Imagine living inside a fast-moving video game, where sounds, images, and thoughts are constantly shifting. You are feeling bored, yet helpless to keep your mind on things you have to do. Distracted by sights and sounds, your mind drives you from one thought to the next. You may be so wrapped up in your thoughts that you don't notice when someone speaks to you.
For many people, this is what it's like to have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. They may be unable to sit still, plan ahead, finish tasks, or be fully aware of what's going on around them. To their family, classmates or coworkers, they seem to exist in a whirlwind of disorganized or frenzied activity.
Unexpectedly--on some days and in some situations--they seem fine, leading others to think the person with ADHD can easily control these behaviors. As a result, the disorder can hurt the person's relationships with others besides disrupting their life, consuming energy, and lowering self-esteem.
What Are the Symptoms of ADHD?
ADHD is not like a broken arm, or sore throat. ADHD does not have clear physical signs that can be seen in an x-ray or a lab test. ADHD can only be identified by looking for certain behaviors, which vary from person to person. Scientists have not yet identified a single cause behind all the different patterns of behavior--and they may never find just one.
ADHD is a diagnosis applied to persons who consistently display certain characteristic behaviors. These common behaviors fall into three categories: inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.
Inattention. People with a short attention span have a hard time keeping their mind on any one thing and may get bored with the job very quickly. But they may give easy and full attention to things they enjoy.
For example, they find it agonizing to do homework. Often, they forget to plan ahead by writing down the assignment or bringing home the right books. And when trying to work, they find their mind drifting to something else.
Hyperactivity. People who are hyperactive always seem to be in motion. They can't sit still and they may dash around or talk non-stop. Sitting still through a lesson can be impossible. Hyperactive children squirm in their seat or roam around the room. Or they might wiggle their feet, touch everything, or noisily tap their pencil. They may be fidgety, restless, and try to do several things at once.
Impulsivity. People who are overly impulsive seem unable to curb their immediate reactions or think before they act. They may blurt out inappropriate comments, or they may run into the street without looking. Their impulsivity may make it hard for them to wait for things they want or to take their turn in games. They may grab a toy from another child or hit when they're upset.
Everyone at times may have these traits, so how do we know who has ADHD? To judge if a person has ADHD, we must consider several critical questions: Are these behaviors excessive, long-term, and pervasive? That is, do they occur more often than in other people the same age? Are they a continuous problem, not just a response to a temporary situation? Do the behaviors occur in several settings or only in one specific place like the playground or the office?
People with ADHD may show several signs of being consistently inattentive. They may have a pattern of being hyperactive and impulsive. Or they may show all three types of behavior.
Signs of inattention include:
becoming easily distracted by irrelevant sights and sounds
failing to pay attention to details and making careless mistakes
rarely following instructions carefully
losing or forgetting things like pencils, books, or tools needed for the work
Some signs of hyperactivity and impulsivity are:
feeling restless, often fidgeting with hands or feet, or squirming
running, climbing, or leaving a seat, in situations where sitting or quiet behavior is expected
blurting out answers before hearing the whole question
having difficulty waiting in line or for a turn
What Causes ADHD?
Understandably, one of the first questions parents ask when they learn their child has an attention disorder is "Why? What went wrong?"
But since no one knows what causes ADHD in each case, it doesn't help parents to look backward to search for possible reasons. There are too many possibilities to pin down the cause with certainty. It is far more important for the family to move forward in finding ways to help.
ADHD Is Not Usually Caused by too much TV, video games, food allergies, poor home life, or poor schools.
How Is ADHD Identified and Diagnosed?
Many parents see signs of an attention deficit in toddlers long before the child enters school. For example, as a 3-year-old, the boy already displayed some signs of hyperactivity. He seemed to lose interest and dart off even during his favorite TV shows or while playing games. A child may be unable to focus long enough to play a simple game. Or the child may be tearing around out of control.
In many cases, the teacher is the first to recognize that a child is hyperactive or inattentive and may consult with the school psychologist. Because teachers work with many children, they come to know how "average" children behave in learning situations that require attention and self control. However, teachers sometimes fail to notice the needs of children who are quiet and cooperative.
Life can be hard for children with ADHD. They're the ones who are so often in trouble at school, can't finish a game, and lose friends. They may spend agonizing hours each night struggling to keep their mind on their homework, then forget to bring it to school.
It's not easy coping with these frustrations day after day. Some children release their frustration by acting contrary, starting fights, or destroying property. Some turn the frustration into body ailments, like the child who gets a stomachache each day before school. Others hold their needs and fears inside, so that no one sees how badly they feel.
It's also difficult having a sister, brother, or classmate who gets angry, grabs your toys, and loses your things. Children who live with or share a classroom with an ADHD child get frustrated, too. They may feel neglected as their parents or teachers try to cope with the hyperactive child. They may resent their brother or sister never finishing chores, or being pushed around by a classmate. They want to love their sibling and get along with their classmate, but sometimes it's so hard!
It's especially hard being the parent of a child who is full of uncontrolled activity, leaves messes, throws tantrums, and doesn't listen or follow instructions. Parents often feel powerless. The usual methods of discipline, like reasoning and scolding, don't work with this child, because the child doesn't really choose to act in these ways. It's just that their self-control comes and goes. Out of sheer frustration, parents sometimes find themselves spanking, ridiculing, or screaming at the child, even though they know it's not appropriate. This leaves everyone more upset than before. Then they blame themselves for not being better parents.
