Dsm changes (ass 2 psy 5035) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Dsm changes (ass 2 psy 5035) - Essay Example The medical community emphasizes that a quality diagnosis comes from objective formats and is consistently reliable. The diagnosis of ADHD seems to be reliable only if done by experienced well trained diagnosticians. These very diagnosticians are calling for stabilizing criteria being added to the DSM (Biederman & Faraone 2005). For many years, the idea that ADHD persists into adulthood has been met with varying degrees of skepticism. Thirty-five studies follow-up studies of children diagnosed with ADHD have shown that it does persist into adulthood. Symptoms ad described in the present DSM do show a decline in the severity of symptoms. By the age of 30-40, clients will no longer meet the full criteria for the diagnosis however clinically significant impairments are still noticeable. There is a noted risk in adults for the comorbitiy of personality disorders, poor occupation performance, traffic accidents, injuries and some anti-social behavior. Additional diagnostic criteria for adults is likely to be added to the diagnostic criteria and it may be broken down at the lower end as well (Biederman & Faraone 2005). More and more very young children are being put on medications. Perhaps adding age specific criteria for under seven should also be added. In many cases, clinicians have taken integrating material into their own hands by using the Connors Assessment System. It is likely in the future such integrating criteria will be included in the diagnostic criteria to provide a more objective outcome. There may be a new developmentally divided list of behaviors including reports from others that will be added (Rassmussen et.al 2004). In an effort to increase diagnostic reliability the new research can be helpful. We now have insight into differences in brain function that can be seen in brain scans. As that becomes more available and more definitive we may see such scans used for diagnosis. We also have more definitive evidence about the