What is ADHD?
ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood. It is usually first diagnosed in childhood and often lasts into adulthood. It is normal for children to have trouble focusing and behaving at one time or another. However, children with ADHD do not just grow out of these behaviors. The symptoms continue, can be severe, and can cause difficulty at school, at home, or with friends.
ADHD/ADD in Adults:
Symptoms and Treatments
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is not limited to children -- 30% to 70% of kids with ADHD continue having symptoms when they grow up. In addition, people who were never diagnosed as kids may develop more obvious symptoms in adulthood, causing trouble on the job or in relationships. Many adults don’t realize they have ADHD, leaving them mystified about why their goals seem to slip out of reach.
What Is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?
by Thomas Brown, Ph.D.
Video by Understood
Data and Statistics About ADHD
Millions of US children have been diagnosed with ADHD
The estimated number of children ever diagnosed with ADHD, according to a national 2016 parent survey, is 6.1 million (9.4%). This number includes:
388,000 children aged 2–5 years
2.4 million children aged 6–11 years
3.3 million children aged 12–17 years
Boys are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than girls (12.9% compared to 5.6%).
There Are Three Presentations of ADHD
Predominantly Inattentive Presentation: (which we call Inattentive ADHD)
It is hard for the individual to organize or finish a task, to pay attention to details, or to follow instructions or conversations. The person is easily distracted or forgets details of daily routines.
Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Presentation:
The person fidgets and talks a lot. It is hard to sit still for long (e.g., for a meal or while doing homework). Smaller children may run, jump or climb constantly. The individual feels restless and has trouble with impulsivity. Someone who is impulsive may interrupt others a lot, grab things from people, or speak at inappropriate times. It is hard for the person to wait their turn or listen to directions. A person with impulsiveness may have more accidents and injuries than others.
Combined Presentation:
Symptoms of the above two types are equally present in the person. Because symptoms can change over time, the presentation may change over time as well.
A Comparison of Two Presentations of ADHD
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Hyperactive Impulsive ADHD |
Inattentive ADHD |
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Hyperactive, always on the go, impulsive |
A significant subset are hypoactive and sluggish and have slow response speeds. |
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Primary deficit in response inhibition |
Primary deficit in working memory, especially prominent in auditory processing because of the demands it places on working memory |
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Often insufficiently self-conscious |
Tend to be overly self-conscious |
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Social problems because too assertive and impulsive: butt in, take things belonging to others, fail to wait their turn, and act without first considering the feelings of others |
Social problems because too passive, shy, or withdrawn |
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Tend to be extroverted |
More likely to be introverted |
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Externalizing behaviors, such as conduct disorder, aggressivity, disruptive behavior, and even oppositional defiant disorder are far more commonly comorbid with ADHD than with ADD. |
Internalizing disorders, such as anxiety or depression, are somewhat more common in children with ADD than those with ADHD. ADD children tend to be socially isolated or withdrawn. Reading and language deficits and problems with mental mathematical calculations are more commonly comorbid with ADD than with ADHD. |
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Respond positively to methylphenidate ~Ritalin! |
A significant percentage are not helped by methylphenidate. |
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Most respond positively to methylphenidate in moderate to high doses. |
Those who are helped by methylphenidate often do best at low doses. |
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Those with ADHD are more likely to smoke than are those with ADD. ~There are marked similarities in the neurobiological and psychological effects of nicotine and methylphenidate.!
Methylphenidate addresses catecholamine reuptake. Addressing reuptake appears to be sufficient to help individuals with ADHD. |
A significant subset are helped by amphetamines rather than methylphenidate. Amphetamines affect both the reuptake and release of catecholamines. A marked deficit in the release of DA and NE might cause sluggishness and under-arousal.
People with ADD are not so much easily distracted as easily bored. Their problem lies more in motivation than in inhibition.
Challenge or risk, something to literally get their adrenaline pumping, can be key to keeping their attention and to eliciting optimum performance. Individuals with ADD, although typically shy, may engage in risk-taking and thrill-seeking activities as ways to experience a level of engagement they have difficulty sustaining in their daily lives. |
A Child With ADHD Might:
Daydream a lot
Forget or lose things a lot
Squirm or fidget
Talk too much
Make careless mistakes or take unnecessary risks
Have a hard time resisting temptation
Have trouble taking turns
Have difficulty getting along with others
Causes of ADHD
The cause(s) and risk factors for ADHD are unknown, but current research shows that genetics plays an important role.
Scientists are studying other possible causes and risk factors including:
Brain injury
Exposure to environmental (e.g., lead) during pregnancy or at a young age
Alcohol and tobacco use during pregnancy
Premature delivery
Low birth weight
Research does not support the popularly held views that ADHD is caused by eating too much sugar, watching too much television, parenting, or social and environmental factors such as poverty or family chaos.
