Current manifestations of mental illness in the school environment. Some limitations of diagnostic categories

Abstract

Diagnosis is an indispensable step in the care of mental health problems as it guides treatment and therefore, the route to healing. However, in the fields of childhood and adolescent psychology and psychiatry, the diagnostic procedure is becoming increasingly complex because a symptom-based diagnosis of ten means that behavioural problems covert the underlining psychopathology. This is causing certain conducts to automatically become a diagnosis. Thus, excessive movement becomes a diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and an oppositional behaviour becomes a diagnosis of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). The aim of this article is to show the limitations of some diagnostic criteria (ADHD, conduct disorders, psychosis) and the necessity to reformulate these criteria.