Thanks

I'm not saying assessment opportunities or help shouldn't be available to all, merely that if diagnosis was more accurate and more time was spent assessing people that do need support then their would be not only more lay credibility regarding disorders but those that do genuinely need care and support would have means available when needed.

Imo too many children go unassessed for far too long in schools, ive known children that have clearly had ADHD from very young but they make them wait for years to see if its just age related. Its unfair to many children that need support in schools.

I agree Lou... I worked with pre fives for many years and some children were on medication for this condition and it was easy to see where the problems lay with some of the mothers or parents.. and it does get labelled the same as the real thing. Poor children being drugged when its the parents who sometimes need calmed..

Its disappointing really because the parents of those with genuine cases get tarnished with the same brush.

Parents and professionals alike simply look to diagnose everything and provide answers that are usually biological etc but sadly many are simply misbehaved children, or have short attention spans. Its like dyslexia, a child reads slow or is bad at maths...' oh he's dyslexic'. Its just overidentified today.

By the way I'm not suggesting ADHD is misbehaviour simply misbehaviour s excused by medical disorders a lot.

I think whatever the case re ADHD these children clearly have problems coping day to day with simple things.
Katie is entitled to her opinion. And yet again she has stood up and voiced her opinion right or wrong. I like that about Katie. She doesn't worry about upsetting people or being politically correct. In the meantime she raises an issue for debate. That's fine.
I think over many many years kids and adults have been misdiagnosed with this or that and sometimes there is not clear cut answer or solution.
Children were lumped into one group of special needs but now we recognise that each and every case is individual and unique.
Yes there will always be room to consider other causes or casual links like food, diet, parenting. But that has to be considered as a part not a whole alongside individual needs, environmental issues etc etc..
This may seem to some as 'pandering' to children but in actual fact if a child has emotional and behavioural issues - these issues manifest themselves in many different ways in each child.
That being said, I'm fine with Katie believing parental control/diet etc is why children have problems. It's good to have the debate. And yes, foods are responsible for a lot just look at caffeine, lactose intolerances, allergies..

My Niece is currently trying to get her eldest diagnosed with ADHD, he s disruptive, aggressive and won’t listen. The thing is he is one of 4, doesn’t get any attention except for being shouted at and is craving attention. He is getting in trouble at school and is becoming a worry. When he’s with me and my wife he’s a well behaved lovely young lad, yes he’s energetic (usually after sweets) but to say he’s got a disorder and need medication is ridiculous. I’ll be interested to see if he gets diagnosed as for me its just a shame his parents parenting skills are rubbish, to be fair to my niece her mum was equally not bothered and the cycle is continuing.

I believe ADHD exists but I also think it’s over-diagnosing is becoming an excuse for the Jeremy Kyle generation, and that’s a real shame form anyone with real problems.

What's your area of expertise? It looks to me as though you're merely offering subjective reasons to prove the fact that ADHD is over-diagnosed - which is the new "common sense". Saying this has real life effects for parents who are struggling to access the care their children need. They get labelled as bad parents who are responsible for their childrens behavioural problems (as in the post you're responding to). It's ironic that once it was the child with MH issues that was stigmatised by society but since it's been possible to diagnose more accurately the stigma of blame has shifted onto the parents. As a parent who's been through that (not for ADHD) I can assure you that it's not as easy as people are suggesting. Diagnoses are not handed out like sweeties.

Great post

Yes caffeine is ridiculous with anxiety.

How ignorant. These sort of diagnoses take years. My brother with autism and very apparent tourettes took about 4 years to be diagnosed.

The reason there are more diagnoses now is because mental health is being taken more seriously and sufferers aren't shunned and written off like they used to be.

I love how people who are not medical professionals or scientists seem to know that there are so many cases of "misdiagnosis" and that doctors just do it as an "easy" option.

Well for one it would help if you had read my previous posts.

From a lot of personal experience I'm aware of quite a fair amount of misdiagnosis.

In terms of the new common sense, if that were the case people wouldn't be so cynical regarding the possibility of actual genuine and sever cases. Sadly they lump them together that's why many like k.h don't regard it with the respect that it deserves.

