The nature of each child has its own characteristics. One likes to sit quietly in the corner and read, while the other prefers noisy games with friends. But everything has a limit, so at some point, mothers of too playful children can hear about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Should I be scared?
ADHD - what is it?
Children are naughty - every mother knows that. But excessive activity may have some medical reasons. The attention deficit disorder in primary school children is a complex of certain symptoms that prevent them from successfully learning. Such guys are impulsive, constantly distracted, and concentration on one task for them is a very big problem.
Modern science believes that this is a disease that has some causes. In the United States and Canada, the classification of psychiatric diseases is used for diagnosis. But do not immediately get scared and think that the doctors in this case will try to transfer the child to a specialized school. As a rule, there is no reason for this. However, this condition should not be completely ignored either - the absence of any measures may have consequences in the future, such as problems with normal integration into society, poor performance, and complexes, poor relationships with parents and teachers, and so on. . Fortunately, there have long been methods for correcting this feature, including medication.
Syndrome History
For the first time a description of a condition resembling attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was found in the records of the German psychiatrist Heinrich Hoffmann-Donner, dated 1846. However, it was not done in a scientific journal, but only in a children's book dedicated to the son of a scientist.
The first official mention of this condition was made in 1902 by the English pediatrician George Steel, who observed children with behavioral problems, including a tendency to excessive mobility and destructive activity. It was he who suggested that the fault was not a bad upbringing, but a dysfunction of the central nervous system. From that moment, an active study of ADHD began. What it is is not entirely clear so far.
By the middle of the twentieth century, overly mobile and distracted children began to be diagnosed with minimal cerebral dysfunction, but in the early 80s, attention deficit disorder was separately distinguished from this rather broad concept. Treatment was also found, but we need to talk about it separately.
Varieties
In 1990, a classification was proposed that distinguishes at first glance two diametrically opposite manifestations of the same state. Conventionally, they were called HD and ADD. The first group included motor disinhibited children with poor concentration, impulsive and having difficulty controlling their behavior. In other patients, on the contrary, hypoactivity, lethargy, rapid fatigue and loss of concentration are observed.
Prevalence
It is difficult to talk about how urgent the problem is associated with attention deficit disorder, since there are no uniform diagnostic standards. In different countries, the most diverse figures are given: in the USA - 4-13%, in Germany - 9-18%, in the Russian Federation - 15-28%, in the UK - 1-3%, in China - 1-13%, etc. e. Adults with similar problems are not taken into account, so real statistics can be even more impressive. It is also noted that among girls this problem is much less common than among boys. Recent ADHDs are diagnosed 3 times more often.
Signs
In the scientific literature, up to 100 different manifestations characteristic of ADHD are distinguished. But the main thing remains that: a reduced concentration of attention, hyperactivity and a tendency to destructive activity. As already mentioned, lethargy and general hypotension can also speak of one of the varieties of this problem. Also, in the general case, memory impairments, obsessive movements, lack of self-care skills and the development of fine motor skills, lack of independence, impulsivity, sudden and frequent mood changes, increased irritability and irritability can be observed. In any case, noting that the child’s behavior is very different from what almost all his peers do and how, you can and should even consult a doctor, at least for your own peace of mind.
Causes of occurrence
If earlier the reasons for such behavior were explained by gaps in education, then in recent years it has been talked about that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can stem from the characteristics of the development of the body, namely, the nervous system. The fact is that the brain continues to form after the birth of the baby. Moreover, the most active period of his work falls on the second to fifth years of his life. Of course, this process continues even later, but for all, the maturation of the central nervous system occurs at different times.
On the other hand, monitoring children with ADHD has shown that they, especially the ADD species, in the process of tense solving a problem, the blood circulation of the frontal lobe of the brain decreases. Moreover, the stronger the child tried to focus on the task, the more pronounced the decline. Another hypothesis is associated with the transfer of intrauterine hypoxia, which responded years later in this way. There is a theory explaining this condition by a violation of catecholamine metabolism. Someone even believes that this feature is inherited, arguing that the characteristic changes in the structure of genes. However, despite various assumptions, the exact answer to the question "ADHD - what is it" from the point of view of pathogenesis remains a mystery.
