What is the true meaning of A.D.H.D?

Question

who gets it?
why do they have it?

Answer 1

Dispelling the Myths of ADHD

By David Freeman, provided by ADDitude for iVillage

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Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a medical condition that affects more than 15 million Americans. Its symptoms -- including distractibility, impulsivity and hyperactivity -- can seriously interfere with a person's ability to function from day to day. With the right support and treatment, children and adults with ADHD often lead successful lives.

Plenty of ADHD naysayers, however, don't recognize the condition. Become an activist and the next time you encounter a skeptic, provide him or her with some fast facts. Below is the truth about ADHD -- use it to dispel common myths and misconceptions.

ADHD is a real medical disorder.


It has been recognized as a legitimate diagnosis by major medical, psychological and educational organizations, including the National Institutes of Health, the American Psychiatric Society and the U.S. Department of Education.

ADHD is biologically based. Research shows that it's the result of an imbalance of chemical messengers, or neurotransmitters, within the brain. Its primary symptoms are inattention, impulsiveness and, sometimes, hyperactivity. People with ADHD have a great deal of difficulty with some aspects of daily life, including time management and organization.

Accommodations for students with ADHD are meant to level the playing field.



The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that public schools address the special needs of all children with disabilities, including children with ADHD. Special accommodations, such as extra time on tests, simply level the playing field so that kids with ADHD can learn as successfully as their non-ADHD classmates.

ADHD often persists through adulthood.



More than 70 percent of individuals who have the condition in childhood continue to have it in adolescence. Up to 50 percent will continue to have it through adulthood.

Although it's been estimated that as much as 6 percent of the adult population has ADHD, the majority of those adults remain undiagnosed, and only one in four seeks treatment. Without help, adults with ADHD are highly vulnerable to depression, anxiety and substance abuse. They often experience career difficulties, legal and financial problems and troubled personal relationships.

ADHD affects boys and girls equally.



Girls are just as likely to have ADHD as boys are, and gender makes no difference in the symptoms caused by the disorder. But because the myth persists that ADHD affects only boys, they are more likely than girls to be diagnosed with the disorder.

ADHD is a matter of brain chemistry, not bad parenting.



When a child with ADHD blurts out comments or gets out of her seat in class, it's not because she hasn't been taught that these behaviors are inappropriate. It's because she can't control her impulses. The problem is rooted in brain chemistry, not discipline. In fact, overly strict parenting -- which may involve punishing a child for things she can't control -- can sometimes make ADHD symptoms worse.

Being treated for ADHD decreases the likelihood that a child will abuse drugs as a teenager.



Having untreated ADHD increases the risk that an individual will abuse drugs or alcohol. Appropriate treatment reduces this risk.

The medications used to treat ADHD have been proven safe and effective for more than 50 years of use. The drugs do not turn kids into addicts or "zombies," and they don't cure ADHD, but they are highly effective at relieving symptoms of the disorder.

ADHDers can be highly successful.



People with the condition are generally of above-average intelligence, recent studies show. In fact, a number of well-known, high-achieving individuals from the past are thought to have had ADHD, including Mozart, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, George Bernard Shaw and Salvador Dali. The list of successful ADHDers in business today includes top executives such as David Neeleman, founder of JetBlue Airways, and Paul Orfalea, founder of Kinko's.

Aside from being a myth buster, there's plenty more that you can do to spread ADHD awareness. Write a letter to the editor or an op-ed piece for your local newspaper, lobby your library to carry and display leading ADHD books, or work with the PTA at your child's school to create an educational workshop about the condition.

My opinion:

My godson is 14 years old and has been diagnosed with ADHD since he was 7. There are people who think its a bunch of bull, but I have seen what a child who has ADHD really goes through, and with my godson, his school work suffers. He is a bright kid, who knows his work, but with the tiniest distraction, he loses his focus on his school work.

Answer 2

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a condition that becomes apparent in some children in the preschool and early school years. It is hard for these children to control their behavior and/or pay attention. It is estimated that between 3 and 5 percent of children have ADHD, or approximately 2 million children in the United States. This means that in a classroom of 25 to 30 children, it is likely that at least one will have ADHD.

