This study by Merten et al (2017) was prepared after conducting a systematic research on the overdiagnosis of mental disorders in children and adolescents; there is observation that the disorder is becoming more prevalent. There have been reports by health insurance providers and national registers catering for mental health patients that there is an increase in number of mental disorder diagnoses in the said age groups. The issue of overdiagnosis of this ailment has not been adequately addressed in the available reviews.
The article observes that there have been increased prescription rates of psychoactive medication. There is exceeding use ADHD and psychostimulants for patients with metal disorders. The prevalence rate for the use of this medication is estimated to be up to 20% which physician s warns can lead to increase in disorders and related complications(Merten et al, 2017). The research was inspired by a World Health Report that warned misdiagnosis of mental disorder was posing serious health problems. The report observed that many countries lacked sufficient mental health resources and the mental health policy sometimes was not ideal. This is seen as the major cause of misdiagnosis of this disorder.
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Through literature review, the article confirms that overdiagnosis of mental disorder is evident. There is adequate evidence that overdiagnosis of ADHD is occurring. It is noted that there has been limited studies on overdiagnosis in children and adolescent patients therefore it was hard to assess the degree overdiagnosis in daily practice. It is reported that one of the causes leading to the trend is the low reliability for mental disorders in everyday clinical routine, due to heuristics and insufficient application of the diagnostic criteria. There is also an observation that the diagnostic criteria are not reliable enough, the available framework has problems, and this has led to misinterpretation(Merten et al, 2017) .
The article concludes that misdiagnosis is occurring due to use of Heuristics, disregarding differential causes of observed behavior, misleading endorsement of symptoms by caregivers, or differential interpretation of diagnostic criteria by examiners(Merten et al, 2017). It calls for clinical interviews and evaluation to ensure criteria on medication and care is adhered to accordingly.
References
Merten et al (2017) Overdiagnosis of Mental Disorders in Children and Adolescents (in developed countries). Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health
