Misdiagnosis of Anxiety
Misdiagnosis and Anxiety
High rate of misdiagnosis of psychiatric disorders: The book "Preventing Misdiagnosis of Women" reports
on studies that estimate that 41% to 83% of people who are treated
for psychiatric disorders, actually have a misdiagnosed physical disorder.
See Preventing Misdiagnosis of Women (by Klonoff and Landrine).
Various mental health symptoms caused by rare epilepsy: Temporal lobe epilepsy is a less common form
of epilepsy that does not have the typical physical seizures.
Patients can suffer from symptoms such as depression, moodiness, anger,
irritability, and misdiagnosis of this condition as depression is common.
Some patients also suffer hallucinations and other similar symptoms, or even
severe psychotic symptoms, making
a misdiagnosis of schizophrenia possible.
Mood changes and behavioral symptoms also make a misdiagnosis of bipolar disorder possible.
See the overview of temporal lobe epilespy.
Common asymptomatic heart disorder can cause anxiety-like conditions: Anxiety symptoms may be due to heart disorder - There is a reasonably
common heart disorder called Mitral Valve Prolapse (MVP),
that often remains undiagnosed in people.
A relationship or association exists between anxiety-type symptoms, anxiety disorders,
generalized anxiety disorders, agoraphobia, and MVP,
such that MVP should be investigated as a possible underlying cause in some anxiety type symptoms.
Rare neurological disorder misdiagnosed as anxiety condition: Posterolateral sclerosis is an uncommon neurological disorder
that can be misdiagnosed as an anxiety disorder.
Symptoms such as peripheral numbness, weakness, or sensations, may be wrongly
attributed to a psychological disorder.
Rare copper disease insidious and misdiagnosed: Wilson's disease (a form of copper overload) is a rare disorder that
has a slow and insidious onset that can often fail to be diagnosed.
Copper builds up in the liver and in the brain,
usually in the late childhood, teens, or 20's.
Brain changes can lead to a variety of neurological and psychological type symptoms,
such as speech symptoms, language difficulty, behavioral symptoms, and various others.
Possible misdiagnoses include depression, behavioral disorders, schizophrenia,
mental retardation, learning difficulty, anxiety disorders,
hysteria, and other psychological disorders.
Physical symptoms related to liver damage, such as jaundice, often appear later,
leading to the delayed diagnosis.
See overview of Wilson's disease.
Rare cancer hidden cause of panic symptoms: The rare cancer pheochromocytoma, an adrenal tumor, can initially
have symptoms similar to panic disorder.
Its symptoms may include anxiety, panic, sweating, increased heart rate, and other symptoms.
See the overview of pheochromocytoma.
Undiagnosed stroke leads to misdiagnosed aphasia: BBC News UK reported on a man who
had been institutionalized and treated for mental illness
because he suffered from sudden inability to speak.
This was initially misdiagnosed as a "nervous breakdown" and other mental conditions.
He was later diagnosed as having had a stroke, and suffering from aphasia (inability to speak),
a well-known complication of stroke (or other brain conditions).
Dementia may be a drug interaction: A common scenario in aged care is for
a patient to show mental decline to dementia.
Whereas this can, of course, occur due to various medical conditions,
such as a stroke or Alzheimer's disease,
it can also occur from a side effect or interaction between multiple drugs
that the elderly patient may be taking.
There are also various other possible causes of dementia.
ADHD under-diagnosed in adults: Although the over-diagnoses of ADHD
in children is a well-known controversy, the reverse side related to adults.
Some adults can remain undiagnosed, and indeed the condition has usually been
overlooked throughout childhood.
There are as many as 8 million adults with ADHD in the USA (about 1 in 25 adults in the USA).
See misdiagnosis of ADHD or symptoms of ADHD.
Bipolar disorder misdiagosed as various conditions by primary physicians: Bipolar disorder (manic-depressive disorder)
often fails to be diagnosed correctly by primary care physicians.
Many patients with bipolar seek help from their physician, rather than a psychiatrist
or psychologist.
See misdiagnosis of bipolar disorder.
Eating disorders under-diagnosed in men: The typical patient with
an eating disorder is female.
The result is that men with eating disorders often fail to be diagnosed or
have a delayed diagnosis.
See misdiagnosis of eating disorders or symptoms of eating disorders.
Depression undiagnosed in teenagers: Serious bouts of depression can be
undiagnosed in teenagers.
The "normal" moodiness of teenagers can cause severe medical depression
to be overlooked.
See misdiagnosis of depression or symptoms of depression.
Undiagnosed anxiety disorders related to depression: Patients with depression (see symptoms of depression)
may also have undiagnosed anxiety disorders (see symptoms of anxiety disorders).
Failure to diagnose these anxiety disorders may worsen the depression.
See misdiagnosis of depression or misdiagnosis of anxiety disorders.
Pheochromocytoma can mimic an anxiety attack: Pheochromocytoma is a tumour of the adrenal
glands which secretes excessive amounts of catecholamines such as epinephrine
and nor-epinephrine. It usually occurs in young patients and is not an easily diagnosed
as it is usually mistaken for an anxiety attack, essential hypertension or a case
of hyperthyroidism. The patient usually presents with symptoms of sympathetic
overactivity which leads to symptoms such as palpitation, anxiety, increased heart
rate, headache and most importantly orthostatic hypotension etc. It is also
associated with genetic syndromes such as multiple endocrine neoplasia syndromes.
Early diagnosis is needed so that the tumour can be excised surgically.
More about Misdiagnosis
» Next page: DEPRESSION (Algorithmic Diagnosis of Symptoms and Signs)
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