How to Know If You Have ADHD
Do you sometimes find it difficