Psychiatric Diagnoses

[Deleted]

I know it's been said in the books that Claudia may have dyslexia, but from what I read about her, she fits the profile of someone with ADD.

From what I've read about Mary Anne, she fits the profile of someone with social anxiety disorder/social phobia (I also have that, and I'm not sure which term is the proper one), because she's afraid of crowds and being the center of attention, which is one of the symptoms of that disorder. (In my case, it's making phone calls to someone other than family members.)

Any other ideas, or do you think the other BSC members seem so normal in comparison?

[greer]

I think Claudia has some kind of learning disorder, even though they say she's been tested for them. but frankly, I think a lot of psychiatric disorders--like ADD--are way overdiagnosed. Active kid? give them adderall to make them easier to deal with.

I also don't think being shy is a disorder. And this is coming from someone who has been diagnosed with clinical depression and anxiety.

[Penny Lane]

I think a lot of disorders are WAY over diagnosed these days. So many kids who are on adderall and ritalin would probably be better off if someone just sent them outside for a few hours instead of sticking them in front of the tv/playstation/x-box etc.

I kind of think that Claudia's grades exhibt some of the most inconsistent writing in the series. Sometimes she works really hard and gets good grades, so it's mostly just uninterest/ laziness. But then other times it seems like she works really hard and still doesn't do very well, so something else might be the problem. Maybe she just thinks differently?

I also agree with greer on that being shy is not a disorder.

[wenonah4th]

ADD is *definitely* overdiasgnosed! I even heard one of the pediatricians I used to work for say she didn't beleieve it even exists!

[Karen Brewer]

It's possible that Mary Anne could have that, but not too likely. It doesn't really interfere with her life or cause her so many problems that she can't function. I've been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and that has caused major problems in my life.

[lionessblack]

I really think Claudia is has confidence issues and is lazy. When she REALLY cares about her grades, she buckles down and eventually gets it. When she redid 7th grade, I think there might have been something in that she had learned these things before that gave her confidence to think that could really grasp it.

Growing up with a sister who is very intelligent, I often flat out said no to learning things. My sister was reading chapter books and nonfiction books about dinosaurs at age three. So, my parents tried to teach me to read very young as well, and I refused. If everyone was going to recognize and praise my sister for it, I wasn't going to do it. I was going to find something else.

I think Claudia is a lot like that in terms of her schoolwork and Janine. Along with her art, in finding something that wasn't academic to be praised for.

[greer]

yeah, exactly. she has a large group of friends, can make new ones, can leave the house and go into stores without feeling anxious...

May 9, 2008 15:14:23 GMT -5 Karen Brewer said:

It's possible that Mary Anne could have that, but not too likely. It doesn't really interfere with her life or cause her so many problems that she can't function. I've been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and that has caused major problems in my life.

[murderedmymuse]

Mallory has the precursor to Body Dismorphic Disorder, considering her obsessions with her nose, hair, braces. See:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_dysmorphic_disorder

I don't think you could dianose Jenny P. with anything in particular, but I feel the feeling she's going to be a pretty unhappy person when she grows up unless she learns to loosen up. I wonder if she's just like that or is it her mother has warped her. What do you think?

[alula]

Actually, ADD is most likely overdiagnosed in some populations (middle-class white families, particularly boys), but underdiagnosed in others (lower-income populations, racial minorities, girls.) That's pretty much the result of most large-scale studies (the most recent I read was last September), not anecdotal evidence. At least, if you refer to DSM-IV standards for the condition. Girls are more likely to present without hyperactivity, and much more likely not to be evaluated until they are teenagers or adults. Overmedication is a separate but related issue--lots of ADD cases are manageable without medication, and the drugs used have nasty side effects for a lot of children--but considering how difficult it is for people to get mental health coverage of any kind in America, blanket claims of false diagnosis is kind of a pet peeve of mine. (Even fewer insurance companies will pay for therapy than meds, and the numbers who will pay for other alternative treatments is even smaller. My insurance will cover thousands of dollars for my meds this year, but they won't pay the $800-$1500 that covers the hyprotherapy or medical hypnosis that works better.)

But I think the description in Claudia's Book of her elementary school years read like classic ADD symptoms. (My uncle, who was only diagnosed last year, got through college by literally forcing himself to hold his breath while he wrote one sentence of a paper at a time. Claudia being able to force herself to do work at some points doesn't automatically rule out underlying processing issues.)

