What is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder?
ADHD is not a behavioral disorder that only concerns children; it is a neuro-developmental disorder that’s caused by an altered brain chemistry, and a different brain structure, notably the prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain that’s responsible for decision making, executive functioning, and impulse control.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder starts at an early stage in life (the first few months) or during the development of the fetus inside its mother’s womb, and it carries on for life.
There are three types of this disorder:
Predominantly inattentive: This type manifests as a difficulty in maintaining attention, as well as an impaired ability to organize and finish tasks.
Predominantly hyperactive: The person seemingly has a an excessive amount of energy that’s only ever seen with children, and rarely with adults, that hyperactivity can also manifest mentally. Impulsivity is also a big part in this particular type.
Mixed- Hyperactive & inattentive: In which the person presents the hyperactive alongside the inattentive symptoms.
Here are some of the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder:
- Difficulty maintaining focus and paying attention to the outside world, and each attempt to redirect focus can be fruitless.
- Inability to organize one’s life, and chronic procrastination.
- Difficulty organizing time, and planning ahead and following through with those plans.
- Forgetting daily tasks and obligations.
- Losing personal and important things regularly.
- Inability to stop talking and frequently interrupting others.
- Diffucilty following through with orders, which results in never finishing tasks or in some cases, never starting altogether.
- Struggling with multi-tasking, and the inability to do several things at once. For example: concentrating on the lesson and taking notes.
- Difficulty staying still or seated for longer periods of time.
- Chronic boredom, that requires constant stimulation seeking, which can be listening to music, daydreaming, fidgeting and stimming.
When do these symptoms become an actual disorder? And can we classify that disorder as a disability?
When the symptoms are severe, chronic, long lasting, and present in different areas of a person’s life (School/Home/Workplace…) we can then make a diagnosis.
Some countries, such as the USA, classify ADHD as a disability, and those who are severely affected by it, are protected by the ADA Act which was issued in 1990.
- sources:
- ADHD in Adults: Things to Know from National Institutes of Health
- https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/adhd-what-you-need-to-know