ADHD Assessment - What Happens When a Doctor Diagnoses ADHD?
To make an ADHD diagnosis, doctors will review your symptoms to determine whether they fit the criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (DSM-V). A majority of professionals also conduct an interview for clinical purposes with one or more standardized ADHD rating scales.
It is recommended to find a specialist who specializes in diagnosing ADHD and is covered by your insurance plan. Ask members of your local support group for specialists.
Symptoms
If your pediatrician is evaluating you for ADHD He or she will ask you questions about your symptoms and the history. The doctor will also test you to look for physical causes for your disorder such as vision issues, hearing loss or an illness.
The most prominent sign of ADHD is trouble staying focused or paying attention. This can lead to careless mistakes and failure to complete tasks (e.g. schoolwork or chores). Teens and children with ADHD have difficulty listening to others, and may be distracted or drowsy. In adults who suffer from ADHD problems, these can cause issues at home or at work and in relationships.
Another sign of ADHD is the difficulty in sitting still or being still for long durations. People with ADHD pace, fidget or squirm when waiting for others to show up or during meetings. They also may talk too much or interrupt others frequently.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition Text Revision of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-5TR(tm), is utilized by doctors to make 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.
Your pediatrician will evaluate your behavior in different situations like at school or other social settings. The doctor will ask you and your family members as well as teachers and other caretakers to explain your behavior. They may also use standardized ADHD symptom rating scales and checklists.
Your child may also be subjected to an examination of the body or blood tests to rule out any other medical conditions like a thyroid disorder, a vision problem or hearing loss. A mental health professional can also assess your child's capacity to follow instructions, concentrate and complete tasks.
Neuropsychological tests cannot be used to diagnose ADHD but they may help in certain situations. It is the process of measuring brain activity, including beta waves with an EEG scan or a magnetic resonance image (MRI). Certain studies suggest that ADHD patients have lower beta-wave activity in their frontal lobes. Additionally, they produce too many theta-waves.
Diagnosis
A doctor can diagnose ADHD by examining the patient's symptoms, their family history and the results of different screening and assessment tools. There are several tools that can be used to diagnose ADHD, such as rating scales and continuous performance tests. It is essential to comprehend the specificity and sensitivity of each tool - how likely it is that the test will accurately determine those suffering from the disorder, as opposed to those who do not.
Interviewing the patient is the first step to diagnosing ADHD. This is a one to two-hour meeting with the doctor which includes questions regarding the patient's symptoms and the experience with them. A specialist may ask caregivers, teachers and other educators to help gather details, particularly when diagnosing children. The clinician will review the child's medical and school records and ask them to fill out questionnaires that parents and educators have completed.
The clinician may also ask for past school records from adults who are being evaluated for ADHD to determine if the symptoms started in the early years of childhood. The doctor may also speak with siblings, spouses, and other friends of the individual about their experiences. A specialist may also interview people who have a good relationship with the person including former teachers or religious leaders.
For an adult or adolescent to be diagnosed with ADHD the person must show a range of symptoms in a variety of environments, including home, work and school. The symptoms must be affecting the person's performance and not be better explained by another condition. For adolescents the symptoms should be present and consistent from the time of their childhood. For adults, they must have at minimum five ongoing symptoms and been experiencing them for at least six months. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition Text Revision of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-5) provides criteria for determining the severity of the disorder.
Treatment
There are a myriad of treatments available for your child or adult who is diagnosed with ADHD. This could include behavioral therapy, medication or an amalgamation of both. Your doctor and you will decide on the best option for your child based on the symptoms and the length of time they've been experiencing them for. Your doctor will also rule other factors that could be causing symptoms, such a mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression, or medical problems like thyroid disorders.
If you or your child are struggling in school, it's essential to speak to your teacher about the issue. Teachers are often able to spot ADHD symptoms in children, and can help determine if the issues are due to ADHD or another reason.
Your assessment could include an interview with a psychologist, the completion of ADHD symptoms lists and other questionnaires, as well as psychological tests, details about your family and friends, and medical background. It is crucial to be as precise as you can about the difficulties that you or your child is experiencing. This will allow your doctor to comprehend the complexity and make an accurate diagnose.
Adults and older teens will be subject to the same assessment procedure, but symptoms will be evaluated in a different way because they're typically related to work or other activities. In addition to a thorough description of the issues, your psychologist or psychiatrist will want to know how these problems affect your daily life. For example, do the problems affect your work or social relationships? How much, if at all? This information will be used by your clinician to determine whether your symptoms are mild or moderate.
Psychosocial treatments are more effective than medication for adults suffering from ADHD. These treatments can help you and your family learn better ways to cope. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for instance, can teach you to overcome negative thoughts and manage emotions. Therapy for groups and families can help you learn new skills and strategies to improve your relationship with your partner or spouse. For children and adolescents the need for behavior training is a must before trying any medication. This includes training for parents in behavior management for children up to age 6 and other types of training and therapy for older teens and adults.
Follow-up
As with any diagnostic procedure the results of an adhd assessment should always be interpreted and with the help of a qualified physician. This ensures that the person receives the appropriate treatment for their specific condition. It also reduces the chance of false positive results, where a test indicates that a person may have ADHD even though they do not. This could occur when the test used in an evaluation is not valid or the examiner is not experienced enough to interpret the results correctly.
When making an interpretation of the results of an adhd assessment the physician will look at whether the symptoms are consistent with the patient's past and if they are disruptive to their life. They will also look at the onset and persistency of the symptoms as well as compare them to a mental age estimation (i.e. is the patient's behavior disproportionately "below" or "above" for their age).
Neuropsychological testing is useful to assess ADHD symptoms, in addition to clinical interviews and observation. Some tests have been specifically designed to assess the most important 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 older) are two such tests. These tests use motion tracking systems to monitor head movements and generate measurements of activity (i.e., the time spent moving more than 1 cm/s) as well as distance and the surface covered by movement, as well as microevents (i.e. small movements that exceed 1 millimeter). They also provide estimates of omission and commission errors, two of the components of ADHD executive functioning issues.
It is important that the clinician spends the time to conduct a thorough assessment. They will probably ask about the person's health history and development history dating back to childhood, their school and work history, family life, and alcohol and drug use, in order to identify any contributing factors that might be contributing to the symptoms they are observing. They will then employ a combination of the SWAN and the patient or parent ratings and objective cognitive testing to arrive at their diagnosis.