- Center on Health Equity and Access
- Clinical
- Health Care Cost
- Health Care Delivery
- Insurance
- Policy
- Technology
- Value-Based Care
Dr Michael First: Challenges With Correctly Diagnosing ADHD, Bipolar Disorder
There are challenges with diagnosing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and bipolar disorder because of overlapping symptoms, explained Michael First, MD, professor of clinical psychiatry, Columbia University New York State Psychiatric Institute.
There are challenges with diagnosing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and bipolar disorder because of overlapping symptoms, explained Michael First, MD, professor of clinical psychiatry, Columbia University New York State Psychiatric Institute.
TranscriptWhat are the biggest challenges with correctly diagnosing ADHD and bipolar disorder?
The challenges of diagnosing ADHD and bipolar disorder have to do with the fact that the symptoms of bipolar disorder and ADHD overlap. So, for example, distractibility is one of the core symptoms of ADHD and it’s actually one of the core symptoms of both a major depressive episode and a manic episode. So, whenever you have overlapping symptoms—for instance, have a patient comes in with distractibility—which diagnoses are you supposed to give?
Other symptoms, hyperactivity, which is in ADHD, you see that in bipolar disorder in the form of psychomotor agitation. So, whenever you have overlapping symptoms, it makes it difficult to differentiate between the 2. The other thing that makes it challenging is the combination. It’s not really either or. It’s not like schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder where you can’t have both schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. It’s one or the other.
ADHD and bipolar disorder can co-occur. In fact, they very commonly co-occur, and when you have the combination of ADHD and bipolar, it’s worse than having 1 by itself. So, trying to figure out which it is and whether it’s both is important, and the reason you need to figure out which it is is because the treatment of these 2 disorders is different. So, you want to be able to pick the right treatment by differentiating the 2 disorders.
The Importance of Examining and Preventing Atrial Fibrillation
August 29th 2023At this year’s American Society for Preventive Cardiology Congress on CVD Prevention, Emelia J. Benjamin, MD, ScM, delivered the Honorary Fellow Award Lecture, “The Imperative to Focus on the Prevention of Atrial Fibrillation,” as the recipient of this year’s Honorary Fellow of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology award.
Listen
Promoting Equity in Public Health: Policy, Investment, and Community Engagement Solutions
June 28th 2022On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with Georges C. Benjamin, MD, executive director of the American Public Health Association, on the core takeaways of his keynote session at AHIP 2022 on public health policy and other solutions to promote equitable health and well-being.
Listen
Collecting SDOH Data Can Assess Risk of Medical Nonadherence, Improve HEI and Star Ratings
April 18th 2024At the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) 2024 annual meeting, a panel of presenters explored changes coming to Medicare that incorporate social determinants of health (SDOH) data to improve patient and health system outcomes.
Read More
Gene and Cell Therapies Hold Potential—but How Can Payers Manage Their Costs?
April 18th 2024Presenters at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) 2024 annual meeting discussed the current promise and future potential of gene and cell therapies, as well as payer management strategies for these costly treatments.
Read More
