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ADHD Assessment - What Happens When a Doctor Diagnoses ADHD?
To make an ADHD diagnosis, doctors will review your symptoms to determine if they meet the criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (DSM-V). Most professionals also administer a clinical interview with one or more standardized ADHD rating scales.
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Symptoms
If your pediatrician is evaluating you for ADHD, he or she will ask you questions about your symptoms and past history. They will also examine you in order to determine the physical basis of your disorder. It could be a vision problem, hearing loss or a medical condition.
ADHD is defined as difficulty paying attention or staying focussed. This is often the cause of making mistakes that are not made or failing to finish work (e.g., schoolwork or chores). Teens and children with ADHD often have difficulty listening to others and seem distracted or even daydreaming. These issues can create problems in the workplace as well as at home in relationships in adults with ADHD.
Another sign of ADHD is difficulty sitting still or being quiet for long periods. People who suffer from ADHD pace, fidget or squirm while waiting for others to show up or during meetings. They also talk too much and interrupt others frequently.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition Text Revision of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-5TR(tm), is used by doctors to establish their diagnoses. They assess whether a person has at least six traits of inattention or hyperactivity/impulsivity to determine what type of ADHD they have.
To diagnose ADHD, your pediatrician will examine how you behave in different situations, including at school or other social events. The doctor will ask you as well as your family members, teachers and other caregivers to describe your behavior. The doctor will use checklists and scales for ADHD symptoms.
Your child may also undergo a physical examination or undergo tests for blood to rule out other medical problems, such as hearing loss, vision loss or a thyroid condition which can trigger similar symptoms. A mental health professional will assess your child's ability to concentrate on the task at hand, follow directions and complete tasks.
Neuropsychological testing is not usually used to diagnose ADHD however it could be helpful in some situations. It is the process of measuring brain activity, such as beta waves, by using an EEG or by using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. Certain studies suggest that ADHD patients are less active in beta waves in their frontal lobes and produce too many theta-waves.
Diagnosis
A doctor can diagnose ADHD based on the person's symptoms, his or her family history, and the results of a variety of screening and assessment tools. These include rating scales continuous performance tests, as well as neuropsychological testing batteries (Table I). For each tool, it is important to understand its sensitivity and specificity - the likelihood that the test correctly identifies those with the disorder and those who do not.
The first step in evaluating ADHD is to conduct an interview with the patient. It is a one-hour session with a therapist, during which the patient will be asked about the symptoms they experience and previous experiences. A specialist might also ask the help of teachers and other caregivers to gather information, particularly when diagnosing children. The doctor will look over the medical and school records as well as ask the child or teenager to answer questionnaires posed by parents and educators.
For adults who are being assessed for ADHD, the clinician might also request school records from the past to determine if the patient's symptoms began in the early years of childhood. The doctor might also speak to the person's spouse, siblings and other family members about their experiences with the individual. A specialist may also interview those who are familiar with the person like former teachers or religious leaders.
To be diagnosed with ADHD in an adult or teen, they must show several symptoms in various settings, including at home, school and at work. These symptoms must interfere with the person's functioning and not be explained by a different condition. For adolescents the symptoms should be present and consistent from the time of their childhood. For adults, he or she must show at minimum five ongoing symptoms and suffered from them for at minimum six months. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition Text Revision of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-5) includes criteria for diagnosing the disorder.
Treatment
There are a myriad of treatments available for your child or adult who is diagnosed with ADHD. These could include medication, behavioral therapy or a combination of both. Your doctor and you will decide which is the best option for you based upon how many symptoms your child is experiencing and the length of time they've had them. Your doctor will also rule out other conditions that could be causing the symptoms, like mental health conditions like depression and anxiety or medical problems such as thyroid disorders.
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The evaluation could consist of an interview with a psychologist, the completion of ADHD symptoms lists and other questionnaires as well as psychological tests, information about your family and friends, as well as medical history. It's important to provide as much information about the difficulties your child or you are experiencing as you can. click here for more info will allow your doctor to be aware of the complexity of your situation and make an accurate diagnosis.
Adults and older teens will be able to undergo the same assessment process, but symptoms will be assessed differently because they're typically related to work and other pursuits. Along with a thorough description of the issues and the underlying issues, your psychiatrist or psychologist will be interested in knowing how these problems affect your life. Do the problems affect your professional or social relationships, for instance? How much, if at all? Your doctor will use this information to determine whether your symptoms are mild, moderate or severe.
Psychosocial treatments for adults with ADHD are typically more effective than prescription medications. These treatments can help you and your family learn better ways to cope. For instance, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can teach you how to change your negative thoughts and manage your emotions. Family and group therapy can help you develop new skills and strategies to improve your relationship with your spouse or partner. For children and adolescents, behavior training is recommended before trying any medication. This includes parent education on how to manage children's behavior under 6 years of age and other kinds of training and behavior therapy for adults and teens.
Follow-up
Like any diagnostic procedure, the results of an adhd evaluation should be reviewed and interpreted by an experienced physician. This ensures that the individual gets the right treatment for their specific condition. It also reduces the possibility of false positive results when a test suggests that a person may have ADHD even though they don't. This can happen when the test used in an assessment isn't valid or the examiner does not have sufficient experience to interpret the results correctly.
The doctor will take into consideration the duration and onset of the symptoms, as well as how they compare to the mental age estimate (i.e., is the patient's behaviour disproportionately "below" or above" their age). They will also look at the time frame and duration of the symptoms, as well in comparing them to an estimate of mental age (i.e. is the patient's behavior disproportionately 'below' or 'above' for their age).
In addition to the clinical interview and observations, neuropsychological tests can be helpful in the assessment of ADHD symptoms. Certain tests were specifically designed to evaluate the core ADHD symptoms: inattention hyperactivity and impulsivity. The Quantified Behavior Test for children (6-12 years) and the Qb+(c) for adults (12 years or older) are two of the tests. These tests use motion tracking systems to monitor head movements and produce measurements of activity (i.e. time spent moving more than 1 cm/s) distance, surface covered by movement, as well as microevents (i.e. small movements that exceed 1 millimeter). They also calculate estimates of commission and omission mistakes, two elements of ADHD executive functioning issues.
It is essential that the doctor takes the time to conduct a thorough evaluation. They'll likely inquire about the person's health and development history dating back to childhood, their school and work history, their family life, and alcohol and drug use, in order to determine the causes that could be contributing to the symptoms they are observing. The SWAN as well as the ratings of parents or patients and cognitive tests that are objective will be used to determine a diagnosis.