Is My Child Suffering From ADD/ADHD?

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) involve an array of problematic behaviors that are actually connected with reduced attention span. Such unusual traits include significant dyslexia (a learning disorder), autism, low concentration, restlessness, hyperactiveness, and easy distraction. ADHD is also known as hyperkinetic disorder, which often keep children away from learning and socialising well. It is most likely to occur in children, teenagers, and elder people. According to a survey, nearly 1.7 percent of the U.K. citizens, among which most are children (especially boys), are prone to ADHD. One can understand how critical this disorder is. So, are you eager to save your child or your loved ones from this growth obstructing disorder? Let’s do this now!

ADHD Causes

Biological and environmental factors are the root causes of ADHD. Out of these, the biological factors are:

• Temperament of the child that is responsible for attitude and personality.
• Genetic conditions wherein if one twin has ADHD, the other also has 80-90 percent chance to have it. According to a recent research, this disorder is more likely to be inherited from males such as fathers and grandfathers.
• Damaged parts of the brain because of shock or pre-birth problems. These regions that are responsible for the development of ADHD are prone to hypoxic damage at the time of birth. Such a damage is caused by insufficient oxygen being supplied to the brain, while on the other hand; the blood flow is reduced.

Listed are the environmental factors that might lead to ADHD.

• Stress due to family conditions
• Educational difficulties

ADHD Symptoms

Here are the major symptoms of ADHD that are usually not mild so that they can be considered under the ADHD disorder.

• Difficulties in Attention
• Hyperactivity
• Impulsivity

Other symptoms can be any or combination of the list below.

• Grand mal or petit mal epileptic seizures, leading to drowsiness, attention impairment, and abnormal behaviour and perceptions
• Difficulty in hearing like deafness or glue ear, making it tough for a child to follow the instructions and forcing him/her to appear as daydreaming (inattentive)
• Reading problems that make it tough to complete jobs or follow the orders
• Obsessive disorder, making people commit odd rituals that preoccupy their thoughts and divert their attention
• Tourette’s syndrome that includes frequent and unintentional body jerks, abrupt outbreak of noise, or swearing
• Autism and Asperger’s syndrome that give rise to problems in understanding and language
• Extended duration of improper sleep that leads to significant low concentration

Difficulties in Attention

Here is the list of symptoms related difficulties in attention, out of which minimum six must be exhibited for at least six months to a remarkable extent keeping in mind the child’s age and aptitude level.

• Falls short of paying and sustaining close attention at work or play
• Makes careless mistakes while playing or working
• Fails to complete the tasks
• Appears like not listening to what is being told
• Fails to follow the instructions
• Fails to finish the homework or daily tasks
• Fails to organize tasks and activities
• Avoids activities wherein continuous mental effort is needed
• Forgets basic things that are mandatory for completing an assigned task or activity, such as pencil, rubber, notebook, or item related to play.
• Is easily distracted
• Fails to remember while performing daily activities

Hyperactivity

Here is the list of symptoms related hyperactivity, out of which minimum three must be exhibited for at least six months to a remarkable extent keeping in mind the child’s age and aptitude level.

• Runs around
• Excessively mounts over things.
• Feels restlessness (normally in adolescents or adults)
• Excessively noisy while playing
• Finds it tough to involve silent activities during free time
• Gets up from the seat in the classroom or in other situations wherein being seated is predicted
• Fiddles with hands or feet
• Fidgets on the seat

Impulsivity

Here is the list of symptoms related impulsivity, out of which minimum one must be exhibited for at least six months to a remarkable extent keeping in mind the child’s age and aptitude level.

• Utters answers without waiting for the questions to be completed
• Fails to stay in queues
• Fails to wait for the turn in games or group plays
• Interrupt others, such as intruding into others’ conversations or games
• Speaks too much without proper response

Difficulties Accompanying ADHD

There are many other difficulties along with which ADHD occurs often and whose union leads to problematic behaviors. These include revealing bad temper, sleep disorders, and clumsiness. Listed below are the other behavioral problems that take place with ADHD.

