ADHD Research Essay

Children with ADHD will show characteristics such as hyperactivity, impulsiveness, and inattention. Fidgeting while sitting, behaving abnormally when expected to sit down or remain quiet, and trouble waiting in line can show

Young children are being over diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). ADHD is a medical condition/learning disorder that affects how well someone can sit still, focus, and pay attention. According to the American Psychiatric Association (2013), ADHD is characterized by a child having difficulty paying attention, excessive activity, and impulsivity (acting before thinking). ADHD is also one of the most common child psychiatric disorders. In November 1998, it was reported by the National Institutes of Health on ADHD that there is also no independent or valid test that will determine if a child has ADHD, there is also no data to indicate that ADHD is due to a brain malfunction (Johnson, 2000). “Confusion still exists with respect to the origin of this disorder” (Jody Sherman, 2006, para. 1). This task has been put in the hands of the school officials to notice these problems in children. However, the school officials do not have a medical background yet seem to be diagnosing children daily.

This review was conducted on the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Health Center page developed by WebMD.com. The page will be evaluated on how practical and beneficial the webpage is on passing knowledge to its readers. This will be done by looking to see how well the site’s coverage of ADHD is, whether or not the information is really useful and current, and what the site’s objectives seem to be.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is classified as a syndrome that is comprised of a variety of behaviors that often arises in early childhood and is characterized by extremely high levels of motor activity, difficulties with attention span and concentrating, and/or impulsive behaviors (Cook & Cash, 2011). It has been estimated in the United States that approximately 20% of children and adolescents display signs of a psychological or behavioral disorder according to Luthy, David, Macintosh, Eden, and Beckstrand (2015). ADHD is considered one of the more prevalent psychological disorders in children, with approximately 3-7% of school-age children with an ADHD diagnosis as mentioned by Luthy et al. (2015).

Attention- Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) crosses gender, cultural, and socioeconomic lines, but it does not render adolescents from participating or excelling in the academic process. ADHD disorder has been defined as a neurobiological development disorder of impaired executive functions that significantly affects self-control, behavior, cognition, and learning. (Anthony L. Rostain & J. Russell Ramsay, 2005) According to a study conducted by the American

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) seems to be the affliction of this generation of children. It seems more prevalent every year. However, diagnosis criteria for ADHD is so subjective, what qualifies, who qualifies? There is no specific clinical cause for ADHD but it obviously exists. So many questions remain to be answered about ADHD. Are more children really being diagnosed with ADHD annually and is it really on the rise as it appears? Are too many children being wrongly diagnosed with ADHD as an easy way out because of other behavioral problems? And when ADHD is properly diagnosed are we overmedicating our children to make it easier for parents and teachers to cope? How often are other afflictions

Families who have children with ADHD often experience much higher anxiety and stress levels. A large number of children, almost half, will exhibit signs of ADHD by the age of four. However, most children are not diagnosed until he or she reaches elementary school. The behaviors that are associated with ADHD in children put them at risk for a host of other problems and complications such as completing their education, alcohol and other drug abuse, and an increased risk for delinquency. There has been much research on ADHD in recent years and many different types of medications and interventions have proven to be quite helpful. With the proper diagnosis and treatment, children with ADHD can learn to cope with the daily demands of the classroom, social situations, family interactions, and life in general.

3. to determine the degree of consistency between the sources and across situations with respect to reports of behaviours associated with ADHD.

ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is a common behavioral disorder amongst children. Referred to as an externalizing disorder because of a child’s display of dysregulated behavior when compared to it’s peers. There are many signs and contributing factors that can be assigned to the diagnosis and causes of ADHD. Over recent history copious amounts of research have been conducted to try to understand this behavioral disorder. Characteristics of ADHD can be categorized into two forms, either inattention, or hyperactivity. The causes of ADHD as somewhat unknown, the two most predominant avenues of research are biological and environmental causes and their interactions to form potential reasons for the development of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children.

For a typical person with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) sitting down to do a task such as homework can be agonizing, the physical act of staying in place, being as difficult as concentrating on the work. The person with ADHD may go on in life to have social problems because symptoms such as hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity, are mistaken as laziness or self-centeredness (14). The problems of ADHD often develop further manifesting as compulsive disorder, depression, school and job failure, relationship trouble, and substance addiction (5). ADHD is a psychiatric disorder, first documented by the medical society in 1902, that is diagnosed in 3%-5% of

There are three types of ADHD. They are ADHD Combined, ADHD impulsive/hyperactive, and ADHD inattentive and distractible. The most common type is the combined type and it is characterized by impulsive and hyperactive behaviors, inattention, and distractibility. The second most common type is inattentive and distractible. This type of ADHD is characterized by inattention and distractibility but without hyperactivity. The least common is the impulsive and hyperactive type and is characterized by impulsive and hyperactive behaviors but without inattention and distractibility (Hopkins, Health Library). Many of the symptoms of ADHD are: inattention, short attention span for the age, forgetfulness, easily distracted, poor study skills for age, impulsive, and interrupting others. They also tend to blurt out answers, take frequent risks without thinking

The brain is an electrical system that communicates with other subsystems within our brains to get the smallest to the most complex things done and our brains do this constantly. This system operates on low voltage electrical impulses that carry messages from one tiny neuron to another in fractions of a second, these neurons are not physically connected; there are gaps at each point of connection and to get messages from one neuron to another, an electrical message needs to jump the gap (Brown, 2013). So, essentially children with ADHD cannot release these chemicals or they don’t jump the gap fast enough to get transmitted properly. While these factors may make the child's symptoms increase in duration or they may get worse, they are not the root cause. There are multiple possible causes that scientists are constantly researching but it still remains that researchers do not know the cause of ADHD.

According to Foley (2010), children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were categorized into two groups with nine behaviors associated with each category of ADHD. Behaviors with the inattentive category include failing to pay attention, and making careless mistakes, difficulty keeping that attention, not following through or listening, difficulty organizing, low task persistence, easily distracted, forgetful and losing things. Behaviors associated with the category of hyperactivity include a child being out of their seat and fidgeting, running and climbing excessively,

ADHD is an abbreviation for attention deficit/hyper activity disorder. It is commonly referred to as a psychiatric disorder in need of therapy. The origination of the disease is in the neuro-physiological brain construct, and the main cause of the disorder is considered to be genetic (Wilson, 2012). Many children with ADHD struggle with impulsivity, hyperactivity, and inattention (Unnever, Cullen, & Pratt, 2003). According to McNamara, Vervaeke, and Willoughby (2008), “attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder is the most commonly diagnosed behavioral disorder among children and adolescents. It affects between 3% and 5% of school age children” (p. 38). In a

“Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition affecting children and adults that is characterized by problems with attention, impulsivity, and overactivity” (CHADD). “It is a neurobiological disorder that affect 3-7 percent of school age children and may be seen as before the age of 7. The current diagnostic label is attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, however, in the past several other names have been used, such as brain-damaged, minimal brain dysfunction, hyperkinetic impulsive disorder, and attention deficit disorder (CHADD). ADHD is a controversial disorder. Some understand it to be a true disability, while others believe “good teaching and discipline at home resolve the problems” (Kauffman 2005).