ADHD Could Be Misdiagnosed In Nearly 1 Million US Kids Say Researchers

This thread reminds me of a story told by Dr. Wayne Dyer:

What is a scurvy elephant?

Wayne Dyer came home from school one day and asked his mum, "What's a scurvy elephant?". She told him she'd never heard of one and asked where he'd heard it. "From my teacher; he said I was a scurvy elephant." Bewildered, his mother called the teacher and asked what he had meant. The teacher responded, "As usual Wayne got it wrong. I didn't say he was a scurvy elephant; I said he was a disturbing element!" I've no idea what Wayne's mum made of that, but it does sound negative, doesn't it? Until you consider that actually it’s good to question, to think for yourself and draw conclusions on life "independent of the good opinion of others." Dyer defines a scurvy elephant as "a person of unusual character who is characterized by the 'tribe' as out of step with 'normal' people."

I doubt they had ADD or ADHD back in those days but if they did, a "disturbing element" (aka scurvy elephant) like Dyer might have been diagnosed with it. I am wary of ADHD diagnoses, and while I'm sure some such diagnoses are correct and warranted, I fear that many are not correct and it is in fact being over-diagnosed, incorrectly. Back in the day there were stay at home moms who actually parented their kids and maybe families these days need both parents working to survive but depriving the child of all that parental attention has to have consequences, most day cares just aren't the same benefit to the child as an attentive mom. So that could be one source for SOME of the misdiagnosed cases and I agree with the other posters that there may be other sources like bad diet (but again this is a case of poor parental supervision, though in one example cited maybe the parent IS around but just not doing a good job moderating the intake of junk food.

reply to post by zerbot565


Symptom: Any subjective evidence of disease. Anxiety, lower back pain, and fatigue are all symptoms. They are sensations only the patient can perceive. In contrast, a sign is objective evidence of disease. A bloody nose is a sign. It is evident to the patient, doctor, nurse and other observers.
www.medterms.com...


n.
2. A sign or an indication of disorder or disease, especially when experienced by an individual as a change from normal function, sensation, or appearance.


The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

symptom
n
1. (Medicine) any sensation or change in bodily function experienced by a patient that is associated with a particular disease Compare sign [9]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

symptom
A subjective indication of a disorder or disease, such as pain, nausea or weakness. Symptoms may be accompanied by objective signs of disease such as abnormal laboratory test results or findings during a physical examination. Compare sign.

edit to add link
www.thefreedictionary.com...

medicinally speaking a sx is evidence of a disease.
PTSD has a ICDM9 identifier code and a
DSM IV RT identifier code

So does ADD and ADHD.

Diagnosis, disorder, disease, condition, illness, malady are all sickness.

Diagnosis, disease etc. can be physical, mental , emotional in origin.

[edit on 21-8-2010 by slugger9787]

reply to post by slugger9787


ok i have lower back pains whats my illness or sickness ?

or do i just have lowerback pain syndrom ?



im overactive, whats my illness or sickness

or do i just have add or adhd syndrom,


but i guess everyone how has a nosebleed has the same illness , sickness or dysfuction , no the symptom is the same, the cause can be that of a multitude of answers and causes.

lazy ness is why you have the adhd add problem at you hands.

im not saying you might not have a neurological dysfuction at hand

all im saying is that your treating a symptom/s which is/are VERY subjective.

kids who lack the ability for attention or has a hard time focusing usualy are so because they ve never been taugth how to concentrate or to take their time.

heck all you have in you r hands are kids who get high from sugars and suffer from withdraw, but i guess the best way to combat that is to give kids meth, like they need it in the first place......

reply to post by ModernAcademia


I would have to agree. While I disagree with those who claim ADHD does not exist, I have to say that its way overdiagnosed.

Ive said it before and Ill say it again. Those who rely on GP's for an ADHD diagnosis and the subsequent onslaught of medications are doing thier kids a huge diservice.

The diagnosis of ADHD etc. needs to come from a specialist. ALL options and interventions need to be explored BEFORE meds IMHO

I say again STOP DRUGGING OUR KIDS!

It is immoral and wrong.

Kids are kids - they are annoying, that is part of being a kid.

I believe that drugging kids for so-called ADHD is abuse.

ATS Team:

Here is a thread from the Medical Forum that you might find interesting.

ADHD Doesn't Exist

Kind regards
Maybe...maybe not

reply to post by zerbot565


Zerot, only one symptom cannot point the spotlight to a specific disease.

The symptom categories of ADHD in children yield three potential classifications of ADHD—predominantly inattentive type, predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type, or combined type if criteria for both subtypes are met:[15]:p.4

Predominantly inattentive type symptoms may include:[34]

Be easily distracted, miss details, forget things, and frequently switch from one activity to another
Have difficulty focusing on one thing
Become bored with a task after only a few minutes, unless doing something enjoyable
Have difficulty focusing attention on organizing and completing a task or learning something new
Have trouble completing or turning in homework assignments, often losing things (e.g., pencils, toys, assignments) needed to complete tasks or activities
Not seem to listen when spoken to
Daydream, become easily confused, and move slowly
Have difficulty processing information as quickly and accurately as others
Struggle to follow instructions.

Predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type symptoms may include:[34]

Fidget and squirm in their seats
Talk nonstop
Dash around, touching or playing with anything and everything in sight
Have trouble sitting still during dinner, school, and story time
Be constantly in motion
Have difficulty doing quiet tasks or activities.
and also these manifestations primarily of impulsivity:[34]

Be very impatient
Blurt out inappropriate comments, show their emotions without restraint, and act without regard for consequences
Have difficulty waiting for things they want or waiting their turns in games
Most people exhibit some of these behaviors, but not to the degree where such behaviors significantly interfere with a person's work, relationships, or studies. The core impairments are consistent even in different cultural contexts.[35]

Symptoms may persist into adulthood for up to half of children diagnosed with ADHD. Estimating this is difficult as there are no official diagnostic criteria for ADHD in adults.[15] ADHD in adults remains a clinical diagnosis. The signs and symptoms may differ from those during childhood and adolescence due to the adaptive processes and avoidance mechanisms learned during the process of socialisation.[36]
en.wikipedia.org...

The disease is the cause of the symptoms, and signs.
There has to be a group or cluster of signs and symptoms to accurately and reliably diagnose a disease.
Low back pain could point to several unrelated diseases, Kidney stones, bulging disc, muscle strain, pancreatitis, fracture vertebra, or...

I think a lot of the arguments here are valid. One direction I'd like to focus on is that the ADD/ADHD suspision usually comes from teachers, which may be a reflection on our broken education system.

I was a brighter-than-average student in elemetary school. They even used to take the different grades and make half-classes out of them. For example, there would be a 4th grade class, a 5th grade class and a split 4th & 5th grade class containing the smarter 4th and 5th graders. This allowed the teachers of the regular 4th and 5th grade classes to move slower with the material, while the teacher of the split-class could move faster and cover topics in greater detail. Even though I was in this class, I was still a "problem" because I'd finish early, get bored, start drawing or writing or tapping "beats" on my desk. Luckily, the teachers I had all recognized it as "not enough work to do" and not "he has behavoral problems."

I'm not sure if they use split classes nowadays due to not making the other kids "feel stupider" or the smart kids "feel singled-out". Diagnosing and drugging kids as ADD/ADHD takes the above-average kids and the below-average kids and makes them average, thus "normalizing" the student into the homogenous "herd".

Conspiracy-wise, I think that is the goal of the pharma-education system, but for different ends. They want a lock-step, don't-think, if your different from your neighbor, there is something wrong with you society.