Childhood ADHD, also known as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is a common category of childhood behavior problems. The main manifestations of the disorder are: behavior disorder with predominantly hyperactive restlessness, attention deficit, easily distracted, easily irritated, impulsive, and fidgety. At present, the diagnosis of the disorder is mainly clinical, i.e., based on a detailed and correct medical history, including information obtained from parents, teachers and other relatives, combined with the results of physical and mental status examinations. The clinical features of tic disorder are sudden, rapid, involuntary, and repeated contraction movements of muscles or certain muscle groups in a certain part of the body, such as blinking, forehead wrinkling, mouth tilting, head shaking, shoulder shrugging, or limb movement twitching, which are usually accompanied by vocal twitching, mood disorders, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, or behavioral changes such as inattentiveness and hyperactivity. The etiology and pathogenesis of these two common childhood disorders are not fully understood, and early treatment and intervention are important for their prognosis. Readers can learn about them through the following two fairy tales.
Fairy tale I. Presentation and management of major deficit hyperactivity disorder in children
On another planet far from the solar system, the planet Green Rong, there are trees and fresh air everywhere. Its star, Giant Tongxing, looks like a big red ball of fire, hanging high in the blue sky. Many inhabitants of the planet Green Rong are similar to Earth creatures, such as elephants, foxes, rabbits, cats, dogs, peacocks, etc. …… The difference is that there are no humans there, and the animals walk upright and have the same intelligence as people on Earth. They live in harmony, there is no war. Like earthlings, they are sometimes afflicted by diseases, including mental illness.
The EE cat psychiatrist and the VV rabbit nurse carry large bags of “student mental and behavioral health questionnaires” on their backs and get into the transparent forest walker, the bubble machine. EE Cat is clearly an expert at driving this machine, which floats nimbly like a giant bubble ……
The bubble machine floated to a sky-blue round building surrounded by tall, upright chestnut trees, with a pink gate and five big, shiny golden letters on it: “Golden Monkey Primary School”.
”Here we are, it’s beautiful!” VV Rabbit couldn’t help but shout out.
EE Cat pulled out a stack of questionnaires from a large bag, put them neatly into a folder, tucked the folder under his armpit, and took VV Rabbit with him, striding towards the school’s front door.
”Hey, hey! Who are you looking for?” An old monkey with long dark golden hair jumped out of the communication room next to the school gate.
”Old man, we’re here for the student psychological survey, looking for the principal.” EE Cat replied politely.
The old monkey rolled his eyes and said in a lively voice, “Looking for the principal? Our principal, Sun Wukong, is not someone you can just find! Come, first make a phone call to contact.” With that, the old golden monkey grabbed the phone and dialed a few numbers, “Principal Sun, there are two doctors here to contact work ……”
In Principal Sun Wukong’s spacious office, EE Cat and VV Rabbit explained their intentions and received enthusiastic support from Principal Sun: “You’ve come to the right place! There are several students in my school who happen to need psychological counseling ……”
Then, Principal Sun introduced the two doctors, EE Cat and VV Rabbit, to the situation of the little monkey Pippy.
Pippy had been particularly active and mischievous since he was a child. After he entered school, he did not pay attention in class! He would pinch the ears of his female classmates sitting in front of him, then walk to the back of the classroom and twist his butt, and even if he could sit in his seat, he kept playing with pencils and drawing little people. When class was over, Pippi was like a loose pony, running around the playground, stringing up and down on the swings, and sometimes fighting with his classmates. When Pippi did his homework at home, he played with it while doing it, drank water at one time and went to the toilet at another time, and did his homework sloppily, carelessly, and often wrote some words backwards. Pippi is also more active than other children, sometimes overly noisy, often loses things, has a temper, is emotionally unstable, and can’t improve his academic performance. Pippi’s mother often said, “I would rather have ten obedient little monkeys than one Pippi!”
After hearing the principal’s introduction, EE Cat and VV Rabbit looked at each other and smiled.
EE Cat jumped up to the podium in the principal’s office, wrote on the blackboard a line in regular script: “Childhood ADHD”, and lectured with his waist crossed in a lively manner.
”What is ‘childhood hyperactivity disorder’? The medical term is ‘attention deficit hyperactivity disorder’. The main manifestations are-“
EE Cat turned around, pinched the chalk with two fingertips, and wrote on the blackboard: ① attention deficit; ② excessive activity; ③ impulsivity; ④ poor academic performance; ⑤ delayed neurodevelopment: clumsy fine motor, etc.
