisfy. Teachers, overwhelmed, just pass the kid.

Pretty accurate definition of SPED. Nice job. You forgot to mention that IEPs are legally binding though and that if it isn't followed, teachers and the school district are liable.

[Kapadons]

Look at all these armchair internet psychiatrists with a medical degree and years of specialization doing my job for me .

Some people might misdiagnose kids but there is a distinctive difference between an active kid and one suffering from ADHD. Thr medication people are harping on about are started on bare minimum dosage to correct very real chemical imbalances in these kids. Just because you yourself can't relate and see no point in the medication since you don't have ADHD doesn't mean other people magically aren't either.

Thank you for saying this.

[Themius]

It is horribly over diagnosed and over medicated.

horribly over diagnosed based on what? For many years doctors didn't even believe adults had adhd and it only became quite recently that that has been recognized so now more people are getting diagnosed but does that mean over diagnosing or just a recognition that yeah some people do indeed have it.

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Yup, I was misdiagnosed with it as a kid. Turns out I had Asperger's.
... and OCD, paranoia, crippling anxiety, depression, etc, I'm just a full blown mess. Maybe some ADD in there but I can focus pretty well when needed.

For the record, if your kid is "diagnosed" with it, make sure to check them often if they take any of those meds. It turned me into what I called a zombie (just completely drained and not giving a fuck) and I also almost never ate breakfast/lunch. Now I'm older, don't take those meds anymore, and I still have that problem where I usually only eat dinner.

aspergers is often comorbid with adhd.

Also another thing to consdier.

adhd brains reabsorb stimulant chemicals too quickly and adhd medication works by blocking the way it reabsorbs aka adhd medication are reuptake inhibitors usually of 1-3 types of stimulants. This is why in people who don't have adhd can get properly high on adhd medication while those who have adhd aren't getting high off of their medication because all it does is normalize the brain a tad bit more. If adhd was just overdiagnosed and doesnt' exist shouldn't we be seeing a lot more high people?

[Dr Assbandit]

Thank you for saying this.

People love to chime in and give their 2 cents on topics they know nothing about especially on the internet. I'm glad to read that your son is doing better since being able to focus is such a blessing that people take for granted.

[Deleted]

I'd say it's UNDERdiagnosed, but OVERtreated in general.

[Zafire]

I had a lot of energy as a kid. When we had gym class and did a lot of running I always was able to focus and concentrate better. This is something I realized at the age of seven years old. Kids have a lot of energy, just..make them use it?

I was a kid on medication for ADHD until I was in middle school.

[Themius]

"Any kid with a pulse has ADHD." --from some show I watched recently.

The only kid I knew growing up who should have actually had an ADHD diagnosis was selling his meds instead. He went on to be a very successful entrepreneur.

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This is it mostly. For example, I think better when I'm moving. I don't like sitting still. It's not that I'm not focusing, it's just somehow movement streamlines my thoughts.

Not acceptable in school.

Okay there's a serious difference here.

I think better when I am moving... I also don't like sitting down for too long while listening to something because then I feel antsy start moving my head legs hands and the entire room beings to move around me like I am on a ship until I somehow move myself it looks to me like the whole world is going up and down unless I am moving. My mind if all over the place and I easily forget things even while I am saying them. Being medicated (I was on a triple reuptake inhibitor for a while) helped a lot it didn't help with the whole undulation of the world but it allowed me to be way more patient I noticed I was no longer upset when I was forced to wait for something.

I think you people who say it is over diagnosed and over medicated don't truly understand how adhd works or what it means to the brain's chemistry.

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I had a lot of energy as a kid. When we had gym class and did a lot of running I always was able to focus and concentrate better. This is something I realized at the age of seven years old. Kids have a lot of energy, just..make them use it?

I was a kid on medication for ADHD until I was in middle school.

It's comments like these that really make me realize people truly don't understand the difference between a child with adhd and a child without.

"kids have lots of energy" okay... so you have two kids with lots of energy, one kid though can sit down and talk to a kid while the other kid will talk to a kid ignore what the kid is saying jump in to say something else in a conversation they weren't apart of forget what they were talking about move onto another topic while being disruptive and confused why the other kids don't want to be their friend.

[Rukario]

Of course its natural for all children to sit still for hours and hours and pay attention to stuff that makes watching paint dry interesting.

Exactly! I bet that's how our ancestors were raised.

[Themius]

Objective: To raise awareness of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as an underdiagnosed, undertreated, often comorbid, and debilitating condition in adults.


Results: In a large proportion of children with ADHD, symptoms persist into adulthood. However, although adults with ADHD often experience chaotic lifestyles, with impaired educational and vocational achievement and higher risks of substance abuse and imprisonment, many remain undiagnosed and/or untreated. ADHD is usually accompanied by other psychiatric comorbidities (such as major depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, and alcohol abuse). Indeed, adults with ADHD are more likely to present to a psychiatric clinic for treatment of their comorbid disorders than for ADHD, and their ADHD symptoms are often mistaken for those of their comorbidities. Untreated ADHD in adults with psychiatric comorbidities leads to poor clinical and functional outcomes for the patient even if comorbidities are treated. Effective treatment of adults’ ADHD improves symptoms, emotional lability, and patient functioning, often leading to favorable outcomes (eg, safer driving, reduced criminality). A few medications have now been approved for use in adults with ADHD, while a multimodal approach involving psychotherapy has also shown promising results.

