When the Diagnosis is the Problem

One of my wonderful Facebook friends shared this simple yet thought provoking video about giving children psychiatric diagnoses. I started to re-post the video with a very looooong caption but then I remembered, that's why I have this outlet. For those that don't know, the letters on the t-shirts of the children in this video represent mental health diagnoses. The diagnoses are given based on symptoms that the child exhibits over a certain amount of time. More information about these diagnoses can be found through researching the DSM, which is the manual containing all mental health diagnoses for children and adults.
I'm sad to say that far too often in my line of work I am witness to the issue displayed in this video. On a daily basis I work with children and teenagers who have been labeled with diagnoses that follow them throughout the rest of their lives. From my perspective I feel that the quickness with which the diagnosis is given doesn't match the lifetime stigma that some carry. I believe that at times diagnoses get thrown out to appease complaining parents who are looking for a quick fix for troublesome behavior. Other times diagnoses are given because of faulty systems. In some cases the only way that a child can receive the supportive services that they need, is for them to be given a diagnoses. This is only followed by a medication prescription that may be unnecessary or too extreme. But the issue can be even deeper that this.
This issue with the diagnosis being the problem is also reflective of how we take advantage of certain groups of people. For example, earlier I shared that some parents are looking for a quick fix for their children's behaviors. If these parents lack a solid mental health education they can agree to and accept a diagnosis that is more of a hindrance than a help. Some low income families can not afford the high cost of outside mental health services and as I stated earlier in some cases the right mental health diagnosis can guarantee these services. If we look at gender, at times males and females can present with the same behaviors; but the males are more likely to be seen as "the problem" and given a diagnosis. Race also plays a role. I have seen white and black children with similar behaviors, both given a diagnosis, but a different diagnosis. One more favorable than the other. For example, our society has come to accept the ADD* and ADHD* diagnoses. I see a greater number of professionals who are more willing to deal with these diagnoses than diagnoses such as ODD* and Conduct Disorder (CD). Consequently I see white youths being diagnosed with ADHD and ADD and black youths diagnosed as ODD and Conduct Disorder. I also see more youths who are involved with law enforcement being labeled ODD or CD early on. This confirms what we see in  our reality; males from low income, Black families being repeat offenders in our criminal system.
In spite of what may seem like a negative trend, there is hope! We as a society have to take back the labels that we are stigmatizing our children with. We are all unique and how we act and behave are signs of our uniqueness. We have to highlight and encourage the positives in the behaviors that are often deemed negative. For example, I had a professor when I was in grad school who had a son who had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). The name itself is negative, suggesting that one diagnosed with this disorder has a "deficit." Instead of ascribing to this description my professor labeled his son as having Attention in Different Directions (ADD). The description can have a negative connotation but it can also be used to direct the child in a positive direction though embracing the behaviors instead of stigmatizing them. As most parents can attest to there is no easy way to raising children. Sometimes these diagnoses can be a quick fix but fail to accurately address the true issues. Some of the symptoms that accompany the diagnoses can be treated holistically or behaviorally. But these methods take time, consistency, and attention while they can eliminate the debilitating label that accompanies a diagnoseis.
I have to end by saying that all psychiatrists, medications, and diagnoses are not bad nor do they have poor intentions. There are many who benefit through understanding behaviors through the context of a mental health diagnosis. There are some who have issues with chemicals in the brain which medication can help treat. The issue is that overuse can sometimes make a good thing ineffective. When too many children are diagnosed then the diagnosis doesn't hold much weight. Everyone looks at the children through the lens of their diagnosis instead of for who they are in addition to the behaviors that warrant a diagnoses. 

These are jut my thoughts on children and mental health diagnoses. What are your thoughts? How do you see it? Agree or Disagree I would like to know! Thanks for stopping by and come back in two weeks for the next post.

"One must have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star"~Friedrich Nietzsche

*ADHD= Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

*ADD=Attention Deficit Disorder

*ODD= Oppositional Defiant Disorder

We Are All Human: Lessons From Steve Harvey's Mistake

Source: CNN.com

If you're like me the Miss Universe Pageant came and went without you even batting an eye. I rarely get on social media but I just happened to get on the day after the pageant and then I realized I must have missed something. There were posts all over the place discussing Steve Harvey's incredible mistake. If you don't know by now, he mixed up the name of the winner of the pageant, causing the wrong country to be named the winner. When he recognized his mistake minutes later, he came back out, acknowledged his wrong, and the correct country was named the winner. Now I will admit this was a significant mistake and if I was a Colombian (the wrongly named Miss Universe) I would be heated; but where I stand amazed is how everyone else responded to it. People reacted like Steve Harvey made the worst mistake in life, or like he did it in such a horrifying way. I believe there is a lesson to be learned from this whole situation.

We live in a society where perfection is the expectation when the reality is that we are all human. Now don't get me wrong, I think that we should all strive to be perfect in everything we do, no matter what the outcome, but we have to know that the probability of us batting 100 each and every time is slim to none. It's not about not making a mistake but instead the lessons learned from the mistake and how we use the lessons to make ourselves better for the future. Let's break down how Steve Harvey handled his blunder.

1. He acknowledged his mistake
Reports state that the moment Steve Harvey recognized that he made a mistake he was honest about it. He could've easily let the competition proceed like nothing happened but he made his human error known. When you make a mistake, own up to it. Trying to hide it doesn't work, what's done in the dark eventually comes to the light. The first step in correcting a mistake is acknowledging what happened.
2. He took the steps to correct his mistake
As soon as Steve Harvey confirmed his mistake he walked back out onto the stage and let everyone know what happened, and he announced the correct winner. Sometimes when we make a mistake we have the option to leave the mess for someone else to clean up, we can let someone else bear the brunt of the embarrassment and shame. That is taking the low road. No matter how hard it is, or how much time it takes, when we make a mistake we have to put the work in to make it right.
3. He took responsibility for his role in the mistake
Steve Harvey was not hesitant to highlight what he did wrong. He could've blamed the organization for how they printed the card, he could've blamed his nerves, or a number of other things. Instead he made it clear that the fault was on him. Just like it's easy to place the burden of the "clean up" on someone else, it's incredibly easy to place the responsibility elsewhere as well. But, when we do this, the mistake is never truly corrected, the spotlight turns to the wrong source, and the true issue is never addressed. As hard as it may seem, owning up to our wrongs is essential in correcting any mistake.
4.He apologized
I'm sorry is only seven letters long but when it is heartfelt and honest it bears the weight of the world. Steve Harvey is a celebrity with a great deal of fame and notoriety. In this role it is easy to walk away from a situation like this without a care in the world, knowing that another situation will come. In spite of this Steve Harvey still made it a priority to make his apology heard. Whether people are looking for it or not, when we are wrong we have to apologize. This is the closure that is needed to end the process of correcting the mistake, whether it is accepted or not. Without doing this, all of the previous steps are null and void.   

As a result of going through this process, Steve Harvey was offered a multi-year deal hosting the Miss Universe Pageant. I would like to think that the organization saw him as a human, fully capable of making mistakes, and that instead of penalizing him for it they honored his ability to do what most of us cannot, make the wrong right. There have been countless memes aimed at humiliating Steve Harvey and highlighting his mistake. I think that instead of making him the clown we should make him the hero. Human enough to make an error and human enough to acknowledge, correct, own, and apologize for his mistake.

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new"~ Albert Einstein