What is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD, ADD)?
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood disorders and can continue through adolescence and adulthood. Symptoms include difficulty staying focused and paying attention, difficulty controlling behavior, and hyperactivity (over-activity). ADHD has three subtypes:
- Predominantly hyperactive-impulsive
- Most symptoms (six or more) are in the hyperactivity-impulsivity categories.
- Fewer than six symptoms of inattention are present, although inattention may still be present to some degree.
- Predominantly inattentive
- The majority of symptoms (six or more) are in the inattention category and fewer than six symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity are present, although hyperactivity-impulsivity may still be present to some degree.
- Children with this subtype are less likely to act out or have difficulties getting along with other children. They may sit quietly, but they are not paying attention to what they are doing. Therefore, the child may be overlooked, and parents and teachers may not notice that he or she has ADHD.
- Combined hyperactive-impulsive and inattentive
- Six or more symptoms of inattention and six or more symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity are present.
- Most children have the combined type of ADHD.
Causes
Scientists are not sure what causes ADHD, although many studies suggest that genes play a large role. Like many other illnesses, ADHD probably results from a combination of factors. In addition to genetics, researchers are looking at possible environmental factors, and are studying how brain injuries, nutrition, and the social environment might contribute to ADHD.
Genes. Results from several international studies of twins show that ADHD often runs in families. Researchers are looking at several genes that may make people more likely to develop the disorder. Knowing the genes involved may one day help researchers prevent the disorder before symptoms develop. Learning about specific genes could also lead to better treatments.
ADHD in Children who carry a particular version of a certain gene have thinner brain tissue in the areas of the brain associated with attention. This NIMH research showed that the difference was not permanent, however, and as children with this gene grew up, the brain developed to a normal level of thickness. Their ADHD symptoms also improved.
Environmental factors. Studies suggest a potential link between cigarette smoking and alcohol use during pregnancy and ADHD in Children. In addition, preschoolers who are exposed to high levels of lead, which can sometimes be found in plumbing fixtures or paint in old buildings, may have a higher risk of developing ADHD.
Brain injuries. Children who have suffered a brain injury may show some behaviors similar to those of ADHD. However, only a small percentage of children with ADHD have suffered a traumatic brain injury.
Sugar. The idea that refined sugar causes ADHD or makes symptoms worse is popular, but more research discounts this theory than supports it. In one study, researchers gave children foods containing either sugar or a sugar substitute every other day. The children who received sugar showed no different behavior or learning capabilities than those who received the sugar substitute. Another study in which children were given higher than average amounts of sugar or sugar substitutes showed similar results.
In another study, children who were considered sugar-sensitive by their mothers were given the sugar substitute aspartame, also known as Nutrasweet. Although all the children got aspartame, half their mothers were told their children were given sugar, and the other half were told their children were given aspartame. The mothers who thought their children had gotten sugar rated them as more hyperactive than the other children and were more critical of their behavior, compared to mothers who thought their children received aspartame.
Food additives. Recent British research indicates a possible link between consumption of certain food additives like artificial colors or preservatives, and an increase in activity. Research is under way to confirm the findings and to learn more about how food additives may affect hyperactivity.
One of the problems that affect us humans is a state of mind referred to as depression.Exactly what is depression?Why do we suddenly find ourselves stuck in a sea of inertia, unable to think positively, unable to hold on to positive thoughts, frozen in a zombie like state of inactivity?Get major depressive disorder treatments from panaceapgx, even experts disagree on the core causes of depression and the methods of treatment.
Should they be palliative or something more uncompromising?This is of course no help to us if we are immersed in the thickening fog of a bout of depression.If we ever find ourselves in a state of depression we must find and build from within the strength, the motivation, the wish and the will to conquer this debilitating mind set.First of all we have to accept that we alone allowed ourselves to drift into this parlous way of thinking.The trigger could have been any one of a million reasons and may well have been an external event over which we had no control, however the antidote has to be found within us and is under our control.The first thing we need to understand is that we are not alone.Read the newspapers and watch TV and over and over again there are accounts of people we would probably regard as ’having everything’ checking themselves into this or that clinic for help with some problem or other.What for one person may be simply a mild set back can for another become the trigger which then sets off the internal self defeating process of the ‘poor me’ syndrome.Why is it that a situation which is a mild irritation for one person can lead another to almost suicidal tendencies?The answer is because we are all different in some way.A visit to one of the many web sites offering behavioural profiling services will help you to identify your personal style as a first step to better understanding yourselfOnce you understand why you react the way you do to certain situations you may then set about arranging your life so as to avoid those situations in the future or at least be better prepared to handle them when they do confront you.Understanding yourself and why you react the way you do to situations with which you are faced is a prime initial requisite for self help with depression.
If you need, you can take severe depression treatment from best healthcare .Learning, understanding and accepting that we can control what we allow to be accepted as fact by our brain is the next step.
Generally speaking nothing is ever so bad or, as good as it may at first appear.What is important is to understand that it is possible for us to move to a position where we take preventative steps to ensure that we stay clear of infectious negative thoughts in the future.Negative thoughts are the seed pearls of depression.
These negative thoughts and internal video recordings of past failure and disappointment clog up our brain.
They lay there dormant just waiting for the right set of circumstances to explode into action and cloud our thinking.The late Dr. Hall, a clinical psychologist of international renown devoted his life to helping people understand who they were and then encouraging them to take the necessary steps to become who they really wanted to be.Doctor George Hall discovered that it is possible to install a brain filter which stops negatives from being accepted by the brain.
