Diagnostic intricacies of adult ADHD

Some clinicians are too conservative to diagnose adult ADHD; considering that adult ADHD doesn’t exists. In line with this observation, Margaret D Weiss & Jaqueline R Weiss mentioned (J Clin Psychiatry 2004;65[suppl 3]:27–37) that clinicians fall short of training to diagnose & treat adult ADHD. Reasons they attribute in line with our observation are not only clinician’s unfamiliarity with adult ADHD but dynamic & evolutionary process of childhood ADHD & its presentaion in adult life. Symptomatology of adult ADHD is not mere extention of childhood ADHD but an aggregate result of influence of multiple factors like epigenetic, family dynamics, parental issues, emotional growth, attitde towards challenges in personal life, affect regulation, support system, including neurobiological development, etc. Most of the ADHD children, diagnosed or undiagnosed, grow up to become adult ADHD with varying degree of symptomatology & dysfunction against the belief of many. (Sandra JJ Kooij et al https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-244X-10-67). Dysfunction of executive function is the main obstacle in diagnosis & treatment of adut ADHD; demanding repeated & extensive training. Unavailability of repeated training activities result into diagnosis/treatment of these individuals for essential insomnia, depression, chronic stress, substance dependence, OCD, dementia, etc. and then they are prescribed sedatives, antipsychotics, antidepressants, and anxiolytics. Hence, this workshop aims not only to prepare clinicians with well informed diagnostic skills but help them adapt to think holisitically to strike the diagnosis offering a real situation/virtual patient. So workshop is divided into two parts; first part will deal with information & second part will invite participants to participate in diagnosis of actual cases in relation to symptoms description; discussion will follow to reinforce newly learned diagnostic skills. In line with this method R A Barkley mentioned that symptomatic dysfunction decides treatment (DOI: 10.4088/jcp.1208e36). Hence this workshop is designed to revolve around diagnostic & treatment issues of adult ADHD on a case to case basis.