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It seems everyone is bipolar these days
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<blockquote data-quote="Hound dog" data-source="post: 261954" data-attributes="member: 84"><p>Heather</p><p> </p><p>This has been something that weighs on my mind. And a pattern I've seen throughout my lifetime. ADD/ADHD is still one of the popular dxes for kids, but now we see the trend leaning toward autistic spectrum. </p><p> </p><p>I was diagnosed ADHD as a kid, and honestly don't doubt that I had it. I was a super hyper child and I have vivid memories of attention span issues. But somehow I managed to get thru my childhood without medication that turned me catatonic. (scared my Mom so bad she dumped it into the toilet) Yet, odds are that if I was that same kid today....I'd have had an aspergers diagnosis as I also had many of those symptoms as well.</p><p> </p><p>These dxes of the day worry me. Docs tend to plop them onto kids as casually as a new pair of socks, doleing out medications like they're candy. If one combo doesn't work, let's try another. And many times those kids haven't even had a decent evaluation to know that the diagnosis is accurate.</p><p> </p><p>I had to fight tooth and nail for Travis dxes. Then I had to argue to keep him off medications he didn't need because once he had the Tourette's Syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) diagnosis that is all they wanted to do with him.</p><p> </p><p>I don't buy Nichole's BiPolar (BP) diagnosis. If she's bipolar then she's the only one who doesn't go manic or hypomanic.......and her depression was mostly anger. The anger/normal is about all we ever saw. But her medications did help stabilize her during her downward spiral which I believe was severe depression complicated by Borderline (BPD).</p><p> </p><p>My own BiPolar (BP) diagnosis.......well, if I have it........lol I somehow cured myself. lol But I will say at the time of diagnosis I was displaying symptoms of it, so can't really blame the psychiatrist. But it was a condition triggered by the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and with research I've discovered that's not so uncommon. As the injury itself healed......those bipolar symptoms disappeared.</p><p> </p><p>In my experience, good psychiatrists take their time dxing. But so many (especially those for kids) are so overworked they hear a group of syptoms and toss out a diagnosis and medications without really looking at the individual over a period of time and doing evaluations correctly. Parents who are inexperienced, uneducated on mental disorders and desperate for answers accept dxes simply because a doctor gave it to them, sometimes even when they don't really think it "fits" their child.</p><p> </p><p>Dxing mental illness is tricky to begin with. You don't get to go have blood work done or have a set of MRI's, xrays ect to say.....Oh, there it is. Docs go by what information they're given, talking with the patient, and what medications work. If they're docs that are good at dxing and the evaluation process....they usually do well with dxes. If not.....well....those dxes can be mighty iffy.</p><p> </p><p>This isn't just my opinion as a lay person. I've had lengthy discussions over the years with psychiatrists on the subject.</p><p> </p><p>So I guess bottom line, if you don't believe a diagnosis fit's your child......get thee for a 2nd opinion, or a 3rd if necessary. Dxing mental illness takes experience and skill. Unfortunately not all psychiatrists and tdocs have that experience or skill.</p><p> </p><p>medication dosing is another issue that worries me. I see kids with huges doses of a combination of medications. Some are very young. Saw this in psychiatric hospital with Nichole. And found myself wondering how much of their behavior was "them" and how much was the particular medication combo/dosages altering their behavior. Several were on higher doses than an adult is to take! Scary.</p><p> </p><p>It's not that I'm against medicating kids. It's that I believe docs need to be extremely careful when they're doing it. And many aren't. Thankfully, Nichole saw psychiatrists who started off extremely low on all medications.....and she never did reach even the recommended dosage of any of them, but for her they worked wonderfully that way.</p><p> </p><p>I had hoped that with the diagnosis of the Day with ADHD/ADD that docs had learned a lesson......evidently they haven't. And as long as we have that trend in mental health, we're going to have patients running around with wrong dxes.</p><p> </p><p>I agree some of the "poplularity" with certain dxes is because of better evaluations and the like....to a certain degree. But I've seen an awful lot of kids recently getting handed an asperger diagnosis that no more have it than my dogs. I can't even pick out 2 or so traits of it.......sigh Instead of dealing with their Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) issues, doctor tosses the asperger diagnosis at them. Instead of dealing with their social anxiety....the same thing happens.</p><p> </p><p>Now I'll climb down off my soapbox. lol This one can really get me going. Because I think all this dxing of the day sort of thing short changes all the patients with the actual dxes because information and treatment plans are often based on what works. So if you have a kid with social anxiety diagnosed with aspergers, and that kid learns to overcome that anxiety......their aspergers was treated and "cured". bah! Mucks up the waters, so to speak.