The Health Doctors Daily Blog

Misdiagnosis of ADD/ADHD was looked at last week and we discussed how large of a problem it has become. 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. The end results of the research are unbelievable!  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. This results in pressure on parents to have a child tested (usually by a professional who can be relied upon to make the ‘desired’ diagnosis).
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. It is a well established fact that many children who have been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD were actually gifted students who ‘acted out’ in response to being bored with the educational environments in which they have been placed.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
Inability to concentrate and lack of drive as well as
• Difficulty following rules

Using only these behaviors as the guideline to determine ADD/ADHD will easily pull in the gifted student. The fact is however, that similar behavioural patterns do not necessarily stem from the same causes.  Classic ADD/ADHD symptoms can be traced back to problems with brain function (e.g. malfunctioning neurotransmitters). The reasons for the ADD/ADHD-like tendancies by gifted children are extremely different. This is why it is so vitally important that an ADD/ADHD diagnosis should never be made simply on the basis of behavioural analysis.

There is much evidence that advanced levels of the following areas are found in gifted students:

• 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.

The way many gifted children respond to their learning environments causes confusion in distinguishing between ADD/ADHD and gifted. Some educationalists estimate that gifted students often spend half of the school day waiting for their peers to ‘catch up’! This can obviously lead to intense boredom and difficulty focussing on previously acquired skills. It is quite common for gifted and talented students to react in “boring” environments in a manner resembling ADD/ADHD.

Last but not least, the fact that many gifted students have simliar social issues that ADD/ADHD children possess leads to a misdiagnosis. This is mainly due to the fact that the gifted child is more than likely more advanced emotionally and intellecturally than others their age which causes some social issues between peers.

It should be obvious that similar behavior patterns can occur but the root cause could be way different as well as the approach to them (See ‘The 3 Steps‘ clearly laid out on this site and the program for the obviously gifted child – Though using the ‘3 Steps’ as a guide when a!). If the possibilty of your child being quickly labled ADD/ADHD and their gifted tendancies ignored exists, do not let this wait in getting it corrected! The trend is to “discover” the giftedness of the child after the label of ADD/ADHD by a medical professional has been made. The best course of action would be to have your child evaluated for giftedness before rushing headlong into the diagnosis of ADD/ADHD. By doing this you could be saving yourself a lot of stress and emotional anxiety!

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