INTRODUCTION TO ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER

One of the most wrongly diagnosed and wrongly understood neurological conditions in the world is Attention Deficit Disorder or more commonly known with its acronym of ADD. The reality is that the majority of people lacks a proper understanding of the disorder, and also would not be able to identify it if they met a person with ADD. This article, and there is more to follow, intends to give you information about ADD, the meaning of the disorder, the methods by which it is diagnosed, the various treatments, and some topics regarding the issue. And let’s hope that this would be a valuable tool by which your knowledge and ability to understand the disorder will increase.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or shortly ADHD/ADD, is a problem where the individual who is affected by it fails to be attentive for a long period of time. Motor restlessness and impulsive behavior are other indications of the disorder. Reports suggest that approximately 4.4% of all adults possess some degree of ADD.

ADD is understood as a disorder of the neurobiological type caused in brain by a glitch in the dopamine neurotransmitter systems. Genes play a huge part in maximum cases. There is 30% chance for a child to have ADD if a parent or near kith and kin has the disorder. In cases of twin children, if one of the pair has ADD, the other’s chances of being struck by the disease increases by 50%. At one time the belief was held that ADD could be caused by poor nutrition, but it has been dismissed now as a myth. Similarly, allergies, drugs or bad parenting could be cut off from the list. Deep head trauma, fetal alcohol syndrome, intoxication through lead, and thyroid irregularities, are some of the other medical conditions showing symptoms like ADD. Hence it is advised that the other possibilities are rules out completely before the person could be said to have ADD for sure.

Having ADD means that an individual having it is not getting sufficient neuro-chemicals. Said in simpler terms it signifies that proper stimulation of the brain is missing, as a result of which the brain attempts to find methods by which the release of the chemicals can be increased. People with ADD try to stimulate their brains with things like physical activities, movements, and always doing things that stimulate or are stimulating. This is not a conscious decision on the parts of the people with ADD. They really cannot help themselves and it becomes a reflex action and they act in a hyperactive manner.

The difficulty caused by this is that individuals who suffer from ADD, when face a circumstance that do not stimulate them, like school work, try to put their attention on something that is stimulating to them. Of course the school work is completely hampered by this, and the child cannot perform well in his or her studies. I can narrate a story here told to me by a friend. This incident happened when knowledge about the disease was poor. There was a child who would suddenly get up on his desk when the class is still commencing, and would begin to tell jokes. In the beginning people thought that he was trying to be funny and consciously disturb the others. But over time it came to be known that the child had ADD, and his actions were beyond his control. 

Personal relationships and the ability to be permanently employed also become cause of concern for people with ADD. Then legal issue also crop up when ADD causes people to take dangerous chances with themselves and end up doing careless things to stimulate themselves.

ADHA recording

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