Pros And Cons Of Adults Being Underdiagnosed

A reason why adults with ADHD go underdiagnosed is because doctors fear that they might do more harm than what is already done by the illness if they give them help. As Ginsburg says, “However although adults with ADHD experience chaotic lifestyles with impaired educational and vocational achievement and higher risk of substance abuse and imprisonment, many remain untreated.” (Ginsburg p.1) This is important because if adults experience these kinds of lifestyles, they should get help, most are left unhelped because doctors are worried that they will do more harm than what they've already done such as substance abuse and that’ll cause a chain reaction of harm to oneself and others. But then there is other options than medicine at first so not helping an adult with a mental illness is unreasonable. …show more content…
A few medications have now been approved for use in adults with ADHD.” (Ginsburg p.1) This means that very few medications are proven effective on helping a person with this illness, which can contribute to the fear of giving an adult with ADHD medicine and that the person abuses the medicine. And lastly, doctors are not only afraid of giving an adult with ADHD medicine, they are also afraid of over diagnosing them which can be very costly and have negative side effects. As Psychology Today says, “Indeed, many claim that ADHD is overdiagnosed and that stimulants are overprescribed. Psychiatrists are afraid of becoming one of these doctors who