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

According to the Ameri displace Academy of Pediatrics (2004), that 3-5% of children have had hyperkinetic syndrome/ tutelage deficit disorder consistently since the 1940s, although over 15% of children in school take ADD/ attention deficit disorder prescriptions all day. In which a large portion of the diagnosis are coming straight from the General physician. Family physicians are rarely adept to identify mental illnesses unless instead of leaving their scope of hold they diagnose their patient irresponsibly. Misdiagnoses for ADD/ADHD are fairly parkland since the guidelines of the mental illness is vague and can easily be erroneous for a child just acting immature for his grade. A contemplate outweare by Michigan State University economist Elder (2010) states most 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 perce nt of people diagnosed with ADD/ADHD really have ADD/ADHD the other 60% of the patients possibly dont have add/adhd, unconstipated though they were diagnosed with it. The truth is when a doctor tries to treat add/adhd in the misdiagnosed patient, the patient is ordinarily 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 interpreted too long. If you have a heart problem you dont go to your typical family physician but a Cardiologist which specializ... ... psychiatrical medications only afterwards a diagnosis has been made by a licensed psychiatric specialist. This way people wont b e discouraged from pursuit out mental help due to financial problems. A shrink can be expensive if insurance doesnt cover every visit, so allowing a general physician to write prescriptions after a diagnosis would be far more reasonable on the notecase of all patients. Children with mental disorders shouldnt have to be treated with dangerous drugs unless the discussion truly fits the diagnosis.Work Cited Todd E. Elder The importance of relative standards in ADHD diagnoses https//msu.edu/telder/2010-JHE.pdf