Moody Teens Wrongly Diagnosed With Bipolar Disorder, Psychiatrist Claims Psychiatrists are increasingly misdiagnosing relatively harmless mood swings in the mistaken belief they are nipping a more serious problem in the bud, Philip Hazell, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the University of Sydney Medical School.

“Effectively, I think quite a few young people now with benign moodiness have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and are being treated for that condition unnecessarily,” Hazell said.

what struck me most about this article is not what Dr. Hazell was saying was not shocking news.  But how many of his opposes rationalized their rebuttal essentially confirmed Dr. Hazel’s believe that young people are being over diagnosed with bipolar disorder. For example they quote Gordon Parker, executive director of black dog Institute whose response to Dr. Hazel’s believe was, “while over-diagnosing appears to be rampant in the U.S.,he cannot accept that is widespread and Australia“.

I you kidding me, he essentially is saying yeah Americans over diagnosed, but that could never happen in Australia as we’re too good and have a superior mental health system. Well, Gordon Parker just like your Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s says you need to give a“fair shake of the sauce bottle, mate”, or another idiom us Americans like to say, “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander“.  There is no way that your society is free from misdiagnosing and/or over diagnosing teens with mood disorders.  here in America we may be a little more sensitive to children moods but as my personal understanding that what happens here eventually happens everywhere. I call this the McDonald’s effect… Sooner or later there’ll be one day you.

For what it’s worth I do agree that children are being overdiagnosed, then overmedicated for mental disorders symptoms that are mild and just barely fit the criteria of say bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. And I’m not wrong in this feeling the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-V has even change the criteria for children’s bipolar disorder and mood disorders by adding a milder form of the mood disorder.

Children diagnosed with bipolar disorder
A new category that indirectly impacts the diagnosis of mood disorders is the proposed new disorder for children called “temper dysregulation with dysphoria” for “persistent negative mood with bursts of rage.” This new behavior disorder is expected to apply to many of the growing numbers of children currently being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Recent studies have shown that many of these children, who may be aggressive and irritable, do not have bipolar disorder. Rather than powerful antipsychotic drugs, the primary treatment may be behavioral.

References:

[1] http://moodletter.com/DSM_V.html

[2] http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/11/11/moody-teens-wrongly-diagnosed-with-bipolar-disorder-psychiatrist-claims/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter#ixzz1dPTihy5T