I don't think Mary Anne likely meets the threshold for social anxiety disorder, but I do think she could have a tendency to anxiety/depression issues in general (for lots of people, depression manifests as anxiety rather than sadness.) She certainly sounds like it in the chain letter book.

Sort of on a related note, there's been a lot more studies lately of diabetics--especially young female diabetics--abusing their insulin to lose weight quickly. I don't think Stacey would be particularly prone to that, but I think of her whenever I read about it.

[wenonah4th]

^ I've heard of families who have managed their sons' ADD through diet, removing artificial colors, white sugar, and I forget what other things as well as strictly limiting or removing television or adding something such as karate that requires concentration.

[alula]

Yeah, martial arts is supposed to be really good therapy for kids with ADD (swimmimg, too, especially if there's any kind of sensory processing issue involved), and there's definitely anecdotal evidence that some dietary changes (just recently in Australia they did a study about Omega-3 fish oils benefiting ADD kids. And good sleep hygiene (having a bedtime routine, no electronics in the bedroom or an hour before bed at all, going to bed and getting up at the same time) definitely seems to help some people. And with anyone, kids especially, I'm all in favor of trying alternatives to medications--pyschotropic drugs, even without the amphetamine effect of Ritalin or Adderall--can be rough for anyone, but especially for growing bodies, and then when you bring in hormones? I've known lots of kids who were on Ritalin for months and lost weight and couldn't sleep, but the drugs were "working" to increase their concentration and focus and ability to complete tasks, from cleaning their rooms to playing soccer to finishing homework. I just feel bad because for so many parents, it really is a huge burden to get this information in the first place, and get access to help and/or time to carry this out. And honestly, a lot of these changes are sort of privileges of being middle-class--it's much easier to manage a restricted diet and a clear regimen of exercise, good sleep habits, control of the electronics (TV, games, online) if you can have one parent at home, and even more so if you can consult with a nutritionist or a cognitive behavioral therapist, even if you have to pay out of pocket.

(See, I also think persistent underdiagnosis and inability to treat ADD and other mental health issues in poorer populations has huge ramifications for education and for general youth policy. An untreated kid with ADD, going to a struggling urban school, isn't going to get the help he needs young, which puts him at a much higher risk for dropping out, and also for "self-medicating" with street drugs. But I'm all about making early investments.)

I was worried I sounded really bitchy in my other post (my depression tends to slide around 40% anxiety, 35% despondence, and 25% anger, mostly at me, but it bleeds out as bitchiness to other people occasionally. It just gets my hackles up when people make anecdotal assessments of overdiagnosis (and it's not just ADD, it's practically anything without a blood test) when there are carefully designed, large-scale studies saying the opposite. Partly because it reveals how very, very different healthcare is for different Americans. So I'm sorry if I was bitchy, but I really hate how "ADD overdiagnosis" has become short hand for a lot of critiques of the medical system, educational policy, and "good parenting" when it's so much more complicated.

[wenonah4th]

you didn't come off bitchy, at least not in my opinion.

Another reason to avoid the drugs- the vice principal at my high school apparently was helping himself to those particular drugs out of the nurse's cabinet lately! How embarrassing can you get? (I've been out of hs for 8 years, but it's still where I went.)

[sarish]

I tutor for a child with ADD, who is 12. His dad went all through college with it, no problem. I do believe that ADD exists, but I think it is diagnosed way too much. The twelve year old I tutor is tiny for his age, because of the medication he was on. He was recently taken off the medication and does GREAT! I know that taking out all the processed food works wonders for people with ADD and also martial arts is wonderful! The kid I tutor does martial arts! ADD reminds me of the South Park episode where all the kids were diagnosed with it and put on medication because they couldn't stay awake through the counselor reading the entire book of The Great Gatsby! I don't think that Claudia had ADD, I think she was just not interested in the schoolwork.

[Karen Brewer]

Bipolar Disorder is really becoming over diagnosed as well, in my opinion. I actually prefer the term "manic depressive" when it comes to myself, because most people don't really understand what bipolar really means. Many think it's just up and down between happy and sad moods but it's really much more severe than that, at least to the people that truly have it.

[wenonah4th]

^My best friend has tended to use the terms interchangably in reference to herself.