Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a severe mental illness, associated with major impairment and a high comorbidity rate. Particularly undiagnosed ADHD in adulthood has serious consequences. Thus, a valid diagnosis is important.
If you or your child has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), it's important to seek treatment. If you think you or your child has ADHD but you haven't been diagnosed, ask a doctor for their opinion, in case treatment is needed. Untreated ADHD can cause problems throughout life.
Living with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can be difficult, as the symptoms can make everyday activities more of a challenge. It's important to get the support you need to understand and cope with your or your child's condition.
Health Risks
The core symptoms of ADHD, like impulsivity and inattention, might lead children to behave in ways that can put their health at risk or cause them to forget healthy and protective behaviors. Over time, if not addressed, these risks can lead to injury, disease, or even an earlier-than-expected death.
ADHD can make you forgetful and distracted. You're also likely to have trouble with time management because of your problems with focus. All of these symptoms can lead to missed due dates for work, school, and personal projects.
“ADHD doesn't disappear just because symptoms become less obvious—its effect on the brain lingers.” Some adults who had milder symptom levels of ADHD as children may have developed coping skills that address their symptoms well enough to prevent ADHD from interfering with their daily lives.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common mental disorders affecting children.
Many children (perhaps as many as half) will outgrow their symptoms but others do not, so ADHD can affect a person into adulthood.
He also found that if ADHD persisted to young adulthood, the reduction in healthy life was nearly 13 years and was over 11 years in total life expectancy.
ADHD does not get worse with age if a person receives treatment for their symptoms after receiving a diagnosis. If a doctor diagnoses a person as an adult, their symptoms will begin to improve when they start their treatment plan, which could involve a combination of medication and therapy.
The symptoms may peak in severity when the child is seven to eight years of age, after which they often begin to decline. By the adolescent years, the hyperactive symptoms may be less noticeable, although ADHD can continue to be present.
A person does not “grow out of” ADHD, but learning management strategies can help them enjoy a full life. Without treatment, which may include medication, a person may experience low self-esteem, depression, and problems with school, work, and relationships.
People with ADHD will have at least two or three of the following challenges: difficulty staying on task, paying attention, daydreaming or tuning out, organizational issues, and hyper-focus, which causes us to lose track of time. ADHD-ers are often highly sensitive and empathic.
Unfortunately, there seems to be no supplement, exercise, alternative therapy, or high level of motivation that normalizes brain function in people with ADHD. Even so, is it possible for people with ADHD to live their lives successfully without medicine? Yes — but not always.
ADHD tends to run in families and, in most cases, it's thought the genes you inherit from your parents are a significant factor in developing the condition. Research shows that parents and siblings of someone with ADHD are more likely to have ADHD themselves.
Biological: ADHD is associated with the way certain neurotransmitters (chemicals in the brain that help control behavior) work, especially dopamine and norepinephrine, and this difference causes changes in two different attentional networks of the brain — the default network, associated with automatic attention and the ...
Yet the few studies that have explored ADHD during adulthood, especially those that have looked at midlife and beyond, clearly indicate that for those individuals whose ADHD persists into middle adulthood and beyond, significant impairments tend to remain and sometimes worsen.
ADHD: a disabling condition
It is recognized as a disability under the 1992 Disability Discrimination Act.
ADHD is a brain disorder.
Scientists have shown that there are differences in the brains of children with ADHD and that some of these differences change as a child ages and matures.
Yes. Whether you view attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as neurological — affecting how the brain concentrates or thinks — or consider ADHD as a disability that impacts working, there is no question that the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) covers individuals with ADHD.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been associated with large magnitude impairments in working memory, whereas short-term memory deficits, when detected, tend to be less pronounced.
Problems with emotional dysregulation, in particular with anger reactivity, are very common in people with ADHD. You are not alone in struggling in this area. Anger may indicate an associated mood problem but often is just part of the ADHD. Either way, changes in traditional ADHD treatment can be very helpful.
Those with combined hyperactive-impulsive and inattentive ADHD experience both poor sleep quality and a later bedtime. Many ADHD symptoms are similar to symptoms of sleep deprivation. Among others, adult ADHD sleep problems include forgetfulness and difficulty concentrating.