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ADHD, or what's more commonly
referred to as simply ADD, is one of the most misunderstood and
misdiagnosed diseases in the world. The truth is, most people don't
understand ADD and wouldn't recognize a person with it if they saw one.
It is the hope of this article and the series to follow, to educate you
about ADD, what it is, how it's diagnosed, how it's treated and several
other topics that hopefully will aid in your awareness and
understanding of this disease.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder, ADHD or ADD, is a condition where the person with it is
unable to maintain attention for an extended period of time. Other
symptoms are impulsive behavior and motor restlessness. It is said that
about 4.4% of all adults have ADD.
ADD is what is classified as a
neurobiological disorder caused by problems in the dopamine
neurotransmitter systems in the brain. Most cases of ADD are inherited.
If a parent or close blood relative has ADD then there is a 30% chance
that a child will have ADD. In studies of twins it is shown that if one
twin has ADD there is a 50% chance that the other twin will also have
ADD. ADD is not caused by poor nutrition as it was once believed. It is
also not caused by bad parenting, drugs or allergies. Other medical
conditions may cause symptoms similar to ADD such as severe head
trauma, thyroid problems, foetal alcohol syndrome and lead
intoxication, so it is important to do a thorough analysis in order to
determine if the person has ADD and not one of these other problems.
What happens with ADD is that when a
person does not get adequate neuro-chemicals, or in other words, the
brain is not being properly stimulated, it tries to find ways to
increase their release. Things such as movement, physical activity,
focusing on things that are stimulating or doing anything that causes
stimulation are various ways that people with ADD stimulate their
brains. In a sense this is more a reflex to their not getting the
proper neuro-chemicals and not so much a conscious act, which is the
reason that people with ADD act in this way and really can't control
their actions.
The problems this action causes is
that people with ADD, when confronted with a situation that doesn't
stimulate them, such as school work, then focus their attention on
something that does stimulate them. Obviously when this happens the
school work is not attended to and this results in poor performance in
the classroom. An associate of mine related a story of this to me,
about a child who would get up in the middle of the class, stand on his
desk and start telling jokes. At first it was thought that he was just
trying to be funny and disrupt the class. As it turned out he actually
had ADD and couldn't help himself. This occurred during a time when
people really didn't understand this disease.
Other problems associated with
people who have ADD is that they have difficulty with personal
relationships and staying employed. Also people with ADD may do things
to stimulate themselves that are actually reckless and dangerous and
thus may further complicate their lives with legal problems.
In the next in this series we'll
discuss how to determine if someone has ADD and if diagnosed what steps
can be taken to treat it.
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Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Attention
Deficit Disorder
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Russell
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