It seems to me that more and more people are being diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and/or ADHD, sometimes both at the same time. I wrote about the overdiagnosing of Bipolar Disorder in another posting on this site. But ADHD is facing the same issues. A recent article in the Vancouver Sun explores the problem in Canada, but CNN reported on this as far back as 1999 with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writing about the problem in 1998. Why is this important?
Because a diagnosis in children means putting them on medication that contains amphetamine, which is nothing more than speed.
I know when I worked in the county's children's mental health clinic, we were swamped every fall by parents who had been referred by their children's teachers for "Ritalin". The teachers specifically told them to put the children on Ritalin. Teachers are not psychiatrists. They have not attended medical school. They have not been trained in psychological assessment. So I was appalled to see so many of them take it upon themselves to diagnose and prescribe treatment.
And I rarely see other reasons considered as to why children might be hyperactive and difficult. (Therapy Doc does a beautiful job of addressing this on her blog in a post titled, "Definition ADHD".) The parents bring the child in complaining that they are having problems and wanting the child "fixed". This makes the child the "identified patient" in therapy jargon. However, in family systems, the identified patient (IP) is rarely the one with the problem. They are usually the one carrying the distress of the family about the problem. They act out the problem the family is keeping hidden. And it is not unusual for the identified patient to be a child. Even small children will sacrifice themselves for the well-being of the family.
Therefore, the environment in which a child is living should always be taken into account when diagnosing behavior problems. And familial distress or dysfunction should always be assessed. Children may appear hyperactive who are merely "acting out" due to any number of things which could be going on at home; domestic violence, physical, emotional or sexual abuse, or a parent having a substance abuse problem, just to name a few. Problems don't have to be this severe in the family before we start to see distress in the children. Parents who are constantly fighting, financial stressors, or a marital affair can put enough stress on the system to affect the behavior of the children. When working with children it is crucial to assess both parents and any other family members who are in the home before labeling the child as being the source of the problem. More often than not they are merely reacting to a problem, not the cause of it.