Could I Have ADHD?
By National Institute of Mental Health
Do you feel that you have struggled throughout your life with poor concentration, inattention, impulsivity, or getting organized? Have you wondered whether you might have attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)? Our society has become more aware of ADHD as a condition that affects adults as well as children, and there are many adults who struggle with this disorder.
Full article “Could I Have Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)?”
How ADHD Makes You Inattentive:
The ADD Brain
Inattention, a primary symptom of ADHD, may bring a shortage of focus, or an abundance. An inattentive child may struggle to focus on a teacher when squirrels are playing outside. Or an inattentive child may be so hyper-focused on a video game that the outside world fades away. ADHD makes it hard to pay attention on demand… and to break focus on something interesting.
Video by researcher Joel Nigg, Ph.D. and ADDitude Magazine
ADHD Is Not a Behavioral Disorder
By Thomas Brown, Ph.D.
“The old model thinks of ADHD as a behavioral disorder,” he says. “But many individuals living with ADHD never had significant behavior problems; they have difficulty focusing their attention on necessary tasks and using working memory effectively.”
“ADHD is a cognitive disorder,” says Brown, “a developmental impairment of executive functions (EFs) — the self-management system of the brain.”
Full article “ADHD Is Not a Behavioral Disorder”
How ADHD/ADD Affects Adults
Video by Only Human
ADHD/ADD in Adults:
Symptoms and Treatments
By Medicine Net
Full article “ADHD/ADD in Adults: Symptoms & Treatments in Pictures”
Emotions and Motivation
Video by Help for ADHD
How ADHD Shapes Your Perceptions, Emotions & Motivation
The textbook symptoms of attention deficit disorder (ADHD or ADD) — inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity — are inadequate; they fail to reflect the complexity of the condition, and several of its most prevalent and powerful attributes:
An interest-based nervous system
Rejection sensitive dysphoria
Intense emotional responsiveness
Video by Dr. William Dodson and ADDitude Magazine
Treating Childhood ADHD
Video by Dr. William Pelham and Effective Child Therapy
Medication Treatment for ADHD
Video by Dr. James Waxmonsky and Effective Child Therapy
More Than Just Genes: How Environment, Lifestyle, and Stress Impact ADHD
by Joel Nigg
ADHD is a genetic disorder, but DNA is not working alone. Stress, foods, and environmental toxins change the brain as well.
Our understanding of ADHD has grown by leaps and bounds over the past 30 years. What started as hyperkinetic impulse disorder — its primary symptom excessive hyperactivity — over time shifted to attention deficit disorder and a focus on problems with inattention, then to reward functioning, and later to executive functioning.
Now, researchers understand that ADHD is primarily a disorder of self-regulation. Self-regulation weaves together all the older theories of ADHD into one cohesive picture; it is also what allows humans to manage impulses, engage or disengage attention, and navigate between deliberate and automatic responses to different situations. The ability to self-regulate is managed across the brain in highly interconnected ways; similar brain nodes regulate both attention and emotion — and when one area isn’t performing well, the others suffer, too.
Full article “More Than Just Genes”
ADHD Remains Largely
Misunderstood by the Public
Anxiety. Depression. School failure. Self-harm. Unemployment. Unplanned pregnancies. Even an increased risk of early death.
The risks and toll of suffering that can come with having attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is huge, counted annually in billions of dollars in lost productivity and health care spending and in untold frustration and failure.
Yet despite more than a century of research and thousands of published studies, ADHD — marked by distraction, forgetfulness and impulsivity — remains largely misunderstood by the public. This is especially true when it comes to girls and women.
Full article “Under-diagnosed and under-treated, girls with ADHD face distinct risks”
ADHD and The Treatment Options
Data and Statistics about ADHD
By Centers of Disease Control and Prevention
Full article “Data and Statistics About ADHD”
A Brief History of ADHD
When Was ADHD Discovered?
In 1798, a Scottish doctor, Sir Alexander Crichton, noticed some people were easily distracted and unable to focus on their activities the way others could. He reported that these symptoms began early in life. That's consistent with what we now call attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Early Descriptions of ADHD
In a series of lectures in 1902, Sir George Frederic Still talked about mental conditions in otherwise healthy children of normal intelligence. These children were more impulsive, and had problems with attention and self-control. He noted 15 cases in young boys and five in girls. This squares with the modern-day knowledge that males are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than females.
Full article “A Brief History”
My Wild Family History of ADHD
by Stephanie Moulton Sarkis
Full article “My Wild Family History of ADHD”