Un medico irlandese sul perché crede che l’autismo, l’ADHD e la depressione siano diagnosticati in eccesso
https://www.irishtimes.com/health/your-family/2025/04/05/adhd-children-are-now-in-a-queue-with-50-year-old-adults-for-a-drug-that-is-in-short-supply/
di BigShawls
28 commenti
Have seen even on here people who list all their various illnesses in their bio and it does seem that it’s almost trendy to have a load of different diagnosis, like it’s a personality type.
Bit of an odd one to decipher. She seems to think that diagnosing people with these issues makes them more likely to conform to expected limitations. Whereas if you don’t tell them they are mildly autistic, they’ll try harder or something?
I really think she’s discussing issues outside her scope. She’s a neurologist, not a psychiatrist.
I’ve been burned by ADHDers. So many people in my workplace claiming they have ADHD without an official diagnosis to avoid work. The rest of us have to pick up their slack or be fired for being sincere enough to not claim having ADHD. To those you genuinely have ADHD, know that all these other people are trivializing and destroying the reputation of this condition.
Half of Reddit seems to be self diagnosed ADHD.
But then again, it is Reddit.
As someone with bipolar, the diagnostic criteria and genuine medical/scientic understanding of any of these issues is laughable.
The problem starts with psychiatry as a “profession” – anything involving GPs, psychologists etc. is way downstream from there.
Mental health professionals and services have literally no clue what they’re dealing with (and I understand that many fine people work within those fields).
They don’t understand causes on any credible level. Treatment is *incredibly* dubious (particularly when it comes to medication). And cures are non-existent.
It’s a sham.
A well-meaning sham at the lower levels and better than nothing. A flat-out *racket* the higher you go up the tree.
As someone who went to cahms as a kid, I wasn’t able to be diagnosed officially by them because of the notion that neurodivergencies were too common which led me with the hilarious talk of me having an 80% chance of being autistic wink wink nudge nudge
I don’t think the diagnosis of neurodivergence is straightforward in terms of how that diagnosis affects an individual’s life, but I definitely agree that the diagnosis of anxiety / depression can sometimes become self perpetuating.
We all experience anxiety in varying degrees and most of us have likely met the diagnostic criteria for a depressive episode at some stage of our lives. Young people being given a diagnosis of anxiety / depression can become attached to that label and identify with it.
‘Oh no, I can’t do that because I have anxiety.’
Many people also experiencing depression that is largely circumstantial are commenced on antidepressants. These meds are meant to be taken until a person’s mood normalises and then for 6 months after that before tapering off. Yet many people end up on these meds for years / the rest of their lives.
I’m not denying that antidepressants have their place, but a lot of presentations to GP are due to lifestyle mediated issues. The best way to tackle it are to improve one’s lifestyle yet we live in an age where many people want to continue being sedentary and eating rubbish but want a tablet to cure their anxiety / depression.
It’s a big problem nowadays and people really need to take more agency over their own health.
Display any kind of behaviour these days and its claimed you have either one or the other of them.
Utter wank. The HSE won’t even diagnose adult autism. You have to go private. The mental health system in this country is in shambles. The waiting list for ADHD diagnosis is about 2 years.
But naw, the real problem is too many people are being diagnosed. Completely at odds with the scientific and medical consensus, and not dissimilar from the ‘in my day there was no gays’ you hear from other ignorant old people.
Pathetic.
i have been begging and screaming for medical help and nearly killed myself repeatedly and couldn’t get a diagnosis but sure, go off queen.
At the end of the day I think it’s better to overdiagnose than underdiagnose. How many extra lives could be saved if doctors were more willing to diagnose depression.
I understand it’s an issue that things can also be mistreated if they are diagnosed incorrectly, but I think calling it an issue of “overdiagnosis” is bad since it’ll make doctors do it less.
What probably needs to happen is all doctors get an actual up to date course on deal with metal health and neurological issues, since things have changed so much in the last few decades and Im sure there’s plenty of doctors out there who believe only kids have ADHD and can grow out of it, or that that you can’t have autism if you can look someone directly in the eyes.
They are under diagnosed in Ireland. It’s why we have so many adults now getting diagnosis because they were missed growing up and just coming to the realisation they are autistic or have adhd probably from getting more information online. Doctors in Ireland no very little about either, I’ve been told this by a number of doctors, also HSE psychologists/psychiatrists don’t want to know anything about adults with ADHD
CAMHS is a shambles. Fuckers did nothing to help me or my brother growing up, so this really rings hollow. It is incredibly difficult to get diagnosed with anything once you’re an adult without paying.
There are not enough psychologists in this country, just as there is not enough gender affirming care, not enough hospital beds, etc. etc. But fuck people for identifying with mental conditions they have no way of discovering without paying an obscene amount of cash I guess.