Diagnostics
As already mentioned, attention deficit disorder can mean a variety of symptoms. And since no signs of the disease, except for behavioral problems, have yet been identified, doctors are forced to rely on extremely unstable soil. There is no unified method of diagnosis; in the USA and Canada, their questionnaires are used, and in the Old World, their own. Moreover, some of the criteria in both cases may correspond to the behavior of a perfectly healthy, but, for example, extremely distracted child. The characteristic of preschool age confirms this completely: the formation of personality can occur in completely different ways, so the diagnosis should be carried out by a very competent and experienced specialist.
However, with questionnaires alone, in case of doubt, the matter is not complete. In the diagnosis of ADHD, tomography, electroneuromyography and emission spectrometry are used, as well as practically familiar EEG, electroencephalography. All this helps to better study conditions in which there is a lack of attention.
Treatment
Methods for correcting the state of hyperactivity and attention deficit are divided into medication and others. The former are mostly used abroad, and the latter are usually much closer to many Russian mothers who do not want to stuff their baby with medicines again. Parents in Europe and America, by contrast, usually use non-drug methods only when the drugs are powerless.
Most often, the doctor selects a complex of drugs from the groups of psychostimulants, tranquilizers, tricyclic antidepressants and nootropics. In international practice, two drugs have proven effective in treating ADHD: Ritalin and Amitriptyline and their analogues.
Non-drug therapy is also successful with its correct and consistent use. First of all, it is necessary to reconsider the child’s lifestyle in terms of his circle of contacts and activities. Games are better to choose calm, without a strong emotional component, and partners in them - balanced and unperturbed. Psychotherapy is also successfully applied, during which there is a correction of the child's attitude to learning, environment. Activities that promote relaxation and relieve anxiety have a beneficial effect on ADHD. In certain situations, family therapy will not be superfluous - studies show that diagnosed attention deficit disorder in children increases the risk of depression in mothers by about 5 times.
Although both approaches are good in their own way, the best results are still achieved by combining them.
Prevention
Not knowing the authentic causes that cause attention deficit in children, it is difficult to talk about measures to prevent it. Of course, it makes sense for expectant mothers to carefully monitor their condition, and after childbirth - for the development of the child. Many neurologists believe that the symptoms of ADHD can be noticed at about 3-5 years old, and sometimes even in the first year of life. From the moment of detection of these signs, you can start the correction according to non-drug treatment methods - in any case, they will not harm any child. One need only remember that in children with attention deficit a rather peculiar brain function is observed: after 3-5 minutes of activity, it needs a break.
Forecast
As a rule, by adolescence, attention deficit disorder is somehow over. But this does not mean that ADHD does not require treatment and goes away by itself. His ignoring is fraught with, if not neurological, then psychological problems. By the age of 14-15, a child can get low self-esteem, knowledge gaps, lack of friends. Given that during this period he will go through a difficult time for himself, a kind of crisis, there is no need to ignore the manifestations of ADHD, because this can greatly complicate further social adaptation. In addition, studies show that in 30-70% of cases, certain clinical symptoms of the syndrome are also observed at an older age.
Adult Disorders
Yes, this happens not only with children. Contrary to popular belief, ADHD is no longer a characteristic of preschool or adolescence, this diagnosis can be applied to an adult. Doctors are still reluctant to admit this, attributing the disorganization, forgetfulness and constant lateness to the character warehouse and lack of willpower. But, as already mentioned, in 30-70% of cases in children with a diagnosis of ADHD, certain problems will be observed later.
Features of activity at an older age, however, leave their mark, so that attention disorders can not be expressed quite like in a child:
- “freezing” during the execution of a case or conversation;
- impaired concentration of attention;
- difficulty concentrating on the task;
- poor auditory memory, problems with the reproduction of information obtained orally;
- tendency to ignore details, even important ones.
There is another side to the coin. Sometimes people with ADHD can fall into a so-called state of over-concentration. At the same time, focusing on one thing can make a person forget about time and other things. As for hyperactivity, as a rule, in adults it is much less pronounced.