Atention Deficit Disorder Pandemic Essay -- mental illness, children,

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (2004), that 3-5% of children have had ADD/ADHD consistently since the 1940’s, although over 15% of children in school take ADD/ADHD prescriptions every day. In which a large portion of the diagnosis are coming straight from the General physician. Family physicians are rarely trained to identify mental illnesses but instead of leaving their scope of practice they diagnose their patient irresponsibly. Misdiagnoses for ADD/ADHD are fairly common since the guidelines of the mental illness is vague and can easily be mistaken for a child just acting immature for his grade. A study done by Michigan State University economist Elder (2010) states: Nearly 1 million children in the United States are potentially misdiagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder simply because they are the youngest -- and most immature -- in their class. Around forty percent of people diagnosed with ADD/ADHD truly have ADD/ADHD; the other 60% of the patients possibly don’t have add/adhd, even though they were diagnosed with it. The truth is when a doctor tries to treat add/adhd in the misdiagnosed patient, the patient is usually prescribed an NRI or a psychoactive stimulant like (Adderall, Ritalin, Vyvanse, etc). These meds can work amazing for people who truly have ADD but when the diagnosis is wrong, the the medications can create a damaging effect on the patients neurotransmitters. When I say damaging, I mean neurotoxicity and down regulation to mostly Dopamine but may also affect Serotonin, GABA and even acetylcholine. The damaging effects can be permanent if meds are taken too long. If you have a heart problem you don't go to your normal family physician but a Cardiologist which specializ... ... psychiatric medications only after a diagnosis has been made by a licensed psychiatric specialist. This way people won’t be discouraged from seeking out mental help due to financial problems. A psychiatrist can be expensive if insurance doesn’t cover every visit, so allowing a general physician to write prescriptions after a diagnosis would be far more reasonable on the wallet of all patients. Children with mental disorders shouldn't have to be treated with dangerous drugs unless the treatment truly fits the diagnosis. Work Cited: Todd E. Elder The importance of relative standards in ADHD diagnoses https://msu.edu/~telder/2010-JHE.pdf