ADHD Assessment - What Happens When a Doctor Diagnoses ADHD?
To determine an ADHD diagnosis, doctors will review your symptoms to determine whether they match the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (DSM-V). A majority of professionals also conduct a clinical interview using one or more standardized ADHD rating scales.
It is recommended to find a professional who is specialized in diagnosing ADHD and is covered by your insurance plan. Contact a local support group about specialists.
Symptoms
Your pediatrician will ask questions about your symptoms and past. He or she will also examine you in order to determine the physical cause of your problem. It could be a hearing loss, vision issue or a medical condition.
ADHD is characterized by difficulties paying attention or staying focused. This can result in careless mistakes and inability to complete tasks (e.g. chores or schoolwork). Teens and children with ADHD have trouble listening to others and appear distracted or daydreaming. In adults who suffer from ADHD, these issues can cause problems at work or home and in relationships.
Another symptom of ADHD is difficulty sitting down or being silent for long periods of time. Some people who suffer from ADHD move around, fidget or squirm as they wait for others to arrive or during meetings. They also may talk too much or interrupt others often.
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.
Your pediatrician will evaluate your behavior in various settings such as school or in other social settings. He or she will talk to you and your family members, teachers and other caregivers about your behavior. He or she will also utilize checklists and scales to assess ADHD symptoms.
Your child could also undergo a physical exam or take blood tests to rule out other medical problems, such as an eye loss, hearing loss or a thyroid condition that may cause similar symptoms. A mental health professional may also assess your child's capacity to follow instructions, concentrate and finish tasks.
The use of neuropsychological tests is not typically used to diagnose ADHD, but it may be helpful in some situations. It is the process of measuring brain activity such as beta waves by using an EEG scan or a magnetic resonance image (MRI). Some 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 by looking at the symptoms of a patient and family history, and the results of a variety of assessment and screening tools. These include rating scales continuous performance tests, as well as neuropsychological testing batteries (Table I). For each tool it is essential to understand its sensitivity and specificity - the probability that the test is able to identify those suffering from the disorder and those who don't.
Interviewing the patient is the initial step to the assessment of ADHD. This is an hour-long session with a clinician in which the patient will be asked questions about the symptoms they experience and past experiences. A specialist may ask teachers and other caregivers to collect details, particularly when diagnosing children. The specialist will look over the child's medical and school records and ask them to fill out questionnaires that parents and educators have completed.
For adults being evaluated for ADHD the doctor might also request past school records to determine if the patient's symptoms started in the early years of childhood. The doctor might also speak to the person's spouse, siblings and other acquaintances about their experiences with the person. A specialist may also interview those who are familiar with the person, such as former teachers or religious leaders.
To be diagnosed with ADHD in an adult or teen they should exhibit a variety of symptoms in a variety of environments, such as at school, home, and work. These symptoms must affect the ability of the individual to function and cannot be explained by any other medical condition. For adolescents, the symptoms must have been consistent and present from childhood. For adults, he or she must show 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) offers criteria for diagnosis of the disorder.
Treatment
If your child or adult has been diagnosed with ADHD There are many options for treatment. This could include medication, behavioral therapy or a combination of both. You and your doctor will decide which is the best option for you based upon how many symptoms your child experiences and the length of time they've been having them. Your doctor will also rule out other things that could be causing the symptoms, such as mental health conditions like depression and anxiety, or medical issues like thyroid disorders.
If you or your child is struggling at school, it's important to talk to your teacher about the issue. Teachers often spot ADHD symptoms in children, and can help determine if the difficulties are due to ADHD or another reason.
Your assessment will likely consist of an interview with a clinician, the completion of ADHD symptom checklists and other questionnaires as well as psychological tests, medical history and information regarding relatives and friends. It is essential to provide as much information about the difficulties you or your child are having as possible. This will allow your doctor to understand the complexities and make an accurate diagnose.
Adults and teens over the age of 18 will have a similar assessment process however symptoms will be evaluated in a different way since they're usually related to work and other pursuits. Along with a thorough description of the issues and the underlying issues, your psychiatrist or psychologist will want to know how these problems affect your life. For example, do the issues affect your work or social relationships? If yes How much? This information will be used by your physician to determine whether your symptoms are moderate or mild.
Psychosocial therapies are more effective than medications for adults suffering from ADHD. These treatments can help you and your family learn better ways to cope with your issues. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for instance can help you overcome negative thoughts and manage your emotions. Therapy for groups and families can help you learn new strategies and skills to improve your relationship with your partner or spouse. For children who are younger than the age of 18 it is recommended to conduct a behavior study before trying any medication. This includes parent training on managing behavior for children less than 6 years old and other types training and behavior therapy for teens and adults.
Follow-up
As with any diagnostic process, the results of an adhd evaluation must always be evaluated by with the help of a qualified physician. This ensures that the person receives the correct treatment for their condition. It also reduces the possibility of false positive results, when a test shows that a person has ADHD even though they don't. This could happen if the test used in an assessment isn't validated or the examiner does not have sufficient experience to interpret the results correctly.
When analysing the results of an adhd test, the clinician will examine whether the symptoms are consistent with the patient's history and if they are sufficiently disruptive to their daily life. They will also look at the time frame and duration of the symptoms as well in comparing them to the 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. My Web Page have been specially designed to assess the most important symptoms of ADHD including hyperactivity, inattention and the tendency to be impulsive. Two of these tests are the Quantified Behavior test for children (6-12 year olds) and Qb+(c) for adults (12 years or more). These tests employ motion-tracking systems to track head movements and produce indicators of activity, like the time spent moving at a speed greater than 1 cm/s, distance and surface covered, as well as microevents, like small movements that are greater than 1 millimeter. They also provide estimates of commission errors and omission errors, the two components of ADHD's executive functioning issues.
It is crucial that the physician conducts a thorough evaluation. They will probably ask about the person's health history and development history dating back to childhood, their educational and work history, family life, and their alcohol and drug use, in order to identify any factors that might be contributing to the symptoms they are seeing. The SWAN and ratings of parents or patients and objective cognitive tests are used to arrive at the diagnosis.