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ADD-ADHD
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a condition that can affect children and adults and characterized by becoming easily bored, constant fidgeting and daydreaming.
964 Questions
Does Risperdal increase aggression in ADHD?
Risperdal is the brand name for the drug risperidone; risperidone is used to treat schizophrenia and sometimes to treat aggression in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Risperidone has no use for ADHD, and can cause worsening attention. Risperdal should not increase aggression.
ADD is a depreciated term for attention-deficit disorder. More appropriately, ADHD is used meaning attention-deficit hyperactivity-disorder. There are three subtypes of ADHD: predominately inattentive, predominately hyperactive, or a combination.
It depends on the strengths of each disease and how old you are. ADHD is really bad for young people like teens because they could not focus well.
Does Strattera make you feel happy?
Not to good when I'm feeling the side effect of drowsiness. When I don't feel that effect I guess I feel the same as I did before I started taking it. I've been taking it for nearly a month now by the way.
What if you are bipolar and go off all your meds?
Not a smart thing to do, I quit cold turkey for Bi-Polar, and Depression and I regret being off them. Been there; done that. You become a popular breakfast cereal..... "Fruit Loops." You can only be bi-polar if the chemistry in your head becomes imbalanced; your meds are supposed to re-balance your scrambled head. Going without your meds is only good when you are appearing before a Social Security Evaluation Board to get on SSI, but not really recommended. Bi-polar IS A DIRECT RESULT FROM BIOLOGICAL PARENTS PROCREATING THESE CHILDREN AT CERTAIN, PREDICTABLE, AVOIDABLE TIMES. The only problem is that people never heard of this Theory, or the Genetic Law behind it This same Law affects EVERY child born.
What does the H in ADHD stand for?
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) refers to a family of related cognitive disorders that interfere with a person's capacity to have normal activity levels (hyperactivity), hold back on impulsive behaviour (impulsivity), and focus on tasks (inattention) in developmentally appropriate ways. ADHD is a neurobiology disorder, meaning the problem affects brain function (thinking, learning and memory) and behaviour.
Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder can have difficulties at home, at school, and in relationships with friends and other children their age. ADHD has also been shown to have long-term adverse effects on school performance, career or job success, and social-emotional development. Because children with ADHD are not able to sit still and pay attention in school, they may have disciplinary problems, and they can be viewed as troublemakers by teachers and other students. They experience peer rejection and show a broad range of disruptive behaviours. Their academic and social problems can have far-reaching and long-term effects. These children have higher injury rates. As they grow older, children with untreated ADHD, in combination with conduct disorders, are at risk for abuse, antisocial behaviour, and injuries of all sorts. Up to 70% of children diagnosed with ADHD will continue to have symptoms into adulthood.
What is the relationship between Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and other disorders, such as learning disabilities, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, or depression?
Most children treated for ADHD have other conditions. ADHD can co-occur with learning disabilities (15-25%), language disorders (30-35%), conduct disorder (15-20%), oppositional defiant disorder (up to 40%), mood disorders (15-20%), and anxiety disorders (20-25%). Up to 60% of children with tic disorders also have ADHD. Problems with memory, cognitive processing, sequencing, motor skills, social skills, control of emotional response, and response to discipline are common. Sleep disorders are also more common.
[The Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder information above is based on source material from the National Institute on Mental Health entitled "Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) - Questions and Answers," published in March 2000.]
To elaborate on the previous answer, since ADHD and ADD have a significant biochemcial component, it is not surprising that those with ADHD find it varies in intensity over time, from day to day, and even during different times of day. The environment also plays a role in how easy it is to concentrate and refrain from fidgeting. Many, if not most people with ADHD and ADD learn to cope with it with the various aspects of the disorder, by compensation or practice. However, some of the ADHD deficits are not cope-able, meaning one needs to learn to live and work them. It will not actually go away, but it can become less of a problem as one learns to compensate for it. The most effective ways to deal with it usually include a combination of medication (for the biochemical part), behavior modification, and coping strategies.
Does ADHD get better as you age?
No, ADHD is not infectious. It is not a virus, but a lack of growth in certain regions of the brain; a person with ADHD has underdeveloped brain regions that control focus, attention, and planning.
Do people act weird if they have ADD?
We tend to be totally off subject almost all of the time. For example, let's say Jiminy Cricket had ADD and was trying to help Pinocchio with a girl problem, suddenly he started talking about the old TV show "Get Smart."
it depends on there person and the medicine the right ADHD med could be great for you or your loved on but be unaffected or bad reaction for me. your gunna have to go though old fashion trail and error.