• Confrontational defiant behaviour, wherein the child exhibits anger, argues, refuses to obey their elders, and intentionally irritates others. This is observed in around 60 percent of the victims.
• Conduct disorders (destructive and deceitful behavior), wherein a child lies, breaks rules, or steals. This is observed in around 25 percent of the victims.
• Dyslexia, wherein a child finds it difficult to learn, calculate, and write. This is observed in around 25-30 percent of the victims.
• Severe depression, which is observed in 33 percent of the victims.
• Anxiety disorders, which is observed in 30 percent of the victims.

Diagnosis

A medical diagnosis needs to be done for ADHS. A doctor who is a child or adolescent psychiatrist, paediatrician, paediatric neurologist, or GP performs the diagnosis. Contribution of other professionals like psychologists, speech therapists, teachers, and health visitors is of a great benefit for the examination of a child with the probability of having ADHD. The diagnosis is performed by gathering different information, as there is no single test for this.
Listed below are the types of information gathered during the diagnosis phase.

• History of symptoms
• Medical history
• Past psychiatric history
• Educational history
• Child’s temperament and personality
• Family history
• Social background

History of Symptoms

This kind of information involves being aware of the exact nature of the difficulties being faced, the time when they were initially observed, the conditions due to which they occur, and the causes that relieve them.

Medical History

One of the risk factors that matters here is the mother’s health. Information regarding whether the mother’s health not good or was too young during the time of delivery, does she have the habit of smoking or drinking, and had the mother undergone extended or complicated labor is collected.

The occurrence of fragile-X syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome, G6PD deficiency, phenylketonuria, and generalised resistance to thyroid hormone in the past or present are also taken into account. Not only this, but also accidents, operations, chronic disorders such as epilepsy, asthma, and heart, liver, and kidney disorders are considered.

Any medication been taken by the child or is currently taking is of great relevance.

Past Psychiatric History

Investigation is done to identify any mental problem that the child might have. This can aid in ruling out the symptoms of depression or anxiety.

Educational History

Enquiry is done regarding their learning ability and difficulties and how they behave with their peer groups and teachers.

Evaluation of the Child’s Temperament and Personality

The child’s temperament and personality along with that of other family members is enquired. Further, the type of relationships within the family may also be examined. Discussion on how parents manage the child’s behaviour is done here. This will actually make parents feel that this is an unexpected interference. However, the assessor would not pin point anyone. A tip for parents here is not to feel that they are cause of ADHD in their children.

Family History

The parents’ mental and physical health along with those of the family members is of utmost relevance.

Social Background

This includes collecting information regarding housing area, poverty, and social support that have an impact on the child’s behaviour on a large scale.

ADHD Treatment

A guidance or advice from a psychologist along with the diagnosis results would be of great help to treat ADHD. It’s a difficult task to live with a child having ADHD. Therefore, both parents and teachers must try to deal with the child’s problematic behavior. Some ways of management are:

• Create a daily schedule for the child.
• Be clear, specific, and reasonable in your instructions. For instance, instead of telling the child to ‘behave’, say ‘play Snakes and Ladders quietly for 30 minutes’.
• Be steady in the handling the child
• Avoid troublesome or disturbing elements in daily routine. For example, switch of the radio during their homework time.
• Plan for such programmes that are focused at increasing the span of the child’s concentration.
• Speak face-to-face with the child and avoid talking with other children simultaneously.
• Provide rewards (stickers, toys, money, etc.) consistently to strengthen proper behaviour.
• Allow sanctions (loss of rewards, no T.V. etc.) for unpredicted behaviour.
• Opt for psychological treatments such as cognitive therapy and individual psychotherapy.
• Provide social skills training.

Prescribed Medicines

According to a U.S. research, medication is the ideal choice for ADHD. The common and effective medicines prescribed for ADHD are amphetamine-like stimulants, methylphenidate (Ritalin) and dexamfetamine (Dexedrine).

Ritalin aids in decreasing the intensity of hyperactivity and impulsiveness and in increasing the child’s attention. The positive signs in your child due to Ritalin are less aggressiveness, compliance with instructions, better memory. Many parents have informed that Ritalin has greatly improved their child’s behaviour. However, on the other hand, Ritalin has critical negative effects on the cardiovascular and nervous systems. Therefore, it is recommended only for children of 6 years and above and until a month if there is not improvement.

Probable Outcome

Nearly half of those affected by ADHD start living a normal life at an early stage of adulthood. However, a considerable number of children will face problems even in their adulthood. These problems might be depression, related to attention, and antisocial behavior.

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