Have hyperactive kids been misdiagnosed with ADD?
Posted on 03/10/2007 11:28:14 AM PST by Stoat
Have hyperactive kids been misdiagnosed with ADD?
The psychiatrist who identified attention deficit disorder - the condition blamed for the bad behaviour of hundreds of thousands of children - has admitted that many may not really be ill.
Dr Robert Spitzer said that up to 30 per cent of youngsters classified as suffering from disruptive and hyperactive conditions could have been misdiagnosed.
They may simply be showing perfectly normal signs of being happy or sad, he said.
'Many of these conditions might be normal reactions which are not really disorders,' he continued.
Dr Spitzer developed the bible of mental disorder classification in the 1970s and 1980s, which identified dozens of new conditions including ADD and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Since then hundreds of thousands of children have been diagnosed with ADD, a behavioural disorder linked to poor attention span, and ADHD, which adds an element of hyperactivity.
The disorders describe disruptive and restless behaviour that results in children having difficulty focusing their attention on specific tasks. ADHD is most commonly noticed at the age of five, and as many as one in 30 British children is said to have it.
It is often treated with drugs, with Ritalin being the most commonly prescribed.
Some scientists say ADHD is a genetic disorder that does not disappear with adulthood.
But sceptics believe the diagnosis is a 'biobabble' label, which has evolved from a soundbite culture that is too prepared to medicalise anti-social human traits.
Dr Spitzer, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University in New York, now says the classification led to many people being diagnosed as medically disordered when their mood swings and behaviour were simply normal feelings of happiness and sadness.
In a BBC2 documentary series The Trap, which begins on Sunday, he says that between 20 and 30 per cent of mental disorder diagnoses may be incorrect.
His admission comes as figures show that the amount spent by the Health Service on drugs to treat ADHD and similar disorders in children trebled to £12 million in just five years, from 1999-2003.
Almost 400,000 British children aged between five and 19 are believed to be on the drugs - despite doctors' fears about side-effects.
That is the equivalent of every child in Britain each taking more than four doses of the drugs every year.
NHS guidelines recommend drug treatment for the most severely affected, although there have been reports of cardiovascular disorders, hallucinations and even suicidal thoughts.
There have been at least nine deaths reported to the UK's Medicinesand Healthcare products Regulatory Agency since Ritalin became available in the early 1990s.
But Dr Spitzer, who chaired the taskforce that compiled the international Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, said he is less concerned by wrong diagnoses and possible side-effects from drugs, than failing to prescribe them where needed.
'By and large the treatments for these disorders don't have serious side effects,' he told the Times Educational Supplement.
'I mean, some do, but they're not that serious, whereas the failure to treat can often be very hard on the child and on the family.'
He acknowledged that some parents put pressure on doctors to diagnose ADHD and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and prescribe drugs.
'We don't know to what extent that's been happening inappropriately,' he added.
Ian Graham, headmaster of Slindon College, an independent boys' boarding school near Arundel, West Sussex, has 20 out of 100 pupils diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and a few more with related diagnoses such as oppositional-defiant disorder.
About 17 of the boys are prescribed drugs including Ritalin, while the remainder have their condition controlled through diets that exclude chocolate, sweets or gluten.
The school also employs therapy techniques, and the old-fashioned tactic of getting pupils to run off their energy in outdoor activities.
Mr Graham said: 'I've never met a parent who is happy with the medication. They would all prefer not to use them, but to a man and woman, they all say they can't believe the change in their sons' ability to concentrate in lessons.'
She sounds like a great kid! I agree that there are many advantages to having lots of energy, especially if it's channeled into productive pursuits such as her graphic design courses and that's a great field to go into; so many college kids major in psychology and other useless stuff that gets you nowhere (you gotta have a doctorate to get a decent job in the psychology field).
Also, someone once told me "C" stands for "Continue." I like that. I'm an overachiever myself so I'm NEVER satisfied unless it's an A. I wouldn't recommend this philosophy though.
My mom always said the problem with parenthood is that it's just so permanent (ha ha).
...and doesn't that just break your heart? You and I have the same kids - I kid that their birth order is switched. The older one is typically the hard charging, high achiever while the second is the more laid back one and that's just the opposite.
