Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (adhd)

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurological behavioral disorder that begins in childhood and can persist into adolescence and adulthood. ADHD has also been referred to as attention-deficit disorder (ADD), hyper kinesis and even minimal brain dysfunction. It is the most common mental disorder among children today. Affecting an estimated three to five percent of all children, and two to three times more boys than girls are affected. It is believed that around sixty percent of children diagnosed with ADHD will retain the disorder as adults. It was first described in 1845, by Dr. Heinrich Hoffman, a physician who wrote books on medicine and psychiatry. Also in 1902 Sir George F. Still published a series of lectures to the Royal College of Physicians in England in which he described a group of impulsive children with significant behavioral problems, caused by a genetic dysfunction and not by poor child rearing. But it wasn’t until 1998 that the National Institute of Mental Health decided that ADHD was a legitimate condition. While the exact cause is still not clear, researchers have found that ADHD tends to run in families, so a genetic factor is likely.

A person with ADHD has a chronic level of inattention, impulsive hyperactivity, or both that can make daily functioning become a struggle, such as family relationships and school or work performance. Three types of ADHD have been established, each with its own pattern of behaviors which are described as: 1) Inattentive type; with signs that include fails to pay close attention to details, doesn’t seem to listen when spoken to, has difficulty organizing task and is easily distracted. 2) Hyperactive-impulsive type; with signs that include excessive talking, difficulty remaining seated, always seeming to be “on the go.” And 3) Combined type; which involves a combination of the other two types and is the most common type of the three. They also tend to be especially sensitive to stimuli such as sights, sounds and touch. In addition to as many as one in three children with ADHD, also have other psychological or developmental conditions including Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), conduct disorder, depression, anxiety disorders, learning disabilities and Tourette’s syndrome.

ADHD is often diagnosed when a child is between six and twelve years of age. This particular age group is easier diagnosed because symptoms