ADHD: Symptoms and Medication

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a disorder in which a person is unable to control behavior due to difficulty in processing neural stimuli, accompanied by an extremely high level of motor activity. The best way to explain ADHD is like jumping from one thought to the next in a matter of seconds. It can be hard to figure out why you are upset because you can not directly find the root of the problem. Many people do not understand what it is like and just dismiss you as immature. Medication can be a way of helping the symptoms of ADHD due to its effects on the brain's neurotransmitters. Once I was given medicine for the first time, I was able to focus and understand things without being interrupted. This is not to say that medication is the only way of treating this disorder but rather the beginning process of a solution. Medication is often integral to the management of ADHD.

Many people are confused as to where ADHD comes from and how one can develop it. While scientist are not exactly sure what causes ADHD but some of their guesses are from genetics or causes from a birth defect. It can be hard to diagnose a kid with ADHD because some of the symptoms can be considered a form of depression anxiety or even a type of autism (webmd).

An interesting discovery founded, was the different types of ADHD. it consists of three types. This is a newer take on diagnosing ADHD, because in the past it was either ADD or ADHD. Now it's just factored into 3 types, inattentive, hyperactive-impulsive type,and combined. The three types are very different make diganosing easier for the doctor. (types).

First, Inattentive ADHD symptoms are a lack of attention, make stupid mistakes, can not payattetion to what is going on, failing to listen and follow instructions, will not put forth effort for work, get distracted, and forgetful. A person must have more than 6 of these symptoms to be classified as inattentive. This is what ADD used to be classified as, can easily be distracted from a task involving work. A way of determining this type of ADHD is if the patient daydreams a lot, becomes bored easily or is always forgetful. There Are many ways of treating it such as medication or apprasial.

Another type of ADHD is defined as hyperactive-impulsive. webMD states the symptoms as:

Fidgeting or squirming, Nonstop talking, Trouble sitting still and doing quiet tasks, such as reading, Running from place to place; acting like he's driven by a motor, Constantly leaving his seat, jumping or climbing on furniture and other inappropriate places, Not having patience, Blurting out comments at inappropriate times, Interrupting conversations or speaking out of turn, Trouble waiting for a turn or standing in line. (webmd)

Each child must display these symptoms for more than 6 months to be diagnosed with it. This is what ADHD used to be defined as but since has changed. Many kids are naturally hyper and may display these symptoms without even having them so that why they wait 6 months.

The final type of ADHD which is the mix between the two. This type is the most common out of the three being that one kid does not always have one type of ADHD. the two other types are so different with how kids act which can make it difficult to diagnose.

Many parents of adhd children go through the process of first finding out about it, then comes the issue of how to treat it. A main problem that comes up is the deciding age of which age is the best to start medicating. Parents are worried that their child could have bizzare side effects such as tics or personality changes (Gardner). In rare cases, some ADD medications can negatively affect the patient such as tics, personality changes, mood swings, etc.. This may scare off a parent from using the medication. The problem with this outcome comes from one of two problems. One, the doctor not giving a full exact definition and multiple solutions or two, the family not realizing it can take time for medicine to work. Sometimes it can be a test and fail situation because the medication can affect everyone differently. This is how a majority of medication is used to treat others.

Another concern parents have with using medicine to treat their children is over medicating. According to Eileen M O'Conner, her study found that 84% of students that had ADHD were on some type of medications (O'Conner) . She later found a 72% of those kids were taking multiple medications(O'Conner). O'Conner was concerned that these kids were being over medicating. This brings up the problem, can the child act freely as a kid? This situation deals with how the doctor treats the patient, sometimes it's necessary. In the article, we are not given much information regarding each students life and reasons of why they are on the medication. A certified doctor that can give a unbiased medical decision.

Finally, a common fear that I mention briefly was the fear of misdiagnosing the patient. In the past and very minor of today, a child might be diagnosed with ADHD when they have a different problem which can lead to other problems. If misdiagnosed, a child could become more moody, violent or even depressed because the wrong medication can bring about unwanted side effects (suicide). That why in recent years, they have changed the way of diagnosing ADHD. They split into three types and make it a longer processes which has resulted in a positive outcome.

In conclusion, the types of ADHD ar the main key to diagnosing a child with it. They Used to be classified ADD and ADHD but now its just three types of ADHD. many parents fear that medicting their child will result in affect how the child will grow up.

Work cited

Gardner, Amanda. ADHD Medications and Scary Side Effects. WebMD, WebMD, www.webmd.com/add-adhd/childhood-adhd/features/adhd-medications-scary-side-effects#1.

Suicide link to ADHD drug."" Sydney Morning Herald [Sydney, Australia], 5 Oct. 2013, p. 1. Opposing Viewpoints in Context https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A344659440/OVIC?u=lom_schoolcraft&sid=OVIC&xid=8a

571295. Accessed 6 Nov. 2018.

O'Conner , EILEEN. Medicating ADHD: Too Much? Too Soon? Monitor on Psychology,

American Psychological Association, Dec. 2001, www.apa.org/monitor/dec01/medicating.aspx.

Types of ADHD. WebMD, WebMD, www.webmd.com/add-adhd/guide/types-of-adhd.

Cite this page