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According to the most recent version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders2 (DSM-IV-TR), there are three patterns of behavior that indicate ADHD. People with ADHD may show several signs of being consistently inattentive. They may have a pattern of being hyperactive and impulsive far more than others of their age. Or they may show all three types of behavior. This means that there are three subtypes of ADHD recognized by professionals. These are the predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type (that does not show significant inattention); the predominantly inattentive type (that does not show significant hyperactive-impulsive behavior) sometimes called ADD—an outdated term for this entire disorder; and the combined type (that displays both inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive symptoms).

Is It Really ADHD?
Not everyone who is overly hyperactive, inattentive, or impulsive has ADHD. Since most people sometimes blurt out things they didn't mean to say, or jump from one task to another, or become disorganized and forgetful, how can specialists tell if the problem is ADHD?

Because everyone shows some of these behaviors at times, the diagnosis requires that such behavior be demonstrated to a degree that is inappropriate for the person's age. The diagnostic guidelines also contain specific requirements for determining when the symptoms indicate ADHD. The behaviors must appear early in life, before age 7, and continue for at least 6 months. Above all, the behaviors must create a real handicap in at least two areas of a person's life such as in the schoolroom, on the playground, at home, in the community, or in social settings. So someone who shows some symptoms but whose schoolwork or friendships are not impaired by these behaviors would not be diagnosed with ADHD. Nor would a child who seems overly active on the playground but functions well elsewhere receive an ADHD diagnosis.

Answer 3

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

People don't "get" ADHD. It is a lifelong condition that they are born with and die with.

They have it because of a chemical imbalance in the brain. The human brain naturally produces a neurotransmitter that controls attention, memory, and energy. People with ADHD do not make enough of this neurotransmitter in their brains.

This problem can be corrected by taking Ritalin, a stimulant that is only avaliable by prescription. When a person takes Ritalin, it acts in a similar way to this particular neurotransmitter, and so it makes up for the chemical imbalance.

Don't listen to the people who say that ADHD is fake or made up or an excuse for kids who don't behave. Yes, there are some kids on Ritalin who were misdiagnosed and shouldn't be on it, but that in no way undermines the existence of this disorder or the effectivness of Ritalin for people who truly do have ADHD.

Answer 4

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Answer 5

ADHD is a genetic disorder....it's basically an underdevelopment of the brain's frontal lobe. The result is a learning disability that usually doesn't wind up becoming detectable until a child reaches 7 or 8 years old....usually, but not always, males. It's milder relative, ADD (which is the same disorder WITHOUT the hyperactivity) is even harder to detect, and frequently stays undiagnosed until one's an adult.
Those who suffer it have poor learning skills in spite of their intelligence, and also wind up with difficulty socializing in various ways. But it can be treated with a doctor's supervision. Usually, medication works very well.
ps...those who deny it's real are probably Scientologists...they have a vested interest.

Answer 6

for the best answers to this question visit the Amen Clinic online this is the best site about this topic ,why do you ask this question ???please email me as I'M 37 year old and have been diagnosed with adhd, it is impossible to cure but there is stuff that can help adhd is hyperactivity in the brain and there are loads of simptoms so its importaint to get the right help from qualified profesionals as doctors are 2 under qualifeid to deal with adhd the only way to help is special diets and stimulants although getting the medication can take years in the uk if you are in the states this is not a problem as there are 10s of 1000s of children taking vitalin if you would like more info please get in touch with me

Answer 7

Hard to say. I know it's legitimate, but I also believe that it's a crutch diagnosis. By this, I mean that there are certain people who can't handle the fact that their children are young and energetic, so they take them to doctors who diagnose ADHD and put them on unnecessary drugs. I also personally believe that our society of OVER-STIMULATION is one of the causes of it. Too much TV, Video Games, and other auditory/visual stimulation... Does anyone ever just sit in silence anymore and think? Read a book? Use their imagination to create? It's all done for us nowadays...

Answer 8

Attention Deficit Hyper Disorder, I'm not sure why people get it but it is pretty common. Just about everyone in my family has it including me.

Answer 9

attention deficit hyper-active disorder
children usually get it. true adhd is often passed on by the parents.

Answer 10

www.kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/behavior/adhd.html - 38k - Cached - More from this site - Save
You can find all ur answers here.