Medication can help to control some of the behavior problems. But more often, there are other aspects of the problem that medication can't touch. Even though ADHD primarily affects a person's behavior, having the disorder has broad emotional repercussions.
For some children, being scolded is the only attention they ever get. They have few experiences that build their sense of worth and competence. If they're hyperactive, they're often told they're bad and punished for being disruptive. If they are too disorganized and unfocused to complete tasks, others may call them lazy. If they impulsively grab toys, butt in, or shove classmates, they may lose friends. They may get in trouble at school or with the law. Facing the daily frustrations that can come with having ADHD can make people fear that they are strange, abnormal, or stupid.
All people with ADHD have natural talents and abilities that they can draw on to create fine lives and careers for themselves. In fact, many people with ADHD even feel that their patterns of behavior give them unique, often unrecognized, advantages.
People with ADHD tend to be outgoing and ready for action. Because of their drive for excitement and stimulation, many become successful in business, sports, construction, and public speaking. Because of their ability to think about many things at once, many have won acclaim as artists and inventors.
Many choose work that gives them freedom to move around and release excess energy. But some find ways to be effective in quieter, more sedentary careers.
So there are good sides to being an active sort of person. And the person must find ways of using all of these advantages.
Are You a Member of Our Club?
For the moment though, if you are the person diagnosed with ADD or ADHD, you must understand that you are not at fault, but don’t lean on the problem to “get away with” things childish or wrong. Know that you have many attributes and qualities that will work in your favor. You are intelligent, you have talents, you are industrious rather than lazy, you are good at sports, games, inventing, working with your hands.
With a little effort you may become an excellent musician, artist, or speaker. You may have many advantages over others who have to really work at becoming only so-so at these things.
Some hints you can do. . .
If you are in school, try these things. Make a strong effort to get along with your teachers. Start to think of them as your friends, on your side. Confide in them that you really are trying to be a good student. Tell them that you need a little more help or encouragement. This may be hard to do or even consider at first, but it does work.
Your teacher may work a schedule for you to relieve your strong feelings that you must move around, perhaps letting you walk around the back of the room for a few minutes, or letting you do some chores such as taking the waste paper basket to the dumpster, maybe letting you be in charge of adjusting the blinds.
Ask to be placed in the front row. With very little activity going on in front of you, you may find that it's easier to concentrate, learn, stay on the good side of everyone including yourself.
Work it out with your teacher at a time that you can be alone to discuss these things. This will at least show that you do want to succeed in overcoming the negative feelings about this condition that is hurting you.
Did You Know? . . . that some children with undetected visual problems are incorrectly diagnosed as having ADD/ADHD.
. . . that some children with certain allergies are mistakenly termed ADD/ADHD.
. . . that there is a huge financial connection between Ciba-Geigy (Ritalin maker) and CHADD (ADD support group).For more information on these items Click Here
A note for your parents: If you are thinking of letting your child be drugged with Ritalin or similar medication, please go to this website to learn more about these drugs. Click Here
CAN YOU BELIEVE WE SURVIVED? If you lived as a child in the 40's, 50's, 60's or 70's.
Looking back, it's hard to believe that we have lived as long as we have...
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat.
Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors, or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets.
Not to mention hitchhiking to town as a kid!
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. And we're all still alive!
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times we learned to solve the problem.
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back before dark. No one was able to reach us all day.
No cell phones. Unthinkable. We played dodgeball and sometimes the ball would really hurt. We got cut and broke bones and broke teeth, and there were no law suits from these accidents. They were accidents. No one was to blame, they were accidents?
We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue and learned to get over it.
We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank sugar soda but we were never overweight...we were always outside playing. We shared one grape soda with four friends, from one bottle and no one died from this.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, video games at all, 99 channels on cable, video tape movies, surround sound, personal cell phones, Personal Computers, Internet chat rooms ...We had friends. We went outside and found them. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's home and knocked on the door, or rung the bell or just walked in and talked to them.
Imagine such a thing. Without asking parent! By ourselves! Out there in the cold cruel world! Without a guardian. How did we do it?
We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate worms and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes, nor did the worms live inside us forever.
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't, had to learn to deal with disappointment.....Some students weren't as smart as others so they failed a grade and were held back to repeat the same grade.....Horrors. Tests were not adjusted for any reason.
Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected. No one to hide behind. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law - or the school, imagine that!
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years has been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.
...And we're here to remember it all!
Congratulations!
Please pass this on to others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before lawyers and government regulated our lives, for our own good!
Borrowed from Sean Hannity's webpage
www.hannity.com
. Go to Teen Health - Home Page .
BEDWETTING . What's the first thing to do to help a child control bedwetting (enuresis)? . An easy, inexpensive tablet, available everywhere, to take that corrected over 70% of the cases I've handled in my practice, without any further need for medicine, gimmicks, or procedures. . Certainly worth a try! Click here , and 'send'. . Free report will be sent to you.
. . Acne - Home Page. . How to handle bullies. . Go to Part 2
. . Overweight?. . Go to Part 2
. . Bedwetting. . Go to Part 3
