Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder - Essay Example

Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder School Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (as well as Attention deficit disorder) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders that occur in childhood. It influences multiple aspects of children’s life and especially learning; moreover, it may even be passed to their adulthood and affect their lives, as it changes certain cognitive functions and doesn’t let a person to function normally in society. The most common characteristics of the disorder start appearing in early childhood and affect childrens cognitive functioning and behavior. The following symptoms appear among the first and they are: hyperactivity, lack of concentration and disability to focus on the same activities for a long time. Moreover, these children with attention deficit disorder and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder usually are absent-minded, as they tend to lose things and are very bad in memorizing information; they also make a lot of careless mistakes and take risks without thinking several moves ahead; furthermore, they cant resist temptations and get influenced very vastly; moreover, they experience problems with communication with peers ("Facts About ADHD" n.d.). It frequently happens that parents dont notice their children having the disorders and believe that the problems with communication and studying their children have are engaged with their individual features. The problem is that the disorder is rather dangerous and must be treated as soon as possible otherwise it would be transformed into more serious adulthood disorder; if not make any attempts to fix the situation, because of having the Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, children might lose a lot of time that they were supposed to spend for their early development. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder has three subtypes ("What is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD, ADD)?" n.d.). The first one is the predominantly hyperactive-impulsive, in which a child has problems with hyperactivity and often becomes not able to control ones own emotions and risky actions. The predominantly inattentive type of ADHD mostly is characterized by lack of attention and concentration instability, so such children experience troubles concentrating on learning activities. The combined hyperactive-impulsive and inattentive type is the most widespread one because children who have it suffer from multiple symptoms engaged with all kinds of instability indicative for ADHD ("What is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD, ADD)?" n.d.). Even though the disorder is one of the most popular in scientific studies engaged with neurodevelopmental disorders so far, still scientists can’t find the consensus on the causes and nature of it. Some assert that the disorder is being wrongly interpreted as a kind of disease when in fact the disorder may be just a specific feature of childhood characteristics of personality, which will be overcome later in adulthood. The point is that ADHD symptoms are too alike to simple specific characteristics of childhood behavior (Dulcan & Lake 2011). Those scientists that confirm that ADHD indeed is a kind of disorder have different points of view on the matter of its origins. The very first theory occurred concerned the presupposition that the disorder appears in those children who have genetic disposition to it (Brown 2003). Certain international studies on the matter ,conducted on twins, showed that ADHD often appears in the families where it has already been in previous generations ("What is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD, ADD)?" n.d.). However, the exact genes that cause the disorder havent been found yet. According to some neurological researches, “children with ADHD who carry a particular version of a certain gene have thinner brain tissue in the areas of the brain associated with attention” ("What is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD, ADD)?" n.d.). Moreover, the same researches pointed on the fact that the difference was not permanent and growing up the children with this gene had their brain developed enough to start functioning normally, so their symptoms of ADHD later vanished.  A research conducted by Kathryn Brown on the matter of heredity of ADHD has shown significant results and revealed that both heredity and environmental factors may be the core reasons for the disorder to appear. However, there must be a special combination of the factors for ADHD to be formed (2003). Some other studies point on environment as the most crucial factor in appearance of ADHD. Hence, alcohol usage and cigarette smoking or even passive smoking during pregnancy could lead to further appearance of the disorder in child ("What is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD, ADD)?" n.d.). Furthermore, a childs wrong nutrition may also lead to occurrence of ADHD. For instance, overconsumption of sugar and artificial preservatives might not only cause the symptoms of the disorder but also worsen the current condition of a child who has the ADHD (Faraone 2000). Multiple medical approaches are suggested for ADHD treatment. However, the most widespread treating approach is considered to be a combination of medical and psychotherapy kinds of treatment. Thus doctors first are supposed to observe a child suspected to have the disorder throughout 6 month in order to define a clear diagnosis with possible outcomes ("Facts About ADHD" n.d.). If the diagnosis is confirmed, doctors usually prescribe medical treatment and behavioral therapy, keeping observing the patients treating progress. Although the disorder requires complex treatment, the medication usually prescribed for ADHD patients causes multiple contradictions in scientific circles. “Ritalin”, which is a brand name of methylphenidate, is the most commonly prescribed medication in such cases. Methylphenidate is a kind of stimulant but not an amphetamine (“Ritalin: ADHD Medication FAQ” n.d.). Thus according to medical prescription information concerning “Ritalin”, it “has been approved for use in patients age 6 years and older for the treatment of ADHD. In some cases, it may be prescribed for children younger than age 6 who are diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder” (“Ritalin: ADHD Medication FAQ” n.d.). Still the medication is considered to be rather dangerous for childrens health and may even be harmful. The disorder causes multiple problems for children of school age, because their cognitive functions don’t work the way they are supposed to work. Hence, because of lack of emotional stability and concentration children don’t perceive a huge percentage of incoming information: they forget a lot of things and can’t comprehend a lot. The point is that they learn information totally differently than those children who don’t have ADD or ADHD. Some studies have revealed that ADHD children experience problems with executive functions, working memory, and speed information processing (Biederman et al. 2004). Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder is definitely one of the most mysterious neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood, as it causes a lot of problems for the parents with such children. The disorder is characterized by hyperactivity, lack of concentration and attention, and absent-mindedness. The most suitable treatment for the disorder must be conducted through both cognitive therapy and medical treatment. References Biederman, J., Monuteaux, M.C., Doyle, A.E., et al. (2004). Impact of executive function deficits and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on academic outcomes in children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72, 757-766. "What is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD, ADD)?". National Institute of Mental Health. Retrieved 17 April 2015 from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd/index.shtml "Facts About ADHD". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved 17 APril 2015 from http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/facts.html#1 Dulcan, MK; Lake, MB (2011). Concise Guide to Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (4th ed.). American Psychiatric Publishing. "Ritalin: ADHD Medication FAQ". Additude Magazine. Retrieved 17 April from http://www.additudemag.com/adhd-web/article/4996.html Faraone, S.V. (2000). "Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Adults: Implications for Theories of Diagnosis". Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9, 33-36. Brown, K. (2003). "New Attention to ADHD Genes". Science, 301, 160-161. Read More