And I'm well aware of assessment issues and support/treatment access, again if you'd read my posts you would see that I stated accuracy in diagnosis needs to be increased, not that assessment itself needs to be decreased actually quite the opposite. If people looking for excuses weren't time wasting those with genuine cases their would be much more access and availability to children that genuinely need it.

As for being branded a bad parent, again I've defended against this criticism.
I'm well aware of the biological roots of many disorders I don't claim that they are simply rearing behaviours????? Though I do think social, bio, and cognitive aspects do play a comprehensive role in many of these domains.

Many people are inaccurately diagnosed for simple things as stress related issues, or even bereavement at times. I can testify to this very fact, so to children that are simply slower developers being given the wrong diagnosis and meds provided only in later years to see that it was due to developmental and age related issues not to say domestic also.

I'm not claiming to be a doctor, yes I have subjective views as like yourself I have my own experiences to draw from I'm no different that you arguing your perspective.

However I can be objective also as Ive studied in depth mental health issues and psychology.

Yeah I switched to decaf mostly now. I allow myself one nice coffee but I get so jittery after! Also the big old bad cigarettes can increase your heart rate by 20+ beats for ten minutes after..

Things that seem so innocuous can cause real problems. Tolerances/thresholds can be different in everyone.

Many misuse them also.

Obviously confirmed cases will increase as you rightly point out these conditions were left untreated many years ago. However levels of severity and those that do get misdiagnosed do add to these numbers. I guess too many don't seek treatment or assessment either for a multitude of reasons, and thus would add to the overall figures. Many men tend to be more hesitant to seek professional help or guidance etc.

I suppose learning difficulties and the like do tend to take longer to assess as many other factors such as age and development need to be taken into consideration.

I guess you could say no one is right, we all Have different viewpoints and experiences. Some get misdiagnosed, some long awaited yet much needed assessment ie children, others even slip through the nets sadly.

I hate caffeine, not only does it trigger anxiety attacks It looks like my entire bodies dancing.

Nescafe decaf cappuccinos are a great drink if you enjoy a decent coffee. it was a great find for me. I also drink decaf teabags which are a god send for me as I love a hot drink. caro is also a decent chicory drink.

Fags are my downfall to, I feel as though they calm me but physically and statistically I know they don't. Ice cut down to 6. Now so I'm doing well thus far.

The ignorance on this thread is shocking . My son is brain damaged , he has CP. He also has ADHD, this is more than likely contributed to by the brain damage . My little boy is not naughty. He has a lovely nature , he does what he is told ,he has lots of friends , therefore does not need "a smack" . My poor little boy however , finds it very hard to sit still and to concentrate . His diet is very healthy , he is from a stable home , he is well looked after and I happen to think that I am not a bad parent . As I said the ignorance is shocking - how do people know it is over diagnosed ?? It took a long process to get my some diagnosed ,not just one appointment but several , along with observations in different environments. Don't judge what you don't know anything about - and Katie Hopkins is a knob .

I agree with all your points..However. .and please do not take offence at this..your daughter scurrying around class taking books off shelves and talking etc when other children are sat listening..is distracting those children's learning..and whilst I am delighted your daughter has managed to listen and take in what has been said during that time..how many children have been unable to do so?
This is not a dig..I have a child with huge food issues who we are seeking further help for..his food issues only effect him and do not have a knock on effect on those in his class.

6? That's great. Keep it up!
I'm in that trap too. So know where you are coming from. I have to say exercise is the best cure for anxiety. It mimicks he andrenalin Rush so you can train your body to cope better with it.

Not meaning to derail this thread at all by discussing anxiety but I think the point is that we all have boundaries, levels, thresholds and these are different in everyone and can lead to debilitating issues day to day. The causes are numerous.

And debating these numerous potential causes can only be a good thing.

First point. That is not what I am saying. The new common sense has become this opinion that ADHD etc is over-diagnosed hence the cynicism of posters and opinion shapers like Hopkins. Posters offering a different perspective help to show that things in the real world are more complex than throwing out generalisations like the ones I'm reading here. Rather than it being "subjective" it's based on experience. There's a difference between the two when we're talking about knowledge. One's subjective understanding doesn't always match the experiential.

