ADHD Assessment - What Happens When a Doctor Diagnoses ADHD?
To make an ADHD diagnosis, doctors will review your symptoms to see if they meet the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (DSM-V). The majority of professionals will also conduct a medical interview that is based on one or more ADHD rating scales.
Find a specialist who is an expert in ADHD diagnosis and covered by your insurance. Ask members of your local support group for specialists.
Symptoms
When your pediatrician evaluates you for ADHD He or she will ask you questions about your symptoms and past history. He or she might also conduct a physical exam to determine the cause of your problem. This could be due to a hearing loss, vision problem, or illness.
ADHD is characterized by difficulty paying attention or staying focussed. This can result in careless mistakes and inability to finish tasks (e.g. schoolwork or chores). Teens and children who suffer from ADHD often have difficulty listening to others and can be distracted or snoozing. These issues can create issues in the workplace, at home, and in relationships in adults with ADHD.
Another ADHD symptom is the inability to sit still or be quiet for long periods of time. People who suffer from ADHD are prone to squirm, fidget or pace while waiting for others to arrive or during meetings. how do i get an adhd assessment may talk too much or interrupt others often.
Doctors rely on the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition Text Revision (DSM-5-TR(tm)), to help them diagnose. 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 look at how you behave in various settings like at school, or other social events. The doctor will speak with you and your family, teachers and other caregivers about your behavior. He or she could also employ standard ADHD symptom rating scales and checklists.
Your child may also undergo a physical exam or take blood tests to rule out any other medical problems, such as an eye loss, hearing loss or a thyroid condition that may cause similar symptoms. A mental health professional will test your child’s ability to focus on the task at hand, follow directions 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 analyzing brain activity, like beta waves, with an EEG or by using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. Some studies suggest that ADHD patients have lower beta-wave activity in their frontal lobes and produce too many theta-waves.
Diagnosis
A doctor is able to diagnose ADHD by looking at a patient's symptoms, their family history and the results of various assessment and screening tools. There are many tools that can be used to determine the presence of ADHD, such as rating scales and continuous performance tests. It is crucial to know the specificity and sensitivity of each tool - how likely it is that the test will correctly determine those suffering from the disorder, as opposed to those without.
Interviewing the patient is the first step in diagnosing ADHD. It is a one-hour session with a therapist in which the patient is asked about the symptoms they experience and past experiences. A specialist might also ask the help of teachers and other caregivers in gathering details, particularly when diagnosing children. The physician will go through the medical and school records and also ask the child or teenager to fill out questionnaires that are completed by teachers and parents.
The clinician may also ask for past school records from people being assessed for ADHD to determine if the symptoms started in childhood. They might also speak to the person's spouse, children and other family members about their experiences with the person. A specialist may want to interview people who know the person well like former teachers or religious leaders.
For an adult or adolescent be diagnosed with ADHD the person must exhibit a variety of symptoms in multiple environments, including school, work, and home. These symptoms must affect the person's functioning and not be better explained by another condition. For adolescents, the symptoms must have been present since childhood and be consistent over time. For adults, they must show at minimum five ongoing symptoms and have 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) includes criteria for diagnosing the disorder.
Treatment
If your child or adult has been diagnosed with ADHD, there are several treatment options. These could include behavioral therapy, medication or an amalgamation of both. You and your doctor will decide which is the best option for you based upon how many symptoms your child has and how long they've had them. Your doctor will also rule out other issues that could be the cause of the symptoms, like mental health conditions like anxiety and depression or medical conditions such as thyroid disorders.
It is important to talk to your child's teacher if are having difficulties at school. Teachers often spot ADHD symptoms in children, and can help determine if the difficulties are caused by ADHD or a different cause.
Your assessment will likely consist of a clinical interview, completion of ADHD symptom checklists and other questionnaires including psychological tests, medical history and information regarding family members and friends. It is important to provide as much information regarding the issues you or your child is having as possible. This will assist your physician to comprehend the complexity and provide a precise diagnosis.
Adults and older teens will go through a similar procedure of evaluation, but their symptoms will be evaluated differently due to the fact that they are typically related to their work or other activities. Your psychiatrist or psychologist may also ask you to describe the issues and how they impact your life. For instance, do your problems affect your social or work relationships? If so what is the extent? Your physician will use this information to determine whether your symptoms are mild, moderate or severe.
Psychosocial therapies for adults with ADHD are generally more effective than medications. These treatments can help you and your family discover better ways to deal with your symptoms. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), for example can help you change negative thoughts into positive ones and manage emotions. Family and group therapy can help you develop new skills and strategies to improve your relationship with your partner or spouse. For children and adolescents, behavior training is recommended prior to attempting any medication. This includes parent training in behavior management for children until age 6 and other types of behavior therapy and training for adults and teens who are older.
Follow-up
As with any diagnostic procedure the results of an adhd evaluation should always be interpreted by a qualified doctor. This ensures that the patient receives the appropriate treatment for their specific condition. It also minimises the risk of false positive results, when a test shows that someone has ADHD when they really do not. This can happen if the test used in an evaluation is not validated or the examiner lacks the experience to interpret the results correctly.
The clinician will consider the onset and persistence of the symptoms, and how they compare with the mental age estimate (i.e. is the patient's behavior significantly 'below' or above their age). They will also consider the onset and persistency of the symptoms as well as evaluate them against an age estimation (i.e. is the patient's behavior in a way "below" or "above" for their age).
Neuropsychological testing is a great tool to determine ADHD symptoms, in addition to clinical interviews and observation. Some tests have been specifically designed to test the main symptoms of ADHD such as hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity. Two of these tests are the Quantified Behavior test for children (6-12 year olds) and Qb+(c), for adults (12 years old or older). These tests employ motion-tracking systems to measure head movement and generate indicators of activity, like the amount of time spent moving faster than 1 cm/s, distance or surface covered, as well as microevents such as small movements greater than 1 millimeter. They also provide estimates of mistakes in omission and commission which are the two main components of ADHD's executive functioning deficits.
It is important that the clinician takes the time to conduct a thorough examination. They will probably ask about the patient's health and the development history that dates back to childhood, their school and work history, as well as family life and drug and alcohol use, to identify any factors that could be contributing to the symptoms they observe. The SWAN as well as the parent or patient ratings and objective cognitive tests will be used to determine the diagnosis.