Attention Deficit Disorder Association Website
The Attention Deficit Disorder Association has announced the launch of its new website. For those of us who have or know someone who has Attention Deficit Disorder, this website can provide useful information. Sometime called Hyperactivity, ADD is experienced by virtually everyone at one time or another in their lives. But a strict diagnosis arises when the behavior affects multiple areas of a person's life.
The Mayo Clinic defines Attention Deficit Disorder as:
...a chronic condition that affects millions of children and often persists into adulthood. Problems associated with ADHD include inattention and hyperactive, impulsive behavior. Children with ADHD may struggle with low self-esteem, troubled relationships and poor performance in school.
While treatment won't cure ADHD, it can help a great deal with symptoms. Treatment typically involves psychological counseling, medications or both.
A diagnosis of ADHD can be scary, and symptoms can be a challenge for parents and children alike. However, treatment can make a big difference, and the majority of children with ADHD grow up to be vibrant, active and successful adults.
Signs and symptoms include:
- Often fails to pay close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork or other activities
- Often has trouble sustaining attention during tasks or play
- Seems not to listen even when spoken to directly
- Has difficulty following through on instructions and often fails to finish schoolwork, chores or other tasks
- Often has problems organizing tasks or activities
- Avoids or dislikes tasks that require sustained mental effort, such as schoolwork or homework
- Frequently loses needed items, such as books, pencils, toys or tools
- Can be easily distracted
- Often forgetful
Signs and symptoms of hyperactive and impulsive behavior may include:
- Fidgets or squirms frequently
- Often leaves his or her seat in the classroom or in other situations when remaining seated is expected
- Often runs or climbs excessively when it's not appropriate or, if an adolescent, might constantly feel restless
- Frequently has difficulty playing quietly
- Always seems on the go
- Talks excessively
- Blurts out the answers before questions have been completely asked
- Frequently has difficulty waiting for his or her turn
- Often interrupts or intrudes on others' conversations or games
Brain Changes
While the exact cause of ADHD remains a mystery, it increasingly appears that structural changes in the brain are linked to the disorder. Here are several factors that may play a role in developing ADHD:
- Altered brain function and anatomy. Brain scans have revealed important differences in the structure and brain activity of people with ADHD. For example, people with ADHD appear to have less activity in the area of the brain that controls attention than people who don't have ADHD.
- Inherited traits. ADHD can run in families.
- Maternal smoking, drug use and exposure to toxins. Pregnant women who smoke, drink alcohol or use drugs are at increased risk of having children with ADHD. Likewise, women exposed to environmental poisons during pregnancy — such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) — may be more likely to have children with symptoms of ADHD.
- Childhood exposure to environmental toxins. Preschool children exposed to certain toxins are at increased risk of developmental and behavioral problems. Exposure to lead, which is found mainly in paint and pipes in older buildings, has been linked to disruptive and even violent behavior and to a short attention span
Check out the new website. Click here to view a state by state and city by city Adult AD/HD Support Group list.
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A brain-imaging study conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory provides the first definitive evidence that patients suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have lower-than-normal levels of certain proteins essential for experiencing reward and motivation.
