Many times doctors try to put you in a box too soon. They see symptoms of a disorder and immediately come to a conclusion. Often, these conclusions could be drawn too quickly. It is important to treat the symptoms you are currently having and to record how often they happen. This happens a lot with ADHD and Bipolar Disorder and here's why.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has three obvious features which are hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity. According to the DSM-5, symptoms of ADHD also have to be present in two or more settings (ex. school, home, work etc.).
Symptoms of inattention include: not paying close attention to details, difficulty completing tasks to be done, unorganized, likely to misplace things, forgetful, and easily distracted. Symptoms of hyperactivity include: fidgeting, talking excessively, and always "on the go." Symptoms of impulsivity include making snap reactions, being impatient, blurting out answers, interrupting others during conversation.
There are two types of Bipolar Disorders: Bipolar I Disorder and Bipolar II Disorder. The similarity between the two is the depressive episodes whereas the difference is mainly that Bipolar I Disorder has more severe manic episodes. Bipolar II Disorder is characterized by two main symptoms which are the "highs"- mania and the "lows"- depression. Mania includes: talking rapidly and excessively, sleeping less than the usual but still having a lot of energy, impulsivity, highly irritable, hyper, and easily distracted.
Depression includes: feelings of loneliness, sadness, sleeping too much or too little, changes in appetite, difficulty remembering and concentrating, loss of energy, and loss of interest.
These two disorders have so much overlap in their symptoms, but the thing that is overlooked is the time each symptom lasts. Mania is diagnosed with 4 consecutive The percentage of people with bipolar disorder is 2.6% whereas the percentage of children with ADHD is 13.6% boys and 5.6% girls.
Kids often times are diagnosed with ADHD when they are too young. Is this due to extraneous things? Does technology play a role? But more importantly, how are we treating these disorders? With drugs? How are we treating our loved ones who have these disorders? With stigma?
No. It is time to start teach our kids coping mechanisms and to practice mindfulness ourselves. I am not saying medication is not the answer but you can't fix something that's not broken. So if doctors are misdiagnosing than we would be able to tell if the proper coping mechanisms are applied in everyone's lives.
May is mental health awareness month. Start the conversation. End the stigma.
