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Acedia
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21 Apr 2014, 6:23 am

No Child Left Undiagnosed

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'Sluggish Cognitive Tempo' may possibly be the very dumbest and most dangerous diagnostic idea I have ever encountered.

And I have seen some beauts during my forty years of shooting down crazy new diagnostic dream lists. The wild suggestions are usually created by 'experts' brimfull with diagnostic exuberance -- sometimes well meaning, sometimes influenced by extensive drug company affiliations -- and always ungoverned by simple common sense, a respect for scientific evidence and an appropriate fear of risky unintended consequences.

Alan Schwartz is a brilliant investigative reporter for the New York Times who has dug deep into the epidemic of Attention Deficit Disorder If anyone in your family has been diagnosed with ADHD, you should definitely Google his revealing series of reports detailing the how's and why's of ADHD misdiagnosis and the consequent harms of over-medicating our kids with stimulant drugs.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/allen-fra ... 39060.html



linatet
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21 Apr 2014, 6:36 am

"A prospective study using DSM IV found that by age 21, 81 percent of kids had already qualified for one diagnosis of mental disorder."
I liked this statistics very much! Just wish he had posted the link to this study he is talking about... It's kind of unreliable if there is no source.



linatet
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21 Apr 2014, 7:58 am

I did some research and this guy wrote a book called Saving Normal. I read amazon's see inside and he talks about the exaggeration of psychiatric labeling and diagnosis. He criticized something called "adult attention deficit disorder". I went to check it out:
http://psychcentral.com/addquiz.htm
this quiz measures add in adults. can you believe it?? I scored moderate!! Just because I checked that I usually forget things and that I stim. I DO NOT have trouble sitting still, waiting, focusing for long hours, paying attention to details, finishing tasks, being quiet, I DO NOT interrupt other people or intrud or have trouble with attention. I am actually a focused and calm person. And yet they say I have moderate ADD! This is nonsense. Like that everyone can receive an ADD diagnosis. you space out during boring classes and can't read while other people are talking? ADD! :roll:
maybe this guy has a point.



rachel_519
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21 Apr 2014, 10:55 am

Mr. Schwarz's article (the one linked to inside the "No Child Left Undiagnosed" article, featuring an the interview with Dr. McBurnett) contains several good points, such as:
- There needs to be more research done on SCT to make more accurate diagnostic criteria.
- ADHD diagnosis has been misused and overused by a many doctors.

However, Mr. Frances' article ("No Child Left Undiagnosed") is sensationalized and full of his own opinions.

He never explains why he think's SCT is such a "dumb" diagnosis. "Daydreaming, lethargy and slow mental processing" (especially the last two) do not sound like a normal, healthy child. Why is it dumb to want kids to kids to be able to think clearly?

Even Dr. McBurnett seems to think SCT needs to be investigated: “They’re the daydreamy ones, the ones with work that’s not turned in, leaving names off of papers or skipping questions, things like that, that impinge on grades or performance. So anything we can do to understand what’s going on with these kids is a good thing.” He makes it clear that we need to slow down and proceed with caution in developing an SCT diagnosis, but nowhere in the article does he say that the idea of SCT is dumb.

Then there is the sensational evidence with no citation: "A prospective study using DSM IV found that by age 21, 81 percent of kids had already qualified for one diagnosis of mental disorder." I have searched for this study on Google and couldn't find anything. If anyone else finds it, place post a link.

Based on this alleged study, he concludes: "we are fast approaching this dystopic wonderland of universal childhood mental illness. " - This is far from true, if we look at legitimate statistics. The CDC estimates that 13-20% of children in the US have a mental health disorder. (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/su6202a1.htm) That number has increase in the past two decades, but it is still far from a majority.

Sorry to rant, but this is a pet peeve of mine. When I hear people talk about the evils of "Big Pharma" pushing mental health diagnoses, I usually wonder if this person has ever known someone with a legitimate mental illness. I agree that some doctors are irresponsible and drug companies can be greedy, but the truth is millions of people benefit from mental health medications.

Also, not everyone who is diagnosed with a mental illness takes medication, and most people who do take medications take them by their own choice. If you have been diagnosed ADHD (or depression or one of the other disorders that Big Pharma conspiracists rant about) and you don't think you need medication, then tell your doctor you don't want medication. If your child is diagnosed with ADHD and you don't think he or she needs medication, then ask your child's doctor what behavioral therapy or dietary approaches you can try. Many doctors would be trilled to have patients that don't want a drug solution to every problem.


