Anxiety And Panic Attacks

Previously we began a discussion on the extremely large number of ADD/ADHD misdiagnosis. The true extent of this problem becomes apparent when you stop to analyse the diagnosis rates over the past decade and also the rate at which ADD/ADHD medication is prescribed. You would be amazed at the results!  When plotted on a graph it appears as if the ADD/ADHD ‘industry’ can look forward to being one of the few ‘growth industries’ left in the wider economy! So what is happening? It seems that we are either facing an epidemic of catastrophic proportions or a diagnostic system that is driven by something else besides clinical accuracy. It is my conviction that the latter is the case and that vast numbers of people receive incorrect ADD/ADHD diagnoses (with life changing implications) every year. I want to repeat that I believe that the reasons behind these wrong diagnoses are:

Failure to investigate alternative explanations – An ADD/ADHD diagnosis has become almost ‘fashionable’ in some circles and is therefore the first thing some medical professionals reach for when confronted with behavioural problems.
Pressure from school – When the label of ADD/ADHD is given to a child, many educational professionals push for medication to address the problems quicker and easier. What happens when overly eager educators or doctors push to have a child tested and labeled.
Money – The manufacturers of ADD/ADHD medication have access to multimillion dollar marketing budgets that serve to keep the possibility of an ADD/ADHD diagnosis ‘warm’ in the mind of medical professionals, teachers and parents.

This week’s article will focus on a cause of misdiagnosis that could very easily be filed under the first alternative: Failure to investigate alternative explanations. Research has shown that many children who have in the past been labeled ADd/ADHD were in reality gifted children who were acting “ADHD” due to boredom and lack of stimulus in the learning arena.It is not hard to see why there can be confusion in the symptoms of ADD/ADHD and those of the gifted student who are just bored. Children exhibiting the effects of ADD/ADHD and ‘unrecognised’ gifted children often display remarkably similar behaviours including:

• Increased activity levels

• Difficulty paying attention
• Impulsivity
Diminshed concentration and determination, and
• Difficulty following rules

If you use only these behaviours as the method for diagnosing ADD/ADHD it will be very easy for a gifted student to be misdiagnosed. The fact is however, that similar behavioural patterns do not necessarily stem from the same causes.The more well-known symptoms of ADD/ADHD have been linked to issues within the functioning of the brain (e.g. malfunctioning neurotransmitters). ADD/ADHD type symptoms exhibited by gifted children have radically different explanations. This is the reason why it is extremely important that a child not be quickly labeled ADD/ADHD just on their behavior.

Research has shown that gifted children generally possess advanced abilities in at least some of the following areas:

• Psychomotor
• Sensual
• Intellectual
• Imaginational, and
• Emotional

Of particular interest to this discussion are the areas of advanced psychomotor and imaginational abilities. The first is characterised by behaviours such as rapid speech and impulsive bodily movement, the latter by intense visualisation and daydreaming. It would take an uninformed professional just a short step to move from these behaviours to ‘diagnosing’ hyperactivity and inattentiveness respectively.

It does not help in clearing the issues up when many gifted children react to their educational surrounding much the same way that a child with ADD/ADHD reacts in their daily interactions. Some educationalists estimate that gifted students often spend half of the school day waiting for their peers to ‘catch up’! It is easily seen that this can cause extreme boredom and attention problems in subjects that are already mastered. Environments lacking a stimulus causes gifted students to act up or focus on more interesting subjects.

Last but not least, the fact that many gifted students have simliar social issues that ADD/ADHD children possess leads to a misdiagnosis. The more advanced tendances of a gifted child in the areas of emotion and intellect is usually the reason behind their social disfunction.

It should be clear from the above that you could very easily end up with a similar set of behaviours but with radically different causes and also radically different ways of dealing with it (‘The 3 Steps’ outlined on this website and a clear gifted child program respectively – Although following the ‘3 Steps’ in the case of a gifted child certainly wouldn’t hurt either!). If you suspect that you are being pressured into accepting an ADD/ADHD diagnosis in the case of a child who might be gifted you should take immediate action by reversing the normal order of things! Normally a child is not correctly diagnosed as a gifted student until after the diagnosis of ADHD has been made. Take the first step of having your child’s abilities evaluated before seeking help for ADD/ADHD which is what most psychologists in the educational area would support. This could prevent future stress and pressure on you and your family!

Please check back next week for some more common reasons behind ADD/ADHD misdiagnoses. See you then!

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