Misdiagnosis of African-Americans with Psychiatric Issues - Part II

Purpose: The second Misdiagnosis of African-Americans with Psychiatric Issues article focuses on traumatic life experiences that meet a proposed criteria for Developmental Trauma Disorder (DTD).1 Method: Psychiatric evaluations of 330 patients were reviewed and clinically identifiable variables of: a) childhood mental retardation (MR), special education, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), or Autism/Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD); b) head injury causing Organic Brain Syndrome (OBS) or Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE); c) a history of chronic substance abuse prior to the development of psychiatric symptoms; or d) childhood trauma causing Anxiety, Depression, and Panic Disorders were tabulated. Results: In Part I,2-Reference Part I we learn that the above four variables did not influence two-thirds of the African-American patients psychiatric diagnoses; however, excluding patients with multiple diagnoses, 26.7% of the patients diagnoses were shaped by these variables. Of these, 20% (18 of 88 patients), or 5.5% of the total 330 patients, had diagnoses that were strongly influenced by childhood traumatic experiences. Accordingly, we present two case histories that explicate the psychopathology seen in African-Americans traumatized as children. Conclusions: This study helps to stress and confirm the importance of how understanding childhood traumatic experiences shape adult African-American psychopathology and the potential for misdiagnosis - an important factor for prevention and appropriate treatment of African-American patients with psychiatric issues.