Dr Sam Day

Experimental Psychologist | Part-time tour guide | DPhil from @OxExpPsy | Studying psychological medicalisation | I also love talking about smiles :)

[Dziki Chesterton @Proteometheus]

@loveologian Argentina was definitely not uninhabited when a bunch of Spaniards, Italians, and Germans showed up there and called it "Argentina" though

[Dr Sam Day @SamDayOxEP]

@CharlesOJ @tomhfh Most of the psychiatrists and clinical psychologists are worries about this too. Surely it has a solution?

[Dr Sam Day @SamDayOxEP]

So before you say "the public have been manipulated by the media", look at the professionals.

75% of mental health professionals think ADHD is over-diagnosed. Among the general public, it was 39%. In every condition I looked at, the clinical experts were more concerned than the public.

[James Barnes MSc., MA @psychgeist52]

Derek Summerfield of the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College critiques adult ADHD last week in @bmj_latest.

[Interbellica @interbellica]

‘We band of brothers, for he today who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother...’

Happy St Crispin's Day 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[Dominic Adler @DomAdlerUK]

An oldie but a goodie. In 1968 a bunch of entitled hippy bastards sent a letter detailing their specious demands to the Warden and Fellows of Wadham College, Oxford. This was their letter of reply, which speaks to how far the academy has since fallen.

[The BMJ @bmj_latest]

Over half of all NHS-funded ADHD assessments and a third of autism assessments are now carried out by private providers.

Private providers are profiting from the expansion of ADHD and autism diagnosis, @utafrith @naomicfisher
https://t.co/qOc9Dc9JN0

[Dr Sam Day @SamDayOxEP]

@bmj_latest @utafrith @naomicfisher This is very likely feeding into psychiatrists' opinions about the over-diagnosis of these two conditions...

[Dr Sam Day @SamDayOxEP]

But this is not a blanket claim. Professionals drew a clear line.

ADHD (75%), autism (57%), anxiety (53%), and depression (51%) were seen as over-diagnosed. Bipolar, OCD, and eating disorders were more likely to be seen as UNDER-diagnosed.

These are some of the most serious conditions anyone can experience.

[Dr Sam Day @SamDayOxEP]

@SaveMHUK @cwestonclark Thanks! 86% of my respondents said that they were happy talking about this publicly. And the research itself was motivated by chats I've had with clinicians over the last year where they've been willing to discuss this stuff. So I do think the situation is better than you think

[Dr Sam Day @SamDayOxEP]

It's time to talk about mental health, medicalisation, and overdiagnosis.

When polls show that people think autism, ADHD, and anxiety are overdiagnosed, a common reply is:

"The public don't know what they're talking about. Ask an expert."

So that's exactly what I did. And it turns out experts are far more concerned than the public!

[Chris Aiken, MD @chrisaikenmd]

@AllenFrancesMD Here’s how TikTok convinces people they have mental illness without any prompting from the user:

https://t.co/nXxCeaFrEA

[Dr Sam Day @SamDayOxEP]

@Xavegriball That would be great in theory, but I don't know how it would be implemented in practice? Who does the assessing? Where do they resources and staff come from? I think we need to change diagnostic guidelines for clinicians, and also change the wider societal culture

[Dr Sam Day @SamDayOxEP]

@Xavegriball Yes, the incentive system is entirely miscalibrated as it stands

[AJ @Xavegriball]

@SamDayOxEP https://t.co/eW15Y3z2Q5 If you haven't seen this, you may find it interesting.

I am not in the sector, so this is purely my opinion, but I think diagnostic guidelines and legislation puts significant pressure on clinicians in MH space.

[Dr Sam Day @SamDayOxEP]

@Xavegriball This is an excellent paper! Thank you for sharing it with me. It's such a shame that this type of research doesn't get more publicity

[Adam Hunt @RealAdamHunt]

Interesting survey results!

[Dr Sam Day @SamDayOxEP]

@Xavegriball Just one of many paradoxes.

I think it's arguably even more paradoxical that clinicians are most worried about over-medicalisation and overdiagnosis, but yet they're the ones doing the diagnosing?

Clearly, the will is there to change things, but incentives need to change too

[Dr Sam Day @SamDayOxEP]

@cwestonclark @SaveMHUK I find it odd that we haven't really had a large scale study into clinician's opinions on these issues before. The BBC and Pulse both surveyed GPs over the last year, but no-one has looked at psychiatrists and clinical psychologists. This research hopefully addresses that gap

[Dr Sam Day @SamDayOxEP]

@AllenFrancesMD Thanks so much for highlighting this Allen! I think it's very reassuring that most clinicians seem to be aware of these problems and willing to talk about it. It's a good first step

[Dr Sam Day @SamDayOxEP]

@nebulapillars_ Yeah, the findings surprised me in lots of ways. OCD feels like a condition that was perhaps most trivialised 10-15 years ago, but now seems to be less on the radar. So it's reassuring to hear that clinicians don't think it's being overdiagnosed. Maybe a model for ADHD/autism?

[Sharon Thornton @_SharonThornton]

Medical practitioners admit to their profession's wrongly diagnosing normal feelings (often to adverse circumstances) as mental disorders.

For some, an ADHD diagnosis is seen as being trendy.

[🇺🇦 Dr. Jeffery 🌻 Hayden 🇺🇦 🏳️‍�� @DrJefferyHayden]

My advocacy allies should read this. Interesting and what we already know advocating for those with SMI.