Hyperactivity Disorder - Report Example

Hyperactivity disorder Introduction This paper look at attention deficit hyperactivity disorder also known as attention deficit disorder. It is common among children but it is also diagnosed with adults. It is a condition that mainly affecters individuals behavior. There may also be problems with the adult’s psychological, social and intellectual development as a result of the behavior. Some of the symptoms of the disorder include inattention and restlessness. Diagnosis can only be given after thorough assessment of the patient by a specialized doctor. In treatment, diet may be looked at and sometimes training specifically parental training with children. In exploring the disorder I choose three websites that offer some help and they are patient.co.uk, NHS choices and NIH (national institute of mental health). NIH describes it as a term used to describe a group of behaviors that most often appear in young, school-aged children. It describes it as brain disorder that starts from childhood and continue all the way to adulthood. As per the website the child will have problem in staying focused and finding difficulties in being patient. Some become hyperactive (Sandy, 2011). Level of inattention of children with this disorder is higher compared to other children at the same level. It makes it very difficult for a child to behave well or be patient both at school and in public places. It describes it as being developed by both children and adults. According to NIH no one knows the exact cause of ADHD. It describes it as being caused by the interaction between genes and environment or even non genetic factors. NIH further describes it as disorders that are often common with families. It postulates that research have found genes as the main risk factors with the disorder. As per the website the genes plays a central role in the disorder and that every gene have the part it is playing with regard to the disorder. According to NIH the diagnostic solution that is a product of genes has not yet been found (NHS, 2014). According to NIH website smoking or drinking during the pregnancy increases the chances of a child suffering the disorder this is however a non genetic cause. Very low birth weight or other related birth complication is the other non genetic cause. It also describes exposure to toxic substance like lead as the other cause. Children should also be protected from abuse or other social deprivation or else they run the risk of suffering the disorder. The website describes lastly food additives as the non genetic factor that can make hyperactivity worse. According to NIH ADHD makes life very challenging for adults (NHS, 2014). It makes it a problem for them to feel organized get patient on job or accomplish a task on time. Adults with the disorder also encounter difficulties in relationship according to NIH. The disorder also makes adults feel restless. In adults according to the website it can be curable. In fact it sees discovery of the diseases as a major relief to the adults. Learning to attach the disorder to lifetime problems helps them understand that they can get better. The site advice adults to call doctor at the point that they discover they are suffering from the disorder. The website gives medication therapy and medication and therapy combined as the solution to the problem. The common medication is stimulants. It helps one stay focused and remains calm. Behavioral therapy helps one control behavior. Many people and children do very well with both medication and therapy. NHS choices describe Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as a group of behavioral symptoms that include inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. Attention deficit disorder (ADD) is a sub-type of ADHD (NHS, 2014). According to the website ADHD can affect people of any intellectual ability, moreover people with the disorder have learning difficulties. They may also have sleeping disorders. NHS choices said that there may be difference in brain activities in people with disorder. It however site family as the main cause. It describes that people with the disorder have their brains functioning less compared with people without (NHS, 2014). As per the website it has no cure, but that treatment can alleviate the situation and reduce it to less of a problem. It describes combination of medication and therapy as the best option. It also suggests parent training and education program as good to children because it helps a parent to learn playing and working with them to improve their attention and behavior. The website suggests parent training should come first before a child is diagnosed with ADHD. These programs are very good because it educate carers on behavior management. The website site visiting as the first step towards treatment, then the question most commonly asked is the symptoms and when it started plus the place it started. Other commonly asked questions are how the symptoms affect the quality of one’s life and whether there have been any changes in the family such as death. Diagnosis in adults according to NHS choices According to NHS it is very difficult to diagnose adults because there are no symptoms that can be specifically linked to the condition of the adult that have the disorder (NHS, 2014). If there is referral to a specialist by GP, they will want to know about individuals present symptoms. But under the current guidelines an individual’s conditions cannot be confirmed unless the symptoms have been present from childhood. In order to help specialist they will seek for information from you to know whether you had the symptoms at childhood and whether they were present at that time. If one does not remember the specialist will want to see your childhood school records and can also call your parents or teacher to ask or rather inquire into your childhood to know whether you were diagnosed with the condition or whether you had the symptoms. For an adult to qualify diagnosis according to NHS choice their symptoms should be the cause of certain impairment in different areas in their lives. The impairment could be someone driving irresponsibly at dangerously high speed; if an individual is also performing below expectation both at work and in any other task. One could be having a symptom also if they can’t keep friendship or maintain relationship and finally if one cannot perform daily chores such as shopping due to difficulty. Patient.co.uk defines ADHD as a state of inattention that persist and it tends to be more serious and frequent than is observable in an individual at different level of development. The symptoms according to patient.co.uk should at least have a link with social, psychological or educational impairment based on observations or interview. It should also be occurring in more than one setting that includes familial social or educational setting. To manage it according to patient.co.uk, an individual have to be referred to a specialist for confirmation