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Preventing Adhd Misdiagnoses in Children

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Preventing Adhd Misdiagnoses in Children
Unit 9 Project – Preventing ADHD Misdiagnoses in Children
Lisa Perdue
Kaplan University

CM220-18
Professor Manning
April 3, 2012

Preventing ADHD Misdiagnoses in Children
“The drugging of children for A.D.H.D. has become an epidemic.” (Breggin, 2011, Para.1). More than five million children between the ages of 3 and 17 have been diagnosed with ADHD (CDC, 2012) and almost three million children have been prescribed stimulant medications to treat this disorder (Breggin, 2011). Several studies have been done to show the alarming rate of ADHD misdiagnoses in children and the many reasons why. There are also numerous studies showing that ADHD medication can lead to heart problems and later life memory problems. Upon learning more about the health risks of ADHD medication and knowing of the effects that these medications can have on children in adulthood, we need to find a way to be sure of a medical diagnosis before prescribing these medications. It has become apparent that the many misdiagnoses of ADHD has incorrectly medicated many children and may lead to dangerous long term effects.
Recently concern has been raised that the existing criteria for diagnosing ADHD might be too conservative or restrictive. Due to this concern, a study was performed to see how many therapists were over diagnosing ADHD and why. Researchers compared how many boys vs. girls were diagnosed along with how many therapists used the diagnostic requirements vs. subjective assumptions of the disorder. In this study 20% of therapists diagnosed ADHD even though two of the diagnostic criteria were not met also shows that the over diagnosis of ADHD resulted in more frequent recommendation for medication and that the majority of children receiving stimulant treatment fell far below the threshold of an ADHD diagnosis. Results from this study show that in addition to the issues about the adequacy of the criteria for an ADHD diagnosis, a major objective should also be addressing the


References: Breggin, P. (2010). Stimulants for ADHD Shown to Cause Sudden Death in Children. The Blog, Huffington Post Bruchmüller, K., Margraf, J., & Schneider, S. (2012). Is ADHD diagnosed in accord with diagnostic criteria? Over diagnosis and influence of client gender on diagnosis CDC. (2012).  Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Centers for Disease Control. And Prevention http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/adhd.htm Childs, D.; Neale, T.; Med Page Today (2009) Gardner, A. (2011). No Increase In Heart Attack, Stroke Risk Seen With ADHD Meds. Health Magazine, CNN Hickey, J. (2010). ADHD Misdiagnosis Identified by New Study. ABC News. Retrieved from: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/story?id=7829005&page=1#.T141SfXZV8E Landau, E. (August 18, 2010).  Nearly 1 million ADHD misdiagnoses, study says. The Chart, CNN Thompson, T. (2012). ADHD Natural Remedies. Native Remedies. Retrieved from: http://www.nativeremedies.com/articles/adhd-natural-remedies.html Webber, W. (2004). Alternatives for AHD. Bastyr Center for Natural Health. Retrieved from: http://www.bastyrcenter.org/content/view/189/
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