Does ADD medication also help with depression or anxiety?
no is my final answer . i feel that therapy and talking will help dont start on drugs because this will cause a chain reaction.read label of side effects free at druginfo.com arianna no is my final answer . i feel that therapy and talking will help dont start on drugs because this will cause a chain reaction.read label of side effects free at druginfo.com arianna
Can ADHD come in different intensities such as mild to intense?
I have ADHD and I havn't had any problems of it getting worse. I also havn't heard of it getting any worse either.
I can only speak for myself, of course, but as I have gotten older my own ADD has indeed gotten more severe, but not a lot because I finally found a treatment for it. I'm on a rather large dose of Adderall and it has had an unbelievable impact on my life. I wish I'd had it when I was a child or in high school.
I feel I must qualify this by saying that I also suffer from depression and anxiety and am also being treated for these.
However, before my psychiatrist and I found the right combo of meds, we went through more drugs and drug combos than I can accurately recall. I'd start a new treatment, it would help for a short while then I would 'crash.' Each time this happened I would feel worse.
With my Adderall I can concentrate, finish projects, and my self esteem has even improved because I know that I /can/ achieve goals and finish things now, where in the past I wouldn't even try because I was sure I'd just give up or lose interest.
For me, I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 6. I am 19 now. Going into adulthood my ADHD did increase in severity, but I am in my second week of treatment with adderall. I am currently taking 15mg a day (10mg when I wake up, 5mg at 4:00). The dosage is completely too low, but it's helping a bit.
there's a couple of ways of looking at this, too. my ADD seems to be getting much worse as I get older, (I'm being treated and am taking Dexadrine, which helps a lot) and yes, it could be that my ADD is actually getting worse, but it couls also be that as I get older I am having to deal with a lot more problems and responsibilities, and it may be that because of this it is simply becoming more obvious, which would appear (and feel)exactly the same.
ADHD is a grouping of behavioral or mental patterns: a mental disorder. It describes behavior but not an underlying cause. It’s like how a pain in your leg does not describe the cause of the pain. Is it broken, burnt or infected?
It looks like there are more ways to get ADHD: genetic, environmental and both. We just don’t know exactly what happens. Some recent Dutch research seems to indicate that for 80% of children with ADHD, most symptoms can be taken away by a personalized diet.
Full speculation mode - A big reason might be: The brain of someone with ADHD likes some food or activities too much. When consumed the brain makes so much dopamine that the body adapts and starts breaking it down faster. As a result normal dopamine production gets broken down faster too. On average you have to little dopamine in your brain, which is the stuff that makes you concentrate.
What is the combined type of ADHD?
ADHD has three subtypes recognized: predominately hyperactive-impulsive, predominately inattentive, and combined hyperactive-impulsive and inattentive. The last type is commonly referred to as the "combined" type, and most children with ADHD have the combined type.
Are there scholarships for people with ADHD?
It depends on location, grade level, etc. If you're in college most of the time disability services will give out or have lists of other people who give out scholarships for possibly ADHD solely, but usually just disabilities in general, which ADHD falls under.
No idea what you're asking, but adults do take adderall, and can range in dosage depending on ... a lot. (once a day or twice a day as well)
What is the difference between ADHD and Autism?
ADHD is a disorder where the individual is hyper-active and cannot focus his/her attenion on a perticular objject for the normal length of time.
Autism is a disorder where the individual have poor Social Skills, don't know how to read body language and lack the ability of empathizing with others. This may be as a result of lack of mirror neurons in the brain. Try to read about mirror neurons in order to know what exactly they are.
What is it like living with someone who has ADHD?
Well, it depends on the person. I have asperger's syndrome myself and things I learned from my own experience is that people with asperger's can be very easily aggravated and aggressive. But also what I have learned is that people with asperger's can sometimes understand things more easily and sometimes more faster than people without asperger's.
Personally...I am a very mildly affected adult woman. I was born with impaired social skills, but I am a social person by nature of my personality separate from Asperger's syndrome. I can be overly sensitive, both physically and emotionally speaking. Sleeping on my stomach is impossible due to physical sensitivities in my breasts. I'm prone to headaches due to sensitivity to noise. However, I am often unaware of how loud or quiet my own voice is, and my own voice as well as voices that are similar to my own do not bother me. Voices that I am used to also do not bother me, usually, not unless they are suddenly angered. I have a higher stress level than most people do. Sometimes this can cause me to act aggressive, sometimes this can cause me to panic, and other times, it can cause me to just "space out" in my mind. The worst thing that can happen is stress-induced non-epileptic seizures that can resemble grand mal seizures. Seizures occur in less than a third of people with Asperger's syndrome, and I'm one of those people.I have a large number of allergies. All of my allergies are related to food, except for bee stings and an allergy to bee stings has nothing to do with Asperger's syndrome. I have a poor immune system, even though I am an adult who has lived through many illnesses.
