Sensible and perplexing changes in ADHD diagnostic criteria (DSM-V)

The American Psychiatric Association recently published DSM-V, the first major revision to the diagnostic manual for psychiatric disorders since 1994. In DSM-V, ADHD is included in the section on Neurodevelopmental Disorders, rather than being grouped with the disruptive behavior disorders, i.e., Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Conduct Disorder. This change better reflects the way ADHD is currently conceptualized. Below I review changes that have been made to the actual diagnostic criteria for ADHD. Core symptoms A common criticism of the ADHD diagnostic criteria has been that the core symptoms reflect how the disorder presents in school age children and does not capture how it presents in older adolescents and adults. Because of this, some have argued that different symptom sets should be developed for different age groups. However, the new diagnostic criteria essentially retain the same symptoms as before. The 9 inattentive symptoms are: often fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, work, or during other activities (e.g. overlooks or misses details, work is inaccurate). often has difficulty sustaining attention in tasks or play activities (e.g., has difficulty remaining focused during lectures, conversations, or lengthy reading). often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly (e.g., mind seems elsewhere, even in the absence of any obvious distraction). often does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish scho...
Source: SharpBrains - Category: Neurologists Authors: Tags: Attention and ADD/ADHD Cognitive Neuroscience Health & Wellness diagnostic DSM-V Neurodevelopmental psychiatric Source Type: blogs