So what if they self-diagnose if it means they can actually improve their life for the better? For years I thought I had ADHD and/or autism growing up, never found out but it made me realise where I had limitations, and where I could improve on myself. Is that wrong? That’s called grabbing life by the balls and taking control for yourself, not wasting away on some waitlist for ages.
I get to laugh at this as someone who’s a diagnosed autistic. Better not self diagnose because that makes you a faker, amd clearly you’re just saying it because of the internet. But also if too many people get diagnosed we’re over diagnosing. Crying.
Autism figures aren’t on the rise because of overdiagnosis. It’s because of vaccine damage
She’s making some very well thought out (imo) points, about the various reasons diagnoses are going up, and the impacts of such. If someone isn’t truly ‘suffering’ from their symptoms, then what’s the point in a diagnosis? Just to label someone?
She also acknowledges that a lot of this is a response to years of under diagnosis.
I like her idea that children in school shouldn’t need a diagnosis to get extra behavioural or learning support – if a child needs support they should just get it.
Over diagnosed with 6 to 18 months waiting lists for an assessment? This doctor needs a good kick up the hole
The headline is clickbait. The nuanced actual interview replies by her are excellent.
I think that her piece is a reaction to the private health providers stepping in to fill the gap in the public health service.
I think there is a shred of truth in what she is saying but it’s more to do with the “pay for a diagnosis” clinics that are out there.
A colleague of mine recently announced on facebook that after many years battling to have her condition recognised by the health service she had finally got a diagnosis of ADHD from X clinic and to see her reaction and the flood of congratulations there you would think she had been cured of some terrible affliction. She even ended her post by recommending that everyone struggling to have their issues recognised as a condition should contact her doctor.
From what I can see nothing has fundamentally changed for her except now she has a letter from some quack saying that she has a condition. I really can’t see how that will solve anything for her.
Yeah no shit
I don’t think anything is being overdiagnosed, but I do agree that *some* people, especially the overly online who were diagnosed as adults, tend to cling to the label a bit. Every aspect of their personality becomes attributed to their diagnosis. I’ve seen people claim that they are actually always right bc as someone who is autistic they’ve a stronger sense of justice and a better moral code. Also some ADHDers banging on about their superior pattern recognition bc they are able to spot plot twists.
On the other hand, I have friends that found the diagnosis really helpful and have benefited hugely from medication etc
I have considered being assessed but tbh I can’t think of any accommodations I would need or that would benefit me, and I don’t have a few hundred euro to spare just for the sake of it 🤷🏼♀️
I do agree with her view on psychosomatic symptoms – people hear the word and think it means they’re making it up/they’re crazy, so it’s good to see someone saying that they are just as real and in need of treatment as any other symptoms .
“The minute you label somebody, they can unconsciously take on the features of that label.”
Yes, once you give people the permission to be themselves they stop pretending to be someone else. Shocking.
It’s like when someone comes out as gay, often others complain that they suddenly becomes flaming and excessively camp, when they were “normal” before.
They haven’t become somebody else. They’ve stopped pretending that they’re somebody else.
I’m am adult that was diagnosed with adhd in my 30s and it was a sleep specialist who spotted it. When he raised it I just laughed at him and said no way but once I filled out the screening form it became quite clear that my issues and mental health struggles all my life were in fact quite severe adhd. The psychiatrist who diagnosed me said i was one of the most obvious cases in a woman he’d ever seen and only this week an ot told me the exact same thing. A lot of these “over diagnoses” is women/girls because back in the day it wasn’t recognised that austitic / adhd in females presented differently
I call BS.
I’m trying to get assessed for ADHD/Autism and have already had the “if you had it you’d have been diagnosed ages ago, so no” bullshit.
I think to be clear this doctor is Irish born but has a clinic in London….
Can’t say I agree with her, feels like click bait by the Irish Times. What she seems to be saying, if you are severely autistic, disabled diagnosed young then fine we have help.
On the other hand if you get to teenage years and then begin to struggle in school and people may think maybe your on the spectrum. Is there any benefit, ya missed the boat.
IMO That’s serious injustice to those who are missed or diagnosed late. “The minute you label somebody, they can unconsciously take on the features of that label.”… seriously ridiculous statement.
There are people only getting diagnosed now in their 30’s,40’s, 50’s it is not for sympathy the world just makes a little bit more sense and you can get help if you need..
Is this the same doctor who was on with Brendan O’ Connor the other week? If so, she was saying then how there’s no evidence of ADHD in adults – and that there’s no sense in autistic people finding community with other autistic people, no sense in ‘finding your tribe’, because then you’ve just got a bunch of “people who can’t do things”. I found it unbearable to listen to.