ADHD Commentary - Essay called Increase in ADHD diagnosis. It explains why there is the increase PDF

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Essay called Increase in ADHD diagnosis. It explains why there is the increase and goes into detail on what exact ADHD is....

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Beyonce Burns ENG-105 September 4, 2019 Professor Chinn Increase in ADHD Diagnosis Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD for short, is a disorder usually found in children that have an issue with the way that their brain was developed and they may grow to have issues with the ability to sit still, with something holding their attention, as well as simply just having self control. According to webmd.com, based on a study, the diagnosis of ADHD in children between the ages of 4 and 17 has grown from 6.1% to 10.2% from the years 1998 to 2016. No one really knows the cause of the increase in the diagnosis, but there have been many speculations over the years. There are different variables related to this increase. Some believe a mishaps with diagnosis and treatments, an exaggeration symptoms, as well as an increase in awareness have caused this increase in the diagnosis of ADHD. “It may not be so much that ADHD itself has increased, but that the diagnosis of it has increased,”(Dixon, 2018). More than 2 million more children were diagnosed with ADHD between 2003 - 2004 and 2011 - 2012 according to a report made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Yet, only 1 million more of those children were taking medication for this disorder during this period of time. There was 18 percent of children who didn’t receive any counseling for their mental health or any of the medications which raised

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questions (CDC). Questions such as “What was the factors in determining which children received treatments or not?” or, “Were there just not enough medication to go around?” come to mind when reading such information. It has been found that the ADHD diagnosis in preschool aged children were relatively stable over a 6 year period. This 6 year period was a follow up study of the Preschool AttentionDeficit Hyperactivity Disorder Treatment Study or PATS. The symptoms found in these students remained in between the ranges of moderate and severe (CDC). According to the CDC, in the last 4 year period, diagnosis of ADHD is on the rise, jumping nearly 22 percent. The cause of this rise may be from misdiagnosis, greater awareness, or inaccurate reportings. It is unfortunately common for someone to exaggerate symptoms just so they could get the diagnosis of ADHD for reasons unknown. This brought about a system called Symptom Infrequency Scale (ASIS) to identify these individuals. (Courrégé,Skeel, Feder, Boress, 2019) This is mainly seen in the adults and not so much as children getting the diagnosis because the adults may be looking to get the medication for ADHD when in reality, they do not suffer from the disorder at all. There are many different variables in the increase of diagnosis. According to additudemag.com a few of these factors are marketing, the internet, and advocacy groups. Marketing has helped with this increase because of the advertisements that are put out targets the right physicians and consumers every chance possible. The internet plays a part in the increase of the diagnosis of ADHD as well because it has helped bring awareness to more and more people than ever before. Because of this new found awareness parents are now able to identify the

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symptoms of ADHD within their children as well as themselves. With this, if they believe that they or their child have any of the symptoms they can go to the doctor with the diagnosis in mind after doing the self check to verify if it is indeed ADHD that they are suffering from. Advocacy groups play their fair part in the increase as well. These advocacy groups were initially based just in the US, now they can be found all over the world. These groups may hold ADHD themed conferences for their patients as well as their providers. They also can provide information and support to someone who believe that they may have ADHD. In conclusion, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder or ADHD has been linked to a high variety of different factors. The internet plays a major part in getting the information to the general public so that if they are curious they may do a self check on them selves or on their children. Other factors that add on to the increase in the diagnosis of ADHD are misdiagnosis, greater awareness, or inaccurate reportings. The misdiagnosis allows adults or children to get the diagnosis and get treated for a condition that do not have, the greater awareness kept more people informed on the subject, and inaccurate reportings created falsified information throughout the reasearch. Studies shows how rapidly the number of diagnosis has progressed over the years although somewhere along the way within those years the progressed number of patients with the diagnosis were not receiving any treatments or counseling to help them deal with this disorder.

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References Child & Adolescent Psychopharmacology(2014) Retrieved from https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=a9h&AN=93305577&site=eds-live&scope=site The ADHD Symptom Infrequency Scale (ASIS): A Novel Measure Designed to Detect Adult ADHD Simulators (2019) Retrieved from https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login? url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pdh&AN=2019-09807001&site=eds-live&scope=site ADHD Rising in the U.S., but Why? (2018) Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/addadhd/news/20181126/adhd-rising-in-the-us-but-why Explaining the Global Rise in ADHD Diagnoses (2019) Retrieved from https://www.additudemag.com/explaining-the-global-rise-in-adhd-diagnoses/ Why Are So Many Children Being Diagnosed With ADHD Today? (2018) Retrieved from https://www.self.com/story/adhd-diagnosis-rates-children-increase...