As mentioned earlier, my social skills are below average. In fact, part of my diagnosis includes Mild Social Retardation. This is extremely different from mental retardation -- I was also retested for mental intelligence as my childhood score was inaccurate, and my mental intelligence is above average -- and this does not automatically dictate whether one is an extrovert or an introvert. Just as there are mentally challenged people who love to read, there are socially challenged people who love to socialize. Such people are exceptional, but we are out there. I socialize best with children. My personality, separate from Asperger's, is a maternal personality and children's social developments are closer to my own. I am emotionally and socially about eight-years-old, though I am physically, mentally, sexually, etc. within my physical age group. This is actually helpful in my friendships with children. I am smart enough and motherly enough to be seen as their elder, but childish enough to also be a true friend who does not look down on anyone for age. I would not trade that for anything.
I have inborn "book smarts", as do most people with Asperger's syndrome. I also have a good memory for dates and a very long, detailed memory in general. Asperger's syndrome is called "the nerd syndrome" for reasons. Also like with most people that have AS, I have less common sense than you probably do. This is probably part of why more women with AS marry than men. A woman who has damsel-in-distress moments is more socially acceptable than a man-in-distress.
One stereotype is that people with Asperger's are good at math. I completely buck this stereotype. Math turns me into a ditz. Like most women, I am more partial to grammar and literature. That said, I am more interested in history. The special interests of females with Asperger's tend to be common interests of most "normal" females, such as books or dolls or general fantasy adventures, so girls are rarely diagnosed whereas boys with Asperger's tend to have more obscure interests like vacuum cleaner bags. More research needs to be done on females with the condition, especially metafemales (females with an extra female chromosome) who are more prone to have this additional syndrome. We're all the proof needed to debunk the theories that the autism spectrum is connected to testosterone levels, but there are 1 in 110 people on the autism spectrum (which includes Asperger's), and 1 in 70 boys of the general populace on the spectrum. There are only 1 in 1,000 metafemales. Still, with five to ten metafemales born daily, research ought to be furthered.
I am considered a research orphan because I am metafemale, because I am female, and because I was over 22 (twice over, actually) by the time I was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. Girls and women are usually "cleaned out of the data so as not to muddy it up" when Asperger's is researched. This is extremely unfair. However, there is a much greater chance for a female with Asperger's to "blend in" more successfully than for a male to do the same. We often get married and have children, just usually later in life than most women do. The main reason for the delay is that finding ourselves and our place in the world is a struggle, and we are easily manipulated into thinking poorly of ourselves.
My main struggle with Asperger's syndrome is that I cannot automatically understand the intentions of other people. I long ago taught myself to cope with this by assuming the worst about others, and that made me more miserable. This is a habit that I am trying to rid myself of without getting hurt.
What percentage of children who have ADHD also have a specific learning disorder?
Children with learning disabilities can have ADHD, and it has been found more common within individuals with learning problems. However, learning disabilities can occur on their own or with another disorder.
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Where does attention deficit hyperactivity disorder com from?
Information and opinions from contributors:
While there is still considerable controversy about the specific cause or causes of ADHD, the one tested and demonstrated fact is that ADHD correlates with a chemical imbalance in the brain. PET scans of the brains of ADHD subjects and brains of individuals not subject to ADHD show a pronounced difference in the levels of neurotransmitters such as dopamine. Chemicals which stimulate the production and uptake of these neurotransmitters seem to help many of those who are ADHD.
Quite a few different hypotheses have been advanced about what actually causes ADHD, but the only clear factor that has been reproducibly correlated with it is genetics. Children with a parent, grandparent, or other close relative with ADHD have a higher likelihood of also being ADHD, even if they are not raised by those parents, such as adopted children. Some hypotheses that have been advanced are:
Drug use by the mother or father - if this caused genetic damage or organic damage to the brain, it might make sense. It is also possible that damage done to a foetus by drugs could manifest ADHD-like symptoms without it actually being ADHD. Fetal alcohol syndrome would fall in this category.
Bad diet - this one is exceedingly difficult to investigate since diets are so varied. Hyperactivity related to excess sugar consumption (and consequently an abundance of quick energy for a child) might look like ADHD to an adult trying to deal with the kid, but it would not really be ADHD.
Environmental poisons - like bad diet, this is exceedingly difficult to establish since it is so difficult to identify everything a child or their parent may have been exposed to. Also like drug use, damage done by a poison can manifest symptoms which are similar to ADHD. Lead poisoning, for example, causes brain damage but does not result in all the symptoms of ADHD.
