MENTAL HEALTH: ADHD

WHAT IS ADHD?

ADHD known as Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a neurobiological disorder (medical condition) that can begin noticing at preschool or early grades of school. ADHD affects the way children development. ADHD can affect their attention, the ability to sit still, and self-control (Kids Health, 2019).

ADHD causes difficulty in managing time and focus. Challenging the old understanding of ADHD as essentially a behavior disorder, understand in today’s date that ADHD is a developmental impairment of the brain’s self-management system, it is executive functions (Thomas E. Brown, Ph. D, 2017). Other studies reveal that a child with ADHD is four times as likely to have have a relative also diagnosed with the condition – pointing to a genetic factor (Thomas E. Brown, Ph. D, 2017).

ADHD instant in three subtypes:

Primarily hyperactive – Primarily inattentive type – Primarily combined type

Hyperactive ADHD is an impulsive subtype – act “as if driven by a motor”. People often move, squirm, and talk at inappropriate times. People with hyperactive ADHD are described as impulsive, impatient and interrupt others.

Inattentive ADHD – people are easily distracted and forgetful. They are often daydreams who may lose track of ‘things’, such as; homework, cell phones and conversations.

People with combined ADHD – display a mixture symptoms that are listed.

ADHD is most common in grade school. When the youth lack focus in class, forget about their homework, draw attention to teachers by ‘acting out’. Symptoms are often mistaken for mood disorders, anxiety and etc. ADHD can affect a child through school, at home and even in friendships (Kids Health 2019).

ADHD is more common in boys than girls. But when girls had ADHD symptoms can be shown in a different way. They can often have mood disorders, school anxiety, social-skill deficits and emotional over-reactivity.

There is no test to diagnose ADHD, the symptoms appear along a spectrum of severity. That overlap comorbid conditions.

The intended audience for youth to be diagnosed and found out they have ADHD starts at the age of 2 and all the way to 17 years of age. ADHD is treated by a many substances. One substance that gets treatment for ADHD is medicine. Taking medicine can help the children pay attention and slow down better. However, if ADHD does not get treated, it can affect youth and adolescents to succeed in their future.

According to Parent Report in 2016 – 9.4% of children 2017 years of age (6.1 million) have been diagnosed with ADHD (Parent Report, 2016).

Ages 2-5: 388,000 children are diagnosed with ADHD.
Ages 6-11 – 2.4 million children are diagnosed with ADHD.
Ages 12-17 – 3.3 million children are diagnosed with ADHD.

Nearly 2 of 3 children with current ADHD had at least one other mental, emotional, or behavioral disorder (Parent Report, 2016).