Many children are misdiagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder when they may be suffering from depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, central auditory processing problems or autism.
Underfunded School Districts and greedy insurance companies are seeking the least expensive way to treat children who have concentration and behavior problems.
Kids are labeled with the ADHD diagnosis because it is cheaper than actually completing a detailed psychological evaluation and less expensive than individual and family psychotherapy.
A detailed psychological evaluation is essential in determining exactly what the diagnosis is. The psychologist needs to be well versed in all the diagnosises stated above.
If Kids are diagnosed as ADHD, the first line of treatment is medication and underfunded school districts will not have to pay for additional services such as therapy, socialization groups or additional teaching staff.
The insurance company HMOs will insist that drugs be the major if not only mode of treatment. Medication will most likely be another family expense because the insurance companies often do not cover prescription drugs.
The pharmaceutical industry markets ADHD stimulant medication to parents through television and magazine advertising. These ads include smiling happy, well behaved children; the message of a promise of a cure for their acting out.
Parents are often swayed by this marketing technique, but become disillusioned when side effects of no appetitive and insomnia manifest themselves. Many also discover that the medication is ineffective, so then their children are forced to be guinea pigs; experimenting with many medications until one may actually work.
Parents need to organize to insist that school districts have enough funding to provide resources to children who are having difficulty in school. They need to band together to fight the insurance and pharmaceutical industry as well.
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