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Monday, April 13th, 2009

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Save Your Child from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

ADHD in medical terms is more heard these days than before. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a medical condition or a developmental disorder wherein a child is unable or finds it difficult to restrict its spontaneous responses.

ADHD is a medical condition that is mainly characterized by inattentiveness, impulsivity and hyperactivity of a child that occurs everywhere; be it in school, at home or at social settings relevant in the age group between 4years to 7years.

But, you might wonder as how to differentiate child with ADHD and a child without ADHD. Because in early years most children will indulge in not paying attention at school, will often miss doing homework, will be talkative and expressive, act without thinking and even be quite fidgety at dinner table. So, how can a parent discriminate or rather identify his/her child to be suffering from ADHD?

Signs and symptoms of ADHD

Children with ADHD will exhibit the aforesaid behavioral pattern for a consistent period of time in a more severe and intense form causing significant harm in their day-to-day functioning, whereas children without the ADHD problem will show this pattern of inattentiveness, hyperactivity or impulsivity only occasionally which does not affect their normal functioning.

Diagnosis of ADHD

Again, it might be perplexing at times to diagnose a child with ADHD symptoms just because the warning signs of ADHD often differ from situation to situation apart from differences within the same setting. So diagnosing a child with ADHD is very important to take recourse to corrective actions.

The exact cause of ADHD is still a matter of greater scientific research and study. It is though believed that a chemical imbalance within the body is a precursor to ADHD, the genetic components or associated links with brain injury are also being studied to understand their respective effects on the ADHD.

A recent study reveals that maternal health condition during pre-conception days might have a likelihood effect on ADHD children. Mothers of ADHD children were studied to find that there is a strong positive correlation of anxiety and stress of mothers during the pregnancy period with children having signs of ADHD. However, future studies are still on to certify the exact psychological, biological or environmental factors that trigger birth of ADHD children.

Treatment and course of action

Treatment of ADHD children varies from behavioral therapy to family counseling to medication to multi-modality approach for obtaining comprehensive and qualitative results. To manage ADHD, spending sufficient (again it depends on the behavior of individual children) quality time with children is very important and becomes essential rather than treating the primary symptoms with medication which will never yield positive results.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 13th, 2009 at 9:10 am and is filed under ADHD. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

5 Responses to “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)”

J Brian Wright Says:
April 13th, 2009 at 11:24 pm

I have worked with teens with ADHD for 17 years. A few things help. Find something that they are very interested in and they will excel at it. Then use this interest to get your way in other areas.
Also, break things down in small chunks. Don’t say go clean your bedroom. Say, go make you bed and come and tell me when you are done. Then say go pick up any toys or clothes off the floor and come and tell me when you are done. When these are done come up with that thing they are interested in as a prize. Another, is to encourage weight lifting or especially running as a hobby or a sport. Usually they will love it and it tires them out enough to slow them down for other things. It works.

Kirtley Thornton, PhD Says:
April 14th, 2009 at 5:12 am

The most effective long term solution to the ADHD problem is a well designed EEG biofeedback approach. The approach addresses the underlying problem in central nervous system functioning, the brain. There are many research studies that have been published on this topic. Please include this approach when you discuss ADHD. The parents need to know that their is an alternative to medications, which are risky and potentially dangerous.
Kirtley Thornton, PHD

Jean Says:
August 9th, 2009 at 9:38 am

Okay–I have read multiple posts on this topic. Here’s a genuine question for all you “non-medication” supporters—-if your child had diabetes, would you give him insulin?? There is NO difference.
Yes, I agree that probably more kids are being mis-diagnosed these days and given pills to compensate for a lack of parenting skills…But those who need it–need it!!
It is simply not fair to expect a child with true ADHD to be able to follow normal socially acceptable rules without giving them the tools to do so–ie medication.
Now, be sure your child is evaluated and treated by a competent pediatric physchiatrist prior to treatment. I had my son evaluated by 3 different DR’s before deciding to medicate!

sara Says:
August 24th, 2009 at 9:36 am

i agree w/ jean. many children are over diagnosed. i have 4 girls. the oldest is 6 and a half, then 4, 3, and 18 months. our oldest has been diagnosed ADHD. last year after starting school in K. she is a small child for her age and they had her on a dose of 15mg of adrell. it had a positive @ school but @ home she was sad, pale and sickly. we as parents do not see a difference between our 4 girls @ home, so when summer came we didn’t give them to her. she is in the first grade and has been back a few weeks. sometimes she has trouble sitting still and put her name on the paper. this is the same @ home. but she just had her first spelling test and done well, very well i might add

Irene Says:
September 1st, 2009 at 3:58 pm

I say “medicate or pay at a later date”. My best friends son, now a young adult, had many problems in school, beginning at an early age. She was constanttly called to the school about her sons overactive behavor. He was a good kid and teachers all found him charming but he was constantly getting into trouble at school. The youngest of three, he was never neglected, I would even call him spoiled. Whenever there was trouble in the neighborhood, he was always involved. His mother struggled with the option to medicate but chose not to. Now he is a young adult and after many scrapes with the law is facing prison time. Had the time and money been spent early on for testing and evalulation perhaps it would not be needed today for an exspensive legal defense. This young man was loved by his family and liked by neighbors and friends but was contantly getting punished for his “petty” toubles which have turned into repeated “petty” crimes. I believe that had he been medicated and nipped his problems at an early age, he would not be facing prison time today. We all know he will not get the help he needs in prison and this may be the begining of repeated incarcerations in his future. He never learned from his mistakes in the past and prison does not offer any tools to learn anything except how to be a better criminal. How sad.

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