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Sweetleaf
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21 Apr 2014, 11:52 am

linatet wrote:
I did some research and this guy wrote a book called Saving Normal. I read amazon's see inside and he talks about the exaggeration of psychiatric labeling and diagnosis. He criticized something called "adult attention deficit disorder". I went to check it out:
http://psychcentral.com/addquiz.htm
this quiz measures add in adults. can you believe it?? I scored moderate!! Just because I checked that I usually forget things and that I stim. I DO NOT have trouble sitting still, waiting, focusing for long hours, paying attention to details, finishing tasks, being quiet, I DO NOT interrupt other people or intrud or have trouble with attention. I am actually a focused and calm person. And yet they say I have moderate ADD! This is nonsense. Like that everyone can receive an ADD diagnosis. you space out during boring classes and can't read while other people are talking? ADD! :roll:
maybe this guy has a point.


Its an online quiz, it does not actually imply whether or not you have ADD....if a doctor diagnosed someone based on an online quiz that would be quite unprofessional. Also a diagnoses is only supposed to happen when the 'symptoms' cause significant impairments and difficulties for the person making it difficult for them to function.


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linatet
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21 Apr 2014, 12:06 pm

Sweetleaf wrote:
linatet wrote:
I did some research and this guy wrote a book called Saving Normal. I read amazon's see inside and he talks about the exaggeration of psychiatric labeling and diagnosis. He criticized something called "adult attention deficit disorder". I went to check it out:
http://psychcentral.com/addquiz.htm
this quiz measures add in adults. can you believe it?? I scored moderate!! Just because I checked that I usually forget things and that I stim. I DO NOT have trouble sitting still, waiting, focusing for long hours, paying attention to details, finishing tasks, being quiet, I DO NOT interrupt other people or intrud or have trouble with attention. I am actually a focused and calm person. And yet they say I have moderate ADD! This is nonsense. Like that everyone can receive an ADD diagnosis. you space out during boring classes and can't read while other people are talking? ADD! :roll:
maybe this guy has a point.


Its an online quiz, it does not actually imply whether or not you have ADD....if a doctor diagnosed someone based on an online quiz that would be quite unprofessional. Also a diagnoses is only supposed to happen when the 'symptoms' cause significant impairments and difficulties for the person making it difficult for them to function.

good point. I just got very surprised.



chris5000
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21 Apr 2014, 3:23 pm

Sweetleaf wrote:
linatet wrote:
I did some research and this guy wrote a book called Saving Normal. I read amazon's see inside and he talks about the exaggeration of psychiatric labeling and diagnosis. He criticized something called "adult attention deficit disorder". I went to check it out:
http://psychcentral.com/addquiz.htm
this quiz measures add in adults. can you believe it?? I scored moderate!! Just because I checked that I usually forget things and that I stim. I DO NOT have trouble sitting still, waiting, focusing for long hours, paying attention to details, finishing tasks, being quiet, I DO NOT interrupt other people or intrud or have trouble with attention. I am actually a focused and calm person. And yet they say I have moderate ADD! This is nonsense. Like that everyone can receive an ADD diagnosis. you space out during boring classes and can't read while other people are talking? ADD! :roll:
maybe this guy has a point.


Its an online quiz, it does not actually imply whether or not you have ADD....if a doctor diagnosed someone based on an online quiz that would be quite unprofessional. Also a diagnoses is only supposed to happen when the 'symptoms' cause significant impairments and difficulties for the person making it difficult for them to function.

A lot of doctors do diagnose the same way those quizzes work



linatet
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21 Apr 2014, 3:36 pm

chris5000 wrote:
Sweetleaf wrote:
linatet wrote:
I did some research and this guy wrote a book called Saving Normal. I read amazon's see inside and he talks about the exaggeration of psychiatric labeling and diagnosis. He criticized something called "adult attention deficit disorder". I went to check it out:
http://psychcentral.com/addquiz.htm
this quiz measures add in adults. can you believe it?? I scored moderate!! Just because I checked that I usually forget things and that I stim. I DO NOT have trouble sitting still, waiting, focusing for long hours, paying attention to details, finishing tasks, being quiet, I DO NOT interrupt other people or intrud or have trouble with attention. I am actually a focused and calm person. And yet they say I have moderate ADD! This is nonsense. Like that everyone can receive an ADD diagnosis. you space out during boring classes and can't read while other people are talking? ADD! :roll:
maybe this guy has a point.