Conclusions General psychiatrists should familiarize themselves with the symptoms of ADHD in adults in order to diagnose and manage ADHD and comorbidities appropriately in these patients.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4195639/

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Yes, how else can they get kick backs from drug makers?

There are quite a few generics... doctors really don't make "bank" on drug makers and if you truly care that much all that information is public in a database for you to check out what drug makers gave them what. Including dinners and such.

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Exactly! I bet that's how our ancestors were raised.

The evolutionary reason (potentially) for adhd being hyper distracted by things may be for survival in the wild.

Why you are giving an argument that tries to say "oh adhd basically doesn't' exist" doesn't make sense to me.

[Rukario]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4195639/

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There are quite a few generics... doctors really don't make "bank" on drug makers and if you truly care that much all that information is public in a database for you to check out what drug makers gave them what. Including dinners and such.

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The evolutionary reason (potentially) for adhd being hyper distracted by things may be for survival in the wild.

Why you are giving an argument that tries to say "oh adhd basically doesn't' exist" doesn't make sense to me.

Does it existe though?
What does it mean to ADHD, it seems to be an extremely subjective call...
I don't see how a child can be expected to concentrate on learning something new, sitting for hours on end when most adults can't do the same, maybe i am biased but what i see is that if you take the same child out of a chair and try to teach it how to play something that involves body movement they will pick it up really fast.

Yes, i am against using that shit on children mostly bc i don't believe it's necessary.

[Tommi]

whole opioid crisis going on

YOU STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY TRAMADOL!!!

IT'S MINES! I NEEDS IT! I WANTS IT!






It actually does fuckall for me now though, apart from dull the pains.

[Themius]

Does it existe though?
What does it mean to ADHD, it seems to be an extremely subjective call...
I don't see how a child can be expected to concentrate on learning something new, sitting for hours on end when most adults can't do the same, maybe i am biased but what i see is that if you take the same child out of a chair and try to teach it how to play something that involves body movement they will pick it up really fast.

Yes, i am against using that shit on children mostly bc i don't believe it's necessary.

There are specific standards for children which I can't believe that people truly believe "oh they just say any kid who can't sit still has it!" no... no they don't.. .there are strict diagnosing parameters to follow when you are seeing a psychiatrist for this. First of all no one is expecting children to concentrate for hours on end sitting like not being able to not do that isn't a fucking parameter yet people keep constantly throwing it out there.

[Deleted]

Depends on where you live I guess. In Europe it is underdiagnosed still, especially in adults.

Also there are so many different degrees of ADHD. Someone with incredibly hypersensitive dopaminergic neuronal circuit just cannot sit still nor concentrate, their anxiety is through the roof and chains them to their bed...whereas another one might just have self-discipline issues.

So depends on how you look at it. It is definitely a real issue though.

[belfpala]

I think you people who say it is over diagnosed and over medicated don't truly understand how adhd works or what it means to the brain's chemistry.

I understand it's a real thing. Just like I can't explain depression to people who don't have it, because, no, it's not just being sad about something.

Saying it's overdiagnosed is because it is, it doesn't mean it isn't a real condition. If anything, overdiagnosis diminishes attention on the real thing.

[Themius]

I understand it's a real thing. Just like I can't explain depression to people who don't have it, because, no, it's not just being sad about something.

Saying it's overdiagnosed is because it is, it doesn't mean it isn't a real condition. If anything, overdiagnosis diminishes attention on the real thing.

you say it is overdiagnosed studies point to a serious under diagnosing and treatment problem.... then those who say it is over diagnosed keep going to "kids shouldn't' be expected to sit for hours they have energy!"

no... that isn't what determines whether a child has adhd... my god...

Frankly I think people are so anti mental health that they feel all mental health issues are overdiagnosed even when they're the opposite.

[Deleted]

Seems everything is labelled these days.

Some kid being energetic in class? ADHD.
Another kid more on her own in class? Autism.

[Themius]

Seems everything is labelled these days.

Some kid being energetic in class? ADHD.
Another kid more on her own in class? Autism.

There is literally a chemical difference the brains of people with adhd that causes them to reabsorb stimulants too quickly which is why medication to treat adhd inhibits reuptake of the chemicals leading to higher stimulants in the Brian that more or less makes them more normal.

In a normal person reuptake inhibitors behave very differently so if "oh it isn't a thing really it is just over prescribed!!!" was true then we should not see people taking medication and not being on a high.

[Deleted]

These days there is a diagnosis for literally everything.
It's a great excuse for kids that are just brats due to poor parenting "oh but he's suffering from X"