What have you studied precisely and to what level that allows you "objectivity"... study does not equate with "objectivity" as you yourself have already shown by criticising your GP and the DSM.

In this regard kh is a knob.

I'm sorry to hear that it was such a long process for you and your child to get assessed. And people do need to be more informed regarding such disorders if they're to have such strong negative and cynical views towards such issues. But it doesn't detract from misdiagnosis happening sorry, and it does. as you state from your perspective that you've had difficulties so to have others but in different ways. People have different experiences with the system, I'm not saying its universal simply that it happens and this in turns makes genuine cases more likely to struggle with an assessment in the first place, ie gaining quick referrals etc

Going by some of the overreactions to Katie's valid point, this thread should have been sponsored by Red Bull.

I'd say, if anything, it is under diagnosed If you ignore the parents who have self diagnosed their naughty kids with it without any medical backing. It is actually very hard to get a diagnosis. My daughter was seeing education psychologists, cahms and Paediatricians from the age of three. She wasn't officially diagnosed with ADHD until she was seven. She was quite the enigma really and had everyone baffled. I knew there was something wrong even when she was a baby.
Even though I know her condition isn't my fault, I still question my parenting skills and wonder what I could have done differently. I know deep down I'm not to blame but it still stings when I hear someone say it's over diagnosed and it's just a bunch of naughty kids with crappy parents.
I'm glad I went on to have another child who is totally different from his sister, they are like chalk and cheese and his behaviour for the most part is impeccable. It helps me to understand that ADHD is a real condition and isn't caused by bad parenting.
I feel for anyone with this horrible condition and I feel for their families. I've spent the last 19 years apologising to complete strangers, neighbours, other parents, kids, nursery staff, teachers etc for the crazy way my daughter behaves. It's a miserable existence.

BMlisa was making a very good point about sensory overload. Reasons for which are still not clearly understood. Again a normal threshold for me or you might be completely different for another child. You know when someone runs their nails down a chalkboard? That is irritating to most! Well for another child just touching a certain material or hearing the slam shut of a door can feel/sound like that chalkboard! If that is happening a lot through the day it can be very distressing and manifest itself in behavioural problems because that child is trying to cope?

As for her daughter in class.. This is fine if the school teacher and class recognise and support her within that environment and managing the class as a whole - systems are in place. I think that often children in the class can support each other when they know and understand what's going on. It encourages greater acceptance and tolerance of everyone's differences..

But if support is not there and classes are disrupted then other options/solutions should be considered.

My friend's little boy was diagnosed as ADHD, then perhaps autistic and finally he is highly gifted! This was at school where they try and get kids statemented or something to get more funding.

IMHO I tend to the view that in many cases folks are looking for a convenient label for them. their offspring or whoever to hide their unsociable behaviour behind .

It was true people just don't like to hear it

But the same can be applied to a spectrum of disorders and peoples views regarding this 'common sense'. For me personally I feel that many are simply looking to be cynical regarding something they've had very little exposure too and because they see it on the increase misjudge the disorder in a cynical manner that much is evident with the likes of Katie Hopkins that's clearly never encountered a genuine case in her personal life experience. For instance bipolar disorder is severe for many, but many seeing many celeb jumping on its 'popularity' at one point to excuse public erratic and socially unacceptable behaviour inevitably resulting in cynicism towards a genuine illness.

Well lets just say my subjective views are very much based on personal experiences and personal feelings regarding this matter, I'm sorry for that but I've seen first hand its occurrence. Also I'm a psychology major I'm well aware of the definition of subjective. misdiagnosis is very easy to identify if you look for studies conducted into this area ie objective studies conducted by psychologists that haven't allowed subjective feelings to bias their conclusions. I can also be objective if necessary, if a study I myself conducted into the theory that the diagnosis of disorders was 100 percent accurate and it highlighted a statistical significant occurrence then I wouldn't allow my subjective feelings to interfere with the experiments outcomes or conclusions drawn from them and I would quite happily express the contradiction. I don't only hold this view simply because of my own feelings as I've stated I'm well aware of its occurrence with many others but take from that what you will. That's not to say of course that the majority are not accurate and well established and as you say time consuming assessment processes'.

Totally agree. When I was young it was called being naughty!