Too much viewing of TV or other video screens - no, I'm not kidding. There are inconclusive studies that suggest that kids who watch large quantities of the flickering images of video screens have their brains trained to respond abnormally to stimuli.
One of the complicating factors in determining the cause or causes of ADHD is that it has a strong behavioral component. Most people who are successfully coping with ADHD have included a large dose of behavior modification in their overall strategy. Since the same outward behavior (lack of attention, lack of responsibility, distractability, etc.) can stem from a lot of other causes than ADHD, other conditions often get conflated with ADHD and muddy the water for researchers trying to identify a cause.
ADHD is the imbalance in certain brain chemicals (called neurotransmitters) that are needed for paying attention and controlling behavior. Two of these neurotransmitters are norepinephrine and dopamine. Recent studies are also demonstrating difference between brain activity of people with ADHD, as compared to people without ADHD. People with ADHD have less activity in certain areas of the brain that help you to pay attention. The medications that are used to treat ADHD work by increasing the levels of these neurotransmitters in the brain.
ADD/ADHD may be inherited. Research shows that ADD/ADHD tends to run in families so there are likely to be genetic influences. Children who have ADHD usually have at least one close relative who also has ADHD. And at least one-third of all fathers who had ADHD in their youth have children with ADHD. Even more convincing regarding a possible genetic link is that when one twin of an identical twin pair has the disorder, the other is likely to have it too.
Here are more answers and opinions from other FAQ Farmers:
- I've encountered four mothers of ADHD children who admitted the use of hallucinogenic drugs before and during pregnancy (cocaine, LSD or "magic mushrooms"). This is not a confirmed cause but is a strong possibility. Lead poison of the fetus could be related to the use of cocaine or hallucinogenics since lead is used in the process of fabrication. Researcher at MCGill University MTL Canada. Of course, not all mothers of ADHD children used drugs. Most did not.
- In most cases, it is caused by an underlying condition that encompasses all of the symptoms of ADD/ADHD. There exists a lack of communication between fields of research.
- AD/HD is generally inherited and runs in families. About 1 percent of people develop it for other reasons (e.g. toxins, possibly environmental, introduced to the developing fetus). Although a possible cause, it is unlikely that many people develop the syndrome purely as the result of hallucinogenic drug use by the mother during pregnancy. There is also the possibility that the mother used such substances because of the lack of inhibition which is a symptom of adult AD/HD. In other words, both the child's and the mother's behaviour may stem from the same genetic cause. Brain scans of those who suffer from the disorder show abnormal functioning in areas related to the ability to select what stimuli to attend to or ignore. The "racing brain" is a symptom indicating that the person doesn't know how to monitor, sift and regulate their thoughts and actions. While some people with AD/HD are very bright, some aren't.
Is there a natural treatment for attention deficit disorder?
Omega-3 fatty acids in the form of high fat fish or fish oil capsules, with a daily intake of several grams (2-5) is quite effective from a personal standpoint. It takes several weeks to feel the full benefits, but they are noticeable after a week or two if taken everyday. This was discovered after trying many other things and much personal research.
No; concussions can cause symptoms similar to ADHD, but it is not ADHD. ADHD is a developmental disorder of the brain that occurs in childhood.
Yes it can and it also can mean a side effect of a medicaton that is making the child very antzieHave you ever felt like your skin is crawling. Well kids head banging are feeling very neverious.Drugs, abuse, sexual abuse etc. I have ADHD and yes I have felt like banging my head against the wall, rocking etc. Usually I have eatten to much sugar or chocolate protein etc before going tobed.
Is Attention Deficit Disorder a disability?
Yes ADD is a disability that is in fact recognized and included in the definition of disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
That said however please remember that ADD is also often something that can be accomidated for in social, educational, and work settings. Once someone is properly diagnosed and assessed, there are a varity of accomidations (many of which are amazingly simply and cheap) that allow the person to manage their ADD symptoms.
Generally speaking ADD is considered a learning disorder. Statistically however as a group, persons with ADD have on average a higher IQ than the population as a whole. One reason this fact is possible is that ADD has little to do with a persons cognative capacity (or inate inteligence) and more specifically everything to do with the persons ability for cognative procesing. In short the problem for a person with ADD is not inteligence, but more about focus and productively dealing with stimuli.
What are some signs of adult ADHD?
It would be unusual for an adult to suddenly get Attention Deficit Disorder as it is usually something that happens in childhood and carries through to adulthood. Adults with ADD / ADHD struggle daily with self-regulation, regulating their attention, regulating their impulses in talking and action, and regulating their emotions.
But this condition needs to be diagnosed by a doctor as there are other disorders that have similar symptoms.