After writing, the EE cat yelled out, “Meow-! Attention-!”
”If left untreated, the ill effects of children with ADHD when they grow up may be: ① adult attention deficit syndrome; ② antisocial personality; ③ alcohol or drug addiction; ④ schizophrenia-like disorder.” EE Cat’s eyes were closed and he spoke spitefully, and Principal Sun Wukong listened with his head nodding like a chicken pecking rice.
At EE Cat’s suggestion, Pippi’s mother took him to the hospital’s psychiatric department for diagnosis and treatment. After a combination of medication and psychological treatment, Pippi took a drug called “focus up”, and under the guidance of the doctor to carry out behavioral training, it was like a new person, class concentration, homework carefully, grades improved. Pippi’s mother said, “ADHD in children really needs to be treated early!”
Fairy Tale 2: Manifestations and Treatment of Tourette’s Disorder
A month later, EE cat and VV rabbit once again set off in the bubble machine ……
The bubble machine gently flew across the beautiful green starry sky, and looking down from the plane, the city looked like a big green carpet dotted with colorful gems. VV rabbit wagged his long ears and looked in the direction EE cat pointed, only to see a small orange bright spot by the river that looked like an orchid ribbon.
”Is that the Kirikou Ou Ou Elementary School? Go, go, go!” VV Rabbit yelled excitedly!
The bubble machine gently stopped in front of the castle-like orange building, and this time EE Cat and VV Rabbit quickly got the support and cooperation of Kirikou Oooh Oooh Elementary School, and the chicks quickly filled out the survey form.
EE Cat and VV Rabbit went to the office of the school’s head teacher and began to carefully review one form when suddenly –
”Whoo!” “Whoo!” With a short throaty sound, a beautiful little rooster jumped in. It was followed by a big, tall and strong rooster, who was holding a thick stick with two wings and cursing: “I told you to walk and talk nicely, but you didn’t listen. With that, the big rooster raised the stick high and looked like it was about to fall on the little rooster ……
EE Cat shouted, “Stop!” A step up and grabbed the stick in the hands of the big rooster.
The little rooster’s class teacher, Miss Rooster, then flew into the office: “EE doctor, please be sure to help our class’s Xiaojun take a look, he often blinks involuntarily, shakes his head, and sometimes shrugs his wings ‘ooh! ‘ ‘Whoo! He often blinks his eyes, shakes his head, and sometimes shrugs his wings to scream. At first, like his parents, I thought he was intentionally naughty, but no matter how much criticism helped, he just couldn’t change these bad habits, do you have an idea?”
EE Cat examined the rooster carefully, stroked his beard, and said pleasantly to the father and the teacher, “The rooster is probably suffering from Tourette’s Syndrome, but further tests are needed to make a clear diagnosis. Tic disorder is a common psychological disorder in children, manifested as rapid, involuntary twitching of certain muscle groups; facial muscle twitching is the most common, such as: involuntary blinking, nose, nuzzling, nodding, shaking head, etc., but also shrugging shoulders, lifting hands, jumping feet, and even more complex movements; some children are also accompanied by vocal twitching, such as: throat clearing, coughing, and even cursing sounds.”
”Oh, so that’s it.” Miss Duck and Big Rooster said in unison.
EE Cat told Rooster Daddy to take Jun to the psychological center for a checkup as soon as possible, and Rooster Daddy said, “Thank you, Doctor, thank you, Doctor!” Then, using his big wings to protect the still ‘ooh! ‘ ‘Whoo! The rooster, who was still screaming and jumping three steps, left the office.
EE Cat and VV Rabbit exchanged glances, both of them with a worried look in their eyes.
VV rabbit wagged his long ears: “EE doctor, our people’s mental health knowledge is still very lacking, it seems that our work is a long way to go!”
The next day, the rooster father and son came to the psychiatric department of the brain hospital.
After blood tests, ruled out the possibility of rheumatism; and through the EEG examination ruled out epilepsy, EE cat confirmed that the little rooster suffering from tics, behind the ears of a drug patch called “colistin” treatment, jumping and screaming symptoms disappeared.
Three weeks later, a healthy little Jun, accompanied by his mom and dad, went to Dr. EE Cat for a follow-up visit. EE Cat touched his beard and jokingly said, “Little Jun, where is your dad’s stick?” Everyone laughed.