I hurt for all the bumps she will have to face in life, but I am happy that she is a happy person and a good Christian - just flighty
Back at you for being a great parent and putting two responsible adults in the world. That's about the best thing we could ever do - replace ourselves with someone who can carry on with integrity and honesty.
Not trying to pick a fight, but read this and tell me if you still hesitate. This is the saddest, cruelest thing I've read in a long time.
Rebecca's uncle, James McGonnell, and his girlfriend, Kelly Williams, who lived with the Rileys, told police that the Rileys would put their kids to bed as early as 5 p.m. Rebecca, they said, often slept through the day and got up only to eat.
When Michael Riley decided the kids were "acting up," he told Carolyn to give them pills, McGonnell and Williams told police.
According to McGonnell and Williams, Rebecca spent the last days of her life wandering around the house, sick and disoriented. But the Rileys told police they were not alarmed. "It was just a cold," Carolyn repeatedly said during police interviews.
The medical examiner said Rebecca died a slow and painful death. She said the overdose of Clonidine caused her organs to shut down, filling her lungs with fluid and causing congestive heart failure.
Williams told police that the night before she died, Rebecca was pale and seemed "out of it." At one point, the little girl knocked weakly on her parents' bedroom door and softly called for her mommy, but Michael Riley opened the door a crack and yelled at her to go back to her room, Williams said.
Later that night, McGonnell told police, he heard someone struggling to breathe and found Rebecca gurgling as if something was stuck in her throat. McGonnell told police he wiped vomit from his niece's face, then kicked in the door to her parents' room and yelled at the Rileys to take Rebecca to the emergency room.
Instead, Carolyn Riley said, she gave her daughter a half-tablet of Clonidine.
BTTT
Thanks very much :-)
Even now, weeks after Dr. Spitzer's admission that so very many children may have been misdiagnosed, I haven't seen anything at all on this in the American press.
The UK and Australian press are the only places I've seen it, so far.
Sounds to me like you have made your mind up that folks who are imperfect or suffer from mental disease are somehow "less" than everyone else.
Is ADD it over diagnosed? YES. But is it real? Yes. Sometimes things just aren't black and white.
I am overweight and my Dr. suggested I might want to try it to help lose weight, I just laughed at him. I know what it can do to your heart, he said I would be Ok but no way did I want to risk it.
My nephew was diagnosed later with being bi-polar, he has some severe emotional problems and the stuff he is on now made his weight shoot up almost 30 lbs. in 6 months.
To me it seems like they are giving the stuff away like candy now, there are some classes in the city of Detroit that almost 50% of the kids are on the stuff. The school recommends the Dr. to send the kid to, and lo and behold he gets immediately diagnosed and put on the stuff. The single mothers like it because it gets them more money having a diagnosed child with a mental problem, and they also don't act up at home as much either, so to them it is a win/win situation.
Why? Because quaint notions of good and evil are passe. Undisciplined children, I mean children acting "inappropriately," can only be treated through medical means.
I think common sense is passe too.
Those were the smart ones 8-) I'm only half-kidding.
Dell, Jobs, and Gates never finished college. I don't think that's a coincidence.
It's a topsy-turvy world when homosexuality is accepted as normal
and rambunctious children considered abnormal and in need of being medicated.
You are correct about following the money. I am not sure if it is still done, but in Michigan, the state used to pay $400. to the local school system for each child on such medications.
After skimming the first 50 posts, I find the first post of someone that actually knows something about ADD, and it has only one reply from someone that just advocates pulling the kid out of school.
I have a 15 year old daughter with ADD and is on Adderal and thank God for Adderal. This child's grades improved better than one letter grade when she was put on Adderal. Anyone with an ADD child that does not put that child on medication is doing that child a serious disservice because they are denying that kid the ability to get a full education, and to develop social skills.
I don't think your abusive. I don't think you have a clue about ADD and ADHD. I think you would probably even deny that these things exist and are real disorders. And, to try to enlighten you would likely be futile.
Because your daughter is the real thing does not change the facts that the occurrence of the condition is grossly exaggerated, and the use of medication as a cure all for any perceived behavioral problem is beyond the pale.
The current situation in this county does a disservice to those children that do suffer from this disorder, and medical harm to those that do not but are treated as if they do.
It's not ignorant to point out that the diagnosis is given far too easily. And I don't see anyone saying that no children have learning disabilities, but the majority, or even a substantial number? No.
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