AUSTIN (KXAN) — A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found about one million more children received an ADHD diagnosis in 2022 than in 2016.
Dr. Ashley Garling from the University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy dug into the new report with KXAN anchors Jennifer Sanders and Mike Rush.
“Are we actually diagnosing it more because there’s more education and awareness, or are we actually seeing more prevalence? And unfortunately, we don’t really have a good answer in this case,” Garling explained.
Garling said she’s not concerned about “over-diagnosing” but urges parents to focus on “appropriate diagnosing.”
“There is not one good test for ADHD. It’s really a collection of symptoms that need to come from a variety of places,” Garling said, explaining those symptoms come in three categories — inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity.
“A lot of times there’s a combination of not just one of those, but two or three of those symptom categories,” Garling said.
When it comes to a child, she explained parents need to talk to teachers and adult caregivers of the child to see if symptoms are showing up in more than just one place.
Garling also pointed out the study was done in 2022, on the tail end of the pandemic, when doctors were seeing a rise in other things like mental health conditions, anxiety, stress, depression — which have overlapping symptoms to ADHD.
“So we need to rule all those others out as well. It’s not a one-stop shop for a diagnosis,” Garling said.
You can listen to the full interview in the video player at the top of this story.
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