Simple test for ADD????? Just a theory

[Alan J. Robinson]

On 20 Nov 1995 13:22:29 GMT, 
Thiessen   <umthie48 at mail.cc.umanitoba.ca> wrote:

> Alan J. Robinson posted the following:
><Part of this controversy is its recent extension to adult behavior, 
>where it has indeed taken on the nature of a "pop" diagnosis.>
>
>In some areas of N.A. it may be "easy" for adults to get this diagnosis.
>However, it has been my experience in Canada that even those diagnosed 
>as children, and armed with records from their previous pediatrician, 
>are still having difficulty getting treatment for ADD as adults. It is 
>still widely believed that this disorder disappears "magically" at the 
>age of 18 or 21 (whenever the age of majority is in your state or 
>province).
>

Jan:

I didn't mean to diminish the significance of patient's illnesses.  
But as I am sure that you are aware, the whole state of psychiatric 
diagnosis is rather unsatisfactory - the DSM and ICD imply a cut 
and dried "cook book" approach, which often doesn't correspond 
with clinical reality.  This leads to great variation in diganosis,
with lay people jumping into the act too.

The authors of the DSM were well aware that it was only an interim 
effort until a proper nosology could be developed based on a true 
understanding of the underlying pathophysiology of these disorders.  
But in the meantime these diagnoses still have to be made and 
oftentimes end up having a legal status.

I'm not on the firing line in this matter, so the position I prefer 
to take is that specific DSM type diagnoses often don't mean 
too much - each patient tends to have their own unique combination of 
symptoms drawn from a large pool.

AJR