Its an online quiz, it does not actually imply whether or not you have ADD....if a doctor diagnosed someone based on an online quiz that would be quite unprofessional. Also a diagnoses is only supposed to happen when the 'symptoms' cause significant impairments and difficulties for the person making it difficult for them to function.

A lot of doctors do diagnose the same way those quizzes work

Also even if the quiz is not reliable it is based in the DSM. The criteria is so that many people could fit.



Sweetleaf
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21 Apr 2014, 3:42 pm

chris5000 wrote:
Sweetleaf wrote:
linatet wrote:
I did some research and this guy wrote a book called Saving Normal. I read amazon's see inside and he talks about the exaggeration of psychiatric labeling and diagnosis. He criticized something called "adult attention deficit disorder". I went to check it out:
http://psychcentral.com/addquiz.htm
this quiz measures add in adults. can you believe it?? I scored moderate!! Just because I checked that I usually forget things and that I stim. I DO NOT have trouble sitting still, waiting, focusing for long hours, paying attention to details, finishing tasks, being quiet, I DO NOT interrupt other people or intrud or have trouble with attention. I am actually a focused and calm person. And yet they say I have moderate ADD! This is nonsense. Like that everyone can receive an ADD diagnosis. you space out during boring classes and can't read while other people are talking? ADD! :roll:
maybe this guy has a point.


Its an online quiz, it does not actually imply whether or not you have ADD....if a doctor diagnosed someone based on an online quiz that would be quite unprofessional. Also a diagnoses is only supposed to happen when the 'symptoms' cause significant impairments and difficulties for the person making it difficult for them to function.

A lot of doctors do diagnose the same way those quizzes work


Yes that is a major issue, but it doesn't apply these disorders don't exist...just that there are a lot of incompetent professionals out there. But even though there can be overdiagnoses or inaccurate diagnoses, I am pretty sure the amount of people diagnosed with mental disorders is much less than people who don't have a mental disorder. So I sometimes think the over-diagnoses thing gets exaggerated far too much.


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Acedia
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21 Apr 2014, 5:11 pm

rachel_519 wrote:
The CDC estimates that 13-20% of children in the US have a mental health disorder.


That's shocking.



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21 Apr 2014, 7:42 pm

Is it over-diagnosis or a changed world? In 1950's world you had a good chance of a having a lifetime job, employer paid health insurance that actually covered your problems, a pension that guaranteed a comfortable retirement. The less technological world had less multitasking and life was just slower. I would think a lot of people who would have been functional and not over stressed then are poorly functional and over stressed today to the point of being mentally ill today. And kids are living in a much more paranoid post Columbine/Sandy Hook 9/11 world, are most likely coming from stressed to dysfunctional family situations. This is tough for little brains so I am not shocked by the CDC stats


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Acedia
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05 May 2014, 9:19 pm

rachel_519 wrote:
Sorry to rant, but this is a pet peeve of mine. When I hear people talk about the evils of "Big Pharma" pushing mental health diagnoses, I usually wonder if this person has ever known someone with a legitimate mental illness. I agree that some doctors are irresponsible and drug companies can be greedy, but the truth is millions of people benefit from mental health medications.


I don't think it's right to label those who dislike the pharmaceutical companies as "conspiracists". It's obvious to everyone there is an intensive marketing of pharmaceutical drugs in the U.S. It is also obvious that at some point people are going to think that normal human behaviour and cognition is being medicalised. How commonly diagnosed do mental disorders in children have to be before we're stepping on normal psychology? 10%, 15%....50%???

And saying that it works for some is anecdotal evidence, and is often stated by those who defend medication, "well it works for me", or "it has saved my life". This is meant to negate all of the reported negative and adverse effects that medication is known to have? As fully detailed in this Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_ ... se_effects

I'm not interested in the big pharma argument though. I'm more concerned about the over-pathologizing of human behaviour.


---



Al725
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09 May 2014, 2:20 pm

Hey. Billions of dollars are at state here. Pschiatrists and pharm company executives have to feed their families too. :lol: