It is a peculiar, if not terrifying trend. Mental illness is on the rise, and in particular certain conditions, like ADHD, although not considered a mental illness but a developmental deficiency, are on the rise in the United States.
It would be interest to note, that such a trend is not seen in other developed countries, at least not at the same rate. So what is causing this trend?
Just in the biennial 2011-2012, there were 2 million more cases of ADHD diagnosed than the 2003-2004 biennial, for example.
The agency publishing the study, the CDC, however, has not released any information on the causes or triggers underlying the large spike in numbers.
The diagnoses were compiled from a survey of parents who reported a diagnosis for their children made by a health care provider.
Other data in the study also details how 6.4 million children between the ages of 4 and 17, were diagnosed, which represents a 42% spike from the previous period analyzed, 2003-2004.
Of the same age groups, 3.5 million were medicated for the disorder. That too is a significant increase in the medicated population of sufferers, a whopping 28%.
Although the CDC recommends that ADHD receive proper treatment, the increasing number of children diagnosed and treated is stressing the health care system.
More importantly however, is the fact that process of diagnosis itself is not under scrutiny, as it should be, since there have been reports of overmedication, and overdiagnosis by and from the medical field.
More disturbing too, is the fact that while behavioral therapy is crucial in the first years of life in the sufferers of the condition, medication seems to be the prevalent choice when it comes to therapeutical solutions.
Also interesting, the study pointed out that 20% of all sufferers of ADHD, which is the more serious form of attention deficit disorders, were not medicated at all, nor did they receive treatment in any form, behavioral or otherwise.
Some have posited that the CDC's report is a positive thing, since it very closely reflects the numbers observed in the community. The same people also contend that the study highlights the need for more treatment, to close the gap for the 20% who are not treated.
But is that truly the solution? Although treatment may be crucial, without ascertaining indipendently whether or not the diagnosis are truly reflecting of the condition's incidence, and whether treatment is also tied to an overaggressive diagnostic practice, there is no way of knowing what the true incidence of the condition and its growing number is, and whether it is actually true to the numbers published.
What is most baffling however, is the lack of conclusive studies on the causes of ADHD, and why of all the nations in the world, the United States seems to be the leading country in numbers of diagnoses.
Op-Ed
Source : MNT / 11.27.13
No comments:
Post a Comment