of diagnosis and subsequent start of management. One can be referred to a pediatrician or an adult psychiatrist depending on how old the person is. Adults suspected of having ADHD and adults with continuing ADHD from childhood should be referred to a psychiatrist according to patient .co.uk. Adult according to the website can be referred to a specialist if symptoms started when you were a child and you have never been attended to and also if your symptoms was not a result of a similar health condition. It can also be referred to a specialist if the symptoms are causing severe impairment. As per patient.co.uk drug treatment should be part of program of treatment. At the initiation of the therapy the site recommends that Pulse, blood pressure, psychiatric symptoms, appetite, weight and height should be recorded and subsequent adjustments. As to whether the treatment should continue or not this should be reviewed annually. Patient.co.uk cited The Tenth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10). The reference to the findings was consistent and almost everything was consistent with the findings of (ICD-10). Only it differs in some part especially (ICD-10) gave 18 symptoms of the disorder but patient.co.uk were much fewer. It refers that the disorder causes low self esteem and therefore forcing an individual to resort to antisocial activities. The treatment as per the (ICD-10) should be first to educate the family and the patient and then followed by the management of the condition. The European ADHD prefers medication as the first resort then followed by behavioral training. Patient.co.uk also cited National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) quoting that they advised medication is better treatment for ADHD (National institute of mental health, 2014). NIH site Medline plus as their partners. The definition by the two is the same. Family doctors.org wrote that individuals with this disorder find difficulties in organizing things or taking instructions. They can’t also control their behaviors or remember some of the details. Because of this according to doctors.org this kind of people will find it very hard to get along with other individuals whether at home, workplace or school. This definition and description is quite synonymous with NIH definition and citing it was even more relevant and in order. This research cited was well age reed with by the NIH (National institute of mental health, 2014). The symptoms they sited are all the same with the ones sited by Medline plus. The same symptoms cited are lack of attention and frequent loose of concentration. The adults always are much disorganized and they can’t hold on to a job for any longer time and they are the same found by Medline research. The website also recommends the same diagnosis as that recommended by the Medline research. There should be behavioral characteristic training and medication should also not be ruled out. From what we have learned in class this hyperactivity disorder is the most commonly studied childhood disorder in the United States. In the 1940s here was similarity between the children with ADHD and those suffering from documented brain problem. In the research spearheaded by Douglas they focus on attentional deficit and impulse control problem. The primary symptoms then identified were over activity, inattention and impulsivity. Some children in the past were treated with the three symptoms while some had only part of the symptoms. Those that were impulsive and inattentive were treated as having ADD without hyperactivity while those with the three symptoms were treated as having the ADD with hyperactivity. According to Russell A. Barkley the symptoms of children with disorder are that they are not able to restrict their behaviors to situational demands unlike other children who are of the same age and level. The study in class suggests that different studies have different measures of how these primary symptoms differ. It describes that the construct of this symptoms are not unitary but multidimensional. There are different types of inattention, impulsivity and over activity and there are different ways to measure them and they can’t of course give the same results. Many of these researchers however have not shown a clear difference between the normal children and ADHD (National institute of mental health, 2014). According to Russell A. Barkley there has never been a very important distinction between ADHD and other disorders. The websites however does not highlight most of this findings especially it dint describe the associated cognitive impairments, and this is a case whereby children with ADHD demonstrate deficiencies in many other capabilities. There are also related characteristic not highlighted in the websites especially the fact that children with ADHD experience a number of educational physical and emotional in addition to their primary problems (National institute of mental health, 2014). Such children have deficit in general intelligence, language development, depression and anxiety, poor peer acceptance and more minor physical anomalies. Conclusion It was also learnt that behavior modification is good for treatment of ADHD together with combination with stimulant medication. The empirically supported evidence for treatment is parental training and classroom interventions. Academic modifications and social skills training are some of the methods that can be considered for the support of the victims of the disorder. However the existing research recommends the combined behavioral-pharmacological treatment as the most appropriate for treating and normalizing child behaviors. In treatment all interventions should first be identified and then obtain a better understanding of factors that predict treatment response. References Russell Barkley. (2010). Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Adults. New York: Jones & Bartlett Publishers Kendall, P. C., Compton, S. N., Walkup, J. T., Birmaher, B., Albano, A. M., Sherrill, J., Ginsburg, G. Piacentini, J. (2010). Clinical characteristics of anxiety disordered youth. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 24, 3, 360-5. Chronis, A. M., Jones, H. A., & Raggi, V. L. (2006). Evidence-based psychosocial treatments for children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Clinical Psychology Review, 26, 4, 486-502. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) – Symptoms. NHS. Accessed on 4/24/2014 from http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder/Pages/Symptoms.aspx Sandy, H. (2011). Helping the Teenager With A.D.H.D. The New York Times. Accessed on 4/24/2014 from http://consults.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/16/helping-the-teenager-with-a-d-h-d/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 What is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD, ADD)? National institute of mental health. Accessed on 4/24/2014 from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd/index.shtml Read More