With the extensive publicity in the medical and psychological communities in recent years, as well as the attention paid by the educational community, I believe the public is not unfamiliar with the term ADHD. In everyday social life, some people often label children who are disobedient, active, and naughty as ADHD, bringing varying degrees of psychological burden to both the child and their parents; however, a significant number of people mistake children who actually have ADHD as naughty. ADHD often develops before school age, and if not treated promptly, a significant proportion of children will have the condition for life. Therefore, a proper understanding of ADHD is necessary. Ling Shoei Ang, Psychiatry, Workshop
In fact, ADHD is the abbreviation for hyperactivity syndrome in children, which is a medical term in psychiatry. This syndrome is mainly due to the fact that children’s attention is easily distracted, easily disturbed by the outside world, their ability to pay attention to things around them is reduced, and they show excessive activity regardless of the occasion, emotional instability, impulsive behavior, and learning difficulties. It is also referred to as attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder. The prevalence of ADHD in school-aged children is reported to be 3% to 5% in the United States, and the prevalence of ADHD in school-aged children is reported to be 1.3% to 13.4% in China.
ADHD is characterized by three main areas.
Difficulty in concentration D Attention is easily distracted by the surrounding environment and attention to things is short-lived. For example, they cannot pay attention to what they are reading, they cannot pay attention in class, they cannot write down the homework assigned by the teacher completely, they lose their homework, and they cannot even concentrate on the game or toy they are playing.
Hyperactivity – Hyperactivity is characterized by excessive motor energy, such as chattering, interrupting, making small movements in class, scribbling in books, not being able to sit quietly, twisting and turning on the chair, always touching things that can be touched by the hands, liking to provoke others, often arguing or fighting with partners, constantly moving around, interfering with adult activities, and having difficulty even going to bed.
Impulsive and capricious – Children with ADHD often overreact to unpleasant stimuli due to a lack of self-control, to the point of suddenly destroying objects or hurting others. They are emotionally unstable, shouting or cajoling suddenly regardless of the occasion, impatient, and in a hurry to do anything. They behave without thinking and are reckless, such as kicking a ball on the road and ignoring cars when they come.
Most of these children have normal or near normal intelligence, but because they have these symptoms, they have great difficulty in learning.
Of course, every child will occasionally exhibit behavior similar to the above symptoms, so when a child exhibits the above signs, compare him/her with children in the same age group to see if his/her behavior is beyond the usual behavior of children in this age group to distinguish whether he/she is willful and mischievous or has ADHD. It is also important to see if he/she has the same problems in different environments and if his/her symptoms are equally prominent at different times of the day. If these signs are prominent and persist for more than 6 months, he/she may have ADHD.
What are the types of ADHD in children?
ADHD in children is a very complex disorder and individuals with ADHD may have very different symptoms from one another, however, we can classify ADHD into the following three types.
Attention deficit type: This type of ADHD is particularly distractible, with difficulty concentrating more prominently, but hyperactivity or impulsive capriciousness is less pronounced. In fact, most people with this type of ADHD may not have symptoms of hyperactivity at all. This type is almost exclusively found in girls. Patients with this type daydream a lot.
Hyperactivity-impulsivity: In this type of ADHD, hyperactivity and impulsive behavior are very prominent, while the attention deficit is less pronounced, or there are no symptoms of attention deficit disorder at all. This type is found almost exclusively in younger children.
Mixed type: Patients with this type show very pronounced attentional difficulties, easy distraction, hyperactivity, and impulsive behavior. Most people with ADHD fall into this category.
Can other disorders also cause ADHD-like symptoms?
Many disorders can cause ADHD-like symptoms. For example, disorders that cause breathing difficulties (allergies, asthma, respiratory problems, etc.) can interfere with a child’s ability to concentrate and cause ADHD-like symptoms. Other conditions such as diabetes/hypoglycemia, audiovisual disorders, iron deficiency anemia, thyroid problems, lead poisoning, drug side effects, psychiatric/neurological disorders, school or academic problems can affect children’s attention, mood and behavior, and even their memory. Therefore, it is important to take your child to the doctor with a detailed medical history so that the doctor can exclude these disorders and make the correct diagnosis of ADHD.
What are the causes of ADHD?
Unfortunately, the cause of these disorders is not well understood. Past theories have suggested that ADHD is caused by factors including poisoning, birth trauma, too many sweets, food allergies, and brain injury. While these theories can explain the cause of ADHD in some patients, they do not explain it in most patients.
Today’s research has found that people with ADHD have deficiencies in certain biochemicals in the brain that transmit neurological information functions, which prevent them from focusing and controlling their thinking properly, and that medication can change this. In addition, modern imaging has revealed that the cortical aspects of the brain are different in people with ADHD than in normal people.
Research has confirmed that ADHD does have a genetic component. This means that a child with ADHD may be related to a close relative who has the disorder, but it does not mean that if one parent has ADHD, his/her children will necessarily have ADHD. Even if you have ADHD, it is not your fault if your child also has ADHD.
What are the effects of ADHD?
Due to attention deficit and hyperactivity, or impulsive behavior, a child with ADHD is often unable to pay attention in class; often fails to complete homework assignments; has difficulty establishing friendships due to impatient and discordant behavior with peers; cannot remember tasks given by parents at home; and often causes problems. As a result, they often attract criticism from teachers and parents and are not accepted by their peers. Such a child seems to be a constant troublemaker and is perceived by his/her family as a troublemaker, often labeled as a “bad kid” at school, unable to make friends, and often teased by peers. These facts may make these children feel very isolated and they may mistakenly believe that they are a bad child, which can further lead to low self-esteem, low self-confidence, discouragement, frustration, and brokenness. Available research shows that individuals with ADHD are more likely to have learning disabilities, conduct problems and oppositional behavior.
How can I finish school if I can’t focus on my studies? How can you build good friendships as a teenager if you can’t adjust your emotions to fit your social needs? As a result, their future social pathways will be a major concern throughout their lives.
In addition, the impact on parents of children with ADHD is multifaceted. First of all, parents have to spend a lot of time to take care of such children, and spend all day around the child, cleaning up the child’s mess, which seriously affects their normal work and life, and they do not have more time to socialize. The child is always getting themselves into trouble at school and outside of school and has a distinct sense of loss and lack of accomplishment. Sometimes you may think that your child’s ADHD is caused by your own poor discipline, that you are a bad parent, and that other parents or teachers may think you are not a good parent. But don’t think that about yourself. You are actually doing everything you can to be a good parent.