The Problem with Labeling Children with a Psychiatric Disorder

The way we label children who do poorly in school has taken a dramatic turn — in many ways for the better, in some ways for the worse. In yesteryear, kids who didn’t perform well in school would have been labeled as no-good, lazy, defiant, incorrigible, or just plain stupid. They would be disciplined by being shamed, blamed, hit, scolded, punished, ridiculed or simply written off as hopeless cases. Progress has been made. For the most part, we have eliminated such verbal and physical abuse. But we still must question the progress that’s been made when we replace the old labels with psychiatric diagnoses that refer to kids as ‘disordered’ or ‘disabled.’ Some of these “new and improved” labels include: Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) Learning disabled (LD) Even pervasive traits such as introversion can be labeled as “Shyness Disorder,” while “misbehaving” can be labeled “Conduct Disorder.” So, what’s the alternative? To pretend that a kid has no issues? This is not helpful either. What is helpful is to describe a child’s behavioral and learning problems in a descriptive manner, such as: Has a short attention span Always in motion Has a rebellious nature Learns better by doing than by reading I prefer to envision a “can’t sit still, class clown” child as a budding Robin Williams with a unique personality rather than as a hyperactive kid who needs to be medicat...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Tags: ADHD and ADD Children and Teens Disorders General Medications Parenting Personality Policy and Advocacy Psychology Self-Esteem Students Treatment Attention Deficit Disorder Cher Class Clown Conduct Disorder Defiant Disorder Source Type: blogs