ADHD Assessment - What Happens When a Doctor Diagnoses ADHD?
Doctors will examine your symptoms and determine if they match the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition DSM-V. The majority of professionals also conduct an interview for clinical purposes using one or more standardized ADHD rating scales.
It is recommended to find an expert who is specialized in diagnosing ADHD and is covered by your insurance plan. Contact members of your local support group for specialists.
Symptoms
Your pediatrician will be able to ask you questions about your current symptoms and any past. He or she will also examine you in order to determine the basis of your disorder. This could be a hearing loss, vision issue or illness.
The most prominent symptom of ADHD is the difficulty in staying focused or paying attention. This can lead to impulsive mistakes and inability to finish tasks (e.g. schoolwork or chores). psychiatrist adhd assessment and children who suffer from ADHD often have difficulty listening to others and are often distracted or even daydreaming. These issues can create problems in the workplace or at home, as well as in relationships in adults with ADHD.
Another symptom of ADHD is the difficulty in sitting still or being still for long periods. People who suffer from ADHD are prone to fidget, pacing or squirm as they wait for others to arrive, or during a meeting. They might also talk too much and interrupt others frequently.
Doctors rely on the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition Text Revision (DSM-5-TR(tm)), to guide 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 consider the way you behave in different settings like at school, or other social events. He or she will ask you, your family members as well as teachers and other caretakers to describe your behavior. He or she will also employ checklists and scales for ADHD symptoms.
Your child might also undergo a physical exam or take tests for blood to rule out other medical issues, like a hearing loss, vision loss or a thyroid condition that can cause similar symptoms. A mental health professional can also test your child’s ability to focus, follow instructions and complete tasks.
The use of neuropsychological tests is not typically used to diagnose ADHD however it could be useful in certain circumstances. It involves measuring brain activity such as beta waves using an EEG scan or magnetic resonance image (MRI). Certain studies suggest that those with ADHD have less beta wave activity in the frontal lobes of their brains. They also suggest that they create too many theta waves.
Diagnosis
A doctor can determine ADHD by looking at a patient's symptoms, family history, and the results of various screening and assessment tools. There are several tools that can be used to determine the presence of ADHD, such as rating scales and continuous tests. It is important to understand the sensitivity and specificity of each instrument - how likely it is that the test will correctly identify people suffering from the disorder as opposed to those without.
The first step in evaluating ADHD is to conduct an interview with the patient. It is a one-hour session with a therapist who will be asked questions about the symptoms they experience and previous experiences. A specialist may also request the assistance of teachers and other caregivers in gathering information, particularly when diagnosing children. The physician will go through medical and school records, as well as ask the child or teenager to answer questionnaires posed by parents and educators.
The doctor may also ask for past school records from people being assessed for ADHD to determine if the symptoms began in childhood. They may also talk with the person's spouse, children and other acquaintances about their experiences with the individual. A specialist may also decide to interview others who are familiar with the individual, such as religious and scout leaders or former teachers to gain insight into how the individual interacts in various settings.
To be diagnosed with ADHD in an adult or teenager the person must exhibit multiple symptoms in a variety of environments, such as at school, home, and work. These symptoms must interfere in the ability of the individual to function and cannot be explained by other illness. For adolescents, the symptoms must be present and consistent from the time of their childhood. For adults, they must have at least five ongoing symptoms and suffered from them for at minimum six months. The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition Text Revision (DSM-5) defines criteria for diagnosing the disorder.
Treatment
If your child or adult has been diagnosed with ADHD, there are several treatment options. These treatments may include medication, therapy for behavior or a mix of both. Your doctor and you will decide what is right for you based on how many symptoms your child experiences and the length of time they've had them. Your doctor will also rule other causes that may cause symptoms, like a mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression or medical issues like thyroid issues.
It's important to speak to your child's teacher if you or he/she is having difficulty in school. Teachers can spot ADHD symptoms in kids and determine if it's ADHD or something else.
Your evaluation will likely include an interview with a clinician, the completion of ADHD symptom checklists and other questionnaires including psychological tests, medical history and information regarding relatives and friends. It's important to provide as much information regarding the issues you or your child are having as possible. This will help your practitioner comprehend the complexity of your situation and provide an accurate diagnosis.
Adults and teenagers go through a similar assessment process, however their symptoms will be assessed differently, as they are generally connected to their work and other activities. In addition to a thorough description of the difficulties and the underlying issues, your psychiatrist or psychologist will be interested in knowing how these problems affect your daily life. Are the issues affecting your social or professional relationships, for instance? How much, if all? Your physician will use this information to determine if your symptoms are mild, moderate or severe.
Psychosocial treatments are more effective than medications for adults with ADHD. These treatments can teach your family and you better ways to cope. For instance, cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) can teach you how to shift your negative thoughts and manage your emotions. Therapy for groups and families can help you develop new skills and strategies to improve your relationship with your spouse or partner. Before trying any medication, behavior training should be tried with young children and adolescents. This includes training for parents in behavior management for children from the age of six and other forms of therapy for behavior and training for adults and teens who are older.
Follow-up
As with any diagnostic procedure, the results of an adhd assessment should be reviewed by a qualified physician. This ensures that the patient receives the right treatment for their condition. It also reduces the possibility of false positives, when a test suggests that someone has ADHD but they don't. This can happen if the test used to evaluate isn't valid or if the examiner lacks the experience to interpret the results accurately.
The clinician will consider the beginning and duration of the symptoms, and how they compare with the mental age estimate (i.e., is the patient's behavior disproportionately 'below' or above their age). They will also look at the time of onset and duration of the symptoms, and examine them against a mental age estimation (i.e. is the patient's behavior significantly "below" or "above" for their age).
In addition to the clinical interview and observations, neuropsychological testing can be helpful in assessing ADHD symptoms. Certain tests have been designed to test the main symptoms of ADHD: inattention, hyperactivity and the tendency to be impulsive. The Quantified Behavior Test for children (6-12 years) and the Qb+(c) for adults (12 years and over) are two such tests. These tests use motion tracking systems that measure head movements and generate measures of activity (i.e. the time spent moving more than 1 cm/s) as well as distance and the surface covered by movement as also microevents (i.e. tiny movements of more than 1 millimeter). They also produce estimates of omission and commission errors, two of the components of ADHD executive functioning problems.
It is vital that the doctor conducts a thorough evaluation. They may inquire about the person's health history and development history dating back to childhood, their educational and work history, family life, and alcohol and drug use, to identify any contributing factors that could be contributing to the symptoms they observe. They will then apply a combination of the SWAN and the patient or parent evaluations and objective cognitive tests to establish their diagnosis.