ADHD-I is the primary disorder impacting the mental health of this patient. According to Ayano et al. (2019), ADHD-I occurs when inattention is recorded at a higher level. The DSM-5 also notes that ADHD-I when a patient has six or more symptoms of inattention. The patient is forgetful, inattentive, loses things easily, hardly finishes her homework and chores, cannot organize their tasks, and engages in challenging activities.
She has been experiencing the symptoms since kindergarten. Based on the American Psychiatric Association (2013) ‘s DSM-5 criteria, the patient has ADHD. The diagnosis is also supported by fMRI and BASC-3 results.
The second diagnosis is anxiety disorder-unspecified. Anxiety disorder is known for causing restlessness and extreme worries or anxiety feelings (Adwas et al., 2019). This patient often feels anxiety when she is wrong. She also reports restlessness. However, the patient’s symptoms do not meet DMS-5’s criteria for anxiety disorder, making the disease a secondary diagnosis.
The last diagnosis is conduct disorder, a childhood-onset type. This diagnosis was made because the patient intimidates others when playing (Fairchild et al., 2019). She does not wait for her turn. However, the disease is a secondary disorder because it does not meet DSM-5 criteria. According to APA (2013), conduct disorder, childhood-onset type, can be confirmed if the patient has experienced at least a symptom in 12 months.
Reflections:
I agree with the diagnosis. The patient’s symptoms meet the DSM-5 criteria for ADHD, inattentive type. I have learned in this case that neurological disorders are related to conduct and anxiety disorders. The feelings of a patient with a neurological disorder should also be examined.
If I handled the case again, I would include ADHD hyperactive type because the patient also shows hyperactive symptoms. The ethical consideration, in that case, is informed consent. The child’s mother has the explicit right to decide whether she should take drugs or not.
References
Adwas, A. A., Jbireal, J. M., & Azab, A. E. (2019). Anxiety: Insights into signs, symptoms, etiology, pathophysiology, and treatment. East African Scholars Journal of Medical Sciences, 2(10), 580-591. http://www.easpublisher.com/easjms/
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Neurodevelopmental disorders. In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: Author. doi:10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596.dsm01