ADHD | ADHD in Children | ADHD Diagnosis | Parenting | Not ADHD|
ADHD: Diagnosis or Misdiagnosis?
Maybe Your Child Doesn’t Have ADHD After all?
6.1 million kids were diagnosed with ADHD in 2019. Do all of them have this condition? Or have some been misdiagnosed?
How is ADHD Diagnosed?
According to the latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control, 5.9 million children in the U.S. were diagnosed with ADHD in 2015. Five years later, the figure had gone up to 6.1 million children. (Figures vary depending on what source you’re using.)
3.5 million of these children are taking prescription drugs for this condition, twice as many boys as girls.
I don’t know about you, but I think these numbers are staggering and worrisome. I also think they’re wildly exaggerated. Exaggerated because the diagnosis isn’t always accurate.
And if the diagnosis isn’t accurate, then a lot of children are taking medication for something they don’t have. Maybe your child? Maybe several children in your class if you’re a teacher? Maybe several of your grandchilren?
No culture or biopsy for ADHD. No blood test for ADHD. No x-ray for ADHD. The diagnosis is essentially anecdotal, based on questions from the DSM5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition). The answers to the questions about a child’s behavior usually come from parents, sometimes from what teachers tell parents.
Child is disruptive in school. Ok. What does that mean. Child doesn’t pay enough attention? Why? Child speaks out in class? Since when is this a disorder? Please don’t misunderstand. ADHD is real. I have it. Have had it all my life. Was diagnosed, not merely from chatting with a counselor, but with a brain scan and computerized tests.
Unfortunately the answers to the questions can also describe something that isn’t ADHD, including serious illness. For example, a child who is diagnosed as having ADHD without hyperactivity could have diabetes instead.
In addition to how loosely we all use the terms “ADHD” and “ADHD,” every expert (and lots of non-experts) has a pet theory of what “causes” ADHD.
Theories blamed for “causing” ADHD include
- School is boring
- School is too hard; School is too easy.
- Learning disabilities
- Poor diet and too much junk food
- Poor parenting skills
- Poor teachers
- Bad schools
- Vaccinations
None of the above “cause” ADHD but some can cause behavior that looks like ADHD. Vaccination isn’t one of them nor are teachers and schools to blame.
Many of the other factors, like diet, when corrected will help with both ADHD and ADHD-like behavior. And sometimes completely get rid of ADHD symptoms. Although it can seem confusing to sort out, parents can make the task easier by tackling only one factor at a time.
Five Common Factors causing an ADHD Misdiagnosis are
- Too much sugar and junk food saturated with artificial coloring accompanied by skipping breakfast.
- Too much TV especially before bed time.
- Lack of daily vigorous exercise.
- Lack of sleep.
- Medical condition not related to ADHD.
I had a client who threw out all the food in her cabinets containing Red Dye 40. Her daughter’s ADHD-like symptoms disappeared within just a few days after she stopped eating anything with Red Dye 40.
Red Dye 40 is common and not limited to food that’s red. Red Dye 40 is not a recommended additive. However, everyone is not “allergic” to it as was this little girl.
A teenage client who got over his insomnia and greatly reduced his ADHD symptoms by doing nothing more than taking the TV out of his bed room and not watching TV within an hour of going to bed.
No, I’m not an MD. And my client stories are 2nd hand and anecdotal. Hardly statistically significant. But I suggest to you that the five common factors I’ve listed can be easily investigated and corrected without a doctor’s permission or prescription.
ADHD versus ADHD-like Symptoms
The distinction between ADHD and ADHD-like symptoms is important since stimulant drugs aren’t appropriate for ADHD-like symptoms. However, these drugs may be appropriate for ADHD.
So it’s always important to rule out factors that can cause ADHD-like behavior before putting kids on ADHD meds. Sadly this is rarely done.
Unless these factors are ruled out, we put our kids at risk of taking powerful drugs for a condition they don’t have. Often kids who don’t have ADHD but are put on stimulant drugs for ADHD have serious side effects. And ADHD drugs won’t help if a child doesn’t have ADHD.
On the other hand, most non-drug alternatives will help with both ADHD-like symptoms and ADHD. Non-drug strategies, programs, activities, and behavior modification can help kids pay attention and focus. Can help them to be less hyperactive or less dreamy. Can help them from being so impulsive.
Once all the other factors have been ruled out and non-drug alternatives haven’t helped enough, then it’s time to look at ADHD drugs.
Always insist on a complete and thorough physical exam before agreeing to put your child on these drugs. Describe your child’s behavior to the pediatrician and avoid mentioning ADHD.
Teachers, try to avoid labeling a child as “having ADHD.” You don’t know. Instead describe the child’s specific behavior to the parents.
Discover what might be causing your child’s symptoms before agreeing to ADHD drugs.
I offer words of wisdom to adult ADHDers and parents with kids with ADHD, I also write about adoption. I am adopted and live with raging ADHD. (Many adopted folks have ADHD, often caused from trauma at birth.)
If you think you might have ADHD too, check out Oh Look, There’s a Squirrel.
Given raging ADHD, it’s no surprise that focus does not come to me easily! In addition to adoption and ADHD, I also write random stories from my life, what I’ve observed, what’s in the news, about writing and editing, anything that tickles my fancy.
For a Black Lives Matter from a white perspective, see my story about Teaching Kindergarten at an all-Black school.