Guest blogger Dr. Manuel Mota-Castillo on the overdiagnosis of ADHD

We don't shy away from controversy here at Shrink Rap, and today, child psychiatrist Dr. Mota-Castillo joins us to discuss the idea that children with bipolar disorder are being misdiagnosed with attention deficit disorder and then being inappropriately treated with stimulants, which may be causing them more harm than good.  I've already written about my thoughts on the diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder as a catch-all category, and if you'd like to revisit that, see my article on Rethinking Bipolarity in Clinical Psychiatry News.   And now for our guest blogger: *             *          *               *           * Does the APA have “The Belle Indifference”? In 2003 I began to make noises (1) trying to get the attention of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) but 10 years later, as should be expected from those social clubs, they have ignored not only this former anchorman from Dominican Republic but also some of their more prominent members.(2)             Today I want to turn my requests (many of them) into a public and formal demand for an explanation of a lack of action that, in my view, borders with complicity.  Earlier this year (3) one of my favorite authors, Dr. S. Nassir Ghaemi pointed out a reality ...
Source: Shrink Rap - Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Source Type: blogs