</p><p> </p><p>Ok. Done now. Got to get to school. lol</p><p> </p><p>Interesting discussion Heather.</p><p> </p><p>Hugs</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Hound dog, post: 261954, member: 84"] Heather This has been something that weighs on my mind. And a pattern I've seen throughout my lifetime. ADD/ADHD is still one of the popular dxes for kids, but now we see the trend leaning toward autistic spectrum. I was diagnosed ADHD as a kid, and honestly don't doubt that I had it. I was a super hyper child and I have vivid memories of attention span issues. But somehow I managed to get thru my childhood without medication that turned me catatonic. (scared my Mom so bad she dumped it into the toilet) Yet, odds are that if I was that same kid today....I'd have had an aspergers diagnosis as I also had many of those symptoms as well. These dxes of the day worry me. Docs tend to plop them onto kids as casually as a new pair of socks, doleing out medications like they're candy. If one combo doesn't work, let's try another. And many times those kids haven't even had a decent evaluation to know that the diagnosis is accurate. I had to fight tooth and nail for Travis dxes. Then I had to argue to keep him off medications he didn't need because once he had the Tourette's Syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) diagnosis that is all they wanted to do with him. I don't buy Nichole's BiPolar (BP) diagnosis. If she's bipolar then she's the only one who doesn't go manic or hypomanic.......and her depression was mostly anger. The anger/normal is about all we ever saw. But her medications did help stabilize her during her downward spiral which I believe was severe depression complicated by Borderline (BPD). My own BiPolar (BP) diagnosis.......well, if I have it........lol I somehow cured myself. lol But I will say at the time of diagnosis I was displaying symptoms of it, so can't really blame the psychiatrist. But it was a condition triggered by the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and with research I've discovered that's not so uncommon. As the injury itself healed......those bipolar symptoms disappeared. In my experience, good psychiatrists take their time dxing. But so many (especially those for kids) are so overworked they hear a group of syptoms and toss out a diagnosis and medications without really looking at the individual over a period of time and doing evaluations correctly. Parents who are inexperienced, uneducated on mental disorders and desperate for answers accept dxes simply because a doctor gave it to them, sometimes even when they don't really think it "fits" their child. Dxing mental illness is tricky to begin with. You don't get to go have blood work done or have a set of MRI's, xrays ect to say.....Oh, there it is. Docs go by what information they're given, talking with the patient, and what medications work. If they're docs that are good at dxing and the evaluation process....they usually do well with dxes. If not.....well....those dxes can be mighty iffy. This isn't just my opinion as a lay person. I've had lengthy discussions over the years with psychiatrists on the subject. So I guess bottom line, if you don't believe a diagnosis fit's your child......get thee for a 2nd opinion, or a 3rd if necessary. Dxing mental illness takes experience and skill. Unfortunately not all psychiatrists and tdocs have that experience or skill. medication dosing is another issue that worries me. I see kids with huges doses of a combination of medications. Some are very young. Saw this in psychiatric hospital with Nichole. And found myself wondering how much of their behavior was "them" and how much was the particular medication combo/dosages altering their behavior. Several were on higher doses than an adult is to take! Scary. It's not that I'm against medicating kids. It's that I believe docs need to be extremely careful when they're doing it. And many aren't. Thankfully, Nichole saw psychiatrists who started off extremely low on all medications.....and she never did reach even the recommended dosage of any of them, but for her they worked wonderfully that way. I had hoped that with the diagnosis of the Day with ADHD/ADD that docs had learned a lesson......evidently they haven't. And as long as we have that trend in mental health, we're going to have patients running around with wrong dxes. I agree some of the "poplularity" with certain dxes is because of better evaluations and the like....to a certain degree. But I've seen an awful lot of kids recently getting handed an asperger diagnosis that no more have it than my dogs. I can't even pick out 2 or so traits of it.......sigh Instead of dealing with their Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) issues, doctor tosses the asperger diagnosis at them. Instead of dealing with their social anxiety....the same thing happens. Now I'll climb down off my soapbox. lol This one can really get me going. Because I think all this dxing of the day sort of thing short changes all the patients with the actual dxes because information and treatment plans are often based on what works. So if you have a kid with social anxiety diagnosed with aspergers, and that kid learns to overcome that anxiety......their aspergers was treated and "cured". bah! Mucks up the waters, so to speak. Ok. Done now. Got to get to school. lol Interesting discussion Heather. Hugs [/QUOTE]
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