One of the presentations that I found very interesting was done by the group Omulabi 2010 on the misdiagnosis of ADHD is adolescent black males. This topic influenced me personally because I have multiple cousins who have been diagnosed with ADHD. It has always been a concern to me because although they might have a lot of energy and act out at times, I never thought that was something that required medical intervention and medication. I have seen the effects of the medication which is supposed to calm patients down. To me the only thing that the medication does is make them patient seem more like a zombie. I was very interested to see this groups take on this important issue.
They mentioned the very things that I had been interested in, the use of ritatlin, the social problems that these children experience, and whether or not children are being misdiagnosed. They described how since black children grow up in a different environment and under different circumstances than many white children, doctors may not understand that there is just a difference in culture and the way that black children may act. This in turn could lead to the child’s misdiagnoses. They also discussed how since blacks generally know less about what ADHD is, they can blindly follow a doctor’s diagnosis. The problem of misdiagnoses can be limited if doctors took time to understand the cultural differences between blacks and whites and were not as quick to prescribe medicine that may not be necessary. This group did a great job of presenting their information in a way that was enlightening and interesting.
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