Differential diagnosis of ADHD in complex situations
ADHD awareness has increased vastly in the 2000’s, resulting in concerns of both over- and underdiagnosis in children, adolescents and adults. Psychiatric comorbidity research has also become increasingly associated with a variety of disorders, debating about the nature of the association, differential diagnostics and optimal treatment strategies. In this context, increasing interest in self-diagnosis and the phenomenon of psychiatric disorders becoming facets of identity building cannot be ignored either. Psychiatric disorders generally present with many overlapping symptoms, and ADHD is no exception in this. I shall discuss the contemporary cultural issues as well as research related to comorbidities, causality assumptions and differential diagnostic between ADHD and mood disorders,schizophrenia group psychoses, substance use and personality disorders.
About the speaker: Riittakerttu Kaltiala is Professor of Adolescent Psychiatry in Tampere University and ChiefPsychiatrist in the Department of Adolescent Psychiatry in Tampere University Hospital, Finland. She additionally is a specialist in forensic psychiatry. Over the past 20 years, she has been actively involved in developing health services for child and adolescents presenting neuropsychiatric disorders in addition to her established scientific studies related to adolescent development, identity and juvenile delinquency.
