ADHD Guide

ADHD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Every child is restless during the formative years. This is the case more so with boys rather than girls. However, if your child is showing symptoms of hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention to an abnormally excessive level then he could be suffering from ADHD.

ADHD is an abbreviation for a disease called Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The disease affects about 3% to 5% of all children throughout the world. Since, every 10% of the male child as compared to only 4% of the female child is afflicted by this disease, the medical scientists the world over opine that males are more prone to this disease than the females.

It has also been observed that about 60% of those suffering from this ADHD carry the it into their adulthood.

The disorder was clinically defined during the mid-twentieth century when the researchers were searching to diagnose a disease commonly known in those days as, "minimal brain damage" or "hyperactivity."  So some folks are sort of stuck with that mind-set and don’t want to consider other view points.

They believed that references to this disorder were available even in the pages of history when the well-known physician-scientist Hippocrates had described a similar condition in his patients in the year 493 BC. Shakespeare had made a reference of a "malady of attention" in King Henry VIII.

In the year 1845, a German physician Dr. Heinrich Hoffmann had written "The Story of Fidgety Philip" to amuse his 3 year old son during bedtime. However, it was Sir George F. Still, in 1902, who stated that this disorder was caused due to a 'genetic dysfunction' and not by 'poor rearing of the child.'

He published a series of lectures on the topic, which he had given to the Royal College of Physicians in England. Since then numerous studies have been conducted in this field.

The symptoms of this disease appear earlier on in the life of an individual. Since, most children during the pre-teenage stage of their life are restless; the prospective patients of this disease develop the symptoms gradually over the months, or maybe years.

The bouts of impulsiveness and hyperactivity in behavior will usually be followed by inattentiveness. The symptoms may appear for a few months and then disappear completely for a few years, and then reappear again.

Scientists are now of the view that there are 3 major subtypes of ADHD. The "predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type" does not show significant inattention. The "predominantly inattentive type" does not show much hyperactive-impulsive behavior. And the "combined type" which shows all the symptoms together.

However, since we all show these symptoms in our behavior some time or the other in life, a child can be diagnosed for ADHD only if these personality traits create a real handicap in at least two areas of his life, i.e. the home, school, community, playground, or in social settings.  Keep an open mind and don’t ever stop asking questions about ADHD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.