By: Yih Ted
Submitted: 2008-12-05 04:47:52 | Word Count: 592
It is important to understand that diagnosis of ADD/ADHD requires a considerable amount of observation as well as thorough psychological and medical testing. There are also diagnosis made on reporting basis such as self reporting, reporting from parents, teachers and caregivers. It is common for individuals to be diagnosed with ADD/ADHD by the family physician and without going through much discussion on the condition of the person. Diagnosis have also been made without further testing crucial to clarify that the symptoms are really ADD/ADHD and not other common disorder as well as undesirable behavior.
The condition of being misdiagnosis, be it over diagnosis and under diagnosis have been causing great problems for the medical community even worse for society that has to deal with deviant behavior etc. Proper diagnosis is needed to ensure sanity for all.
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Many common disorders can mimic the symptoms of ADD/ADHD resulting in an incorrect diagnosis if adequate care is not taken to compare the symptoms of each individual carefully with every available condition rubric. The symptoms of ADD/ADHD are so obtuse that they can easily be attributed to depression, anxiety, specific learning disabilities, early onset bipolar disorder, Tourette’s Syndrome, food allergies, head injuries, fetal alcohol syndrome, dental problems (such as abscessed root canals or mercury toxicity from fillings), family dynamics issues, grief or trauma, and even simple poor parenting!
There is really not many cases of real ADD/ADHD diagnosis out there.
Due to the fact that other disorders have symptoms very similar to ADD/ADHD, a better method of diagnosis is required to ensure preciseness of diagnosis.
Differential diagnosis is a process that so far has proven correct diagnosis of ADD/ADHD.
Merriam Webster’s Medical Dictionary defines differential diagnosis as “the distinguishing of a disease or condition from others presenting similar symptoms”. Essentially, the process takes place in the following manner:
Before anything else, the clinician investigates the history and physical examination of the patient so that possible disorders can be list out. This process is called differential diagnosis and it is a clinical decision making. With all the possible disorder listed, related tests are carried out on the patient Encyclopedia Brittanica.
Perhaps the most important part of the process is when “the clinician then decides what tests to order to help refine the list or identify the specific disease”. In many cases, this refinement never takes place. Conditions such as food allergies, toxicity, and psychological issues are rarely investigated. There are several reasons for this. It is often difficult for a physician to confront a parent with what may be a display of symptoms due to poor parenting, abuse, or familial stress, and many physicians realize that the work involved in teaching everyone involved with someone diagnosed with a nutritional deficiency or toxicity is more than some families will commit to. Additionally, it’s ok to have ADD/ADHD, it’s not ok to be in the early stages of developing a major mental disorder.
Suggesting that parents change their method of parenting can be an impossible mission.
It is hard to accept that a diagnosis points to mental illness.
Most people tend to ignore the necessity of meeting nutritional needs as well as addressing allergies and sensitivities. Not many will make effort to avoid toxic substance either.
It’s easier to medicate.
This simply bailing out using medication is causing dangerous misdiagnosis. Correct diagnosis of ADD/ADHD consist of careful examination on what is causing the symptoms and this may takes up much time, energy and resources.
Author Resource:-
Jimmy Brownen is a leading expert in the field of http://3stepsadd.com/premium/ ADD/ADHD and has years of experience in the treatment of it. For more information on the disorder or for alternative means of curing http://3stepsadd.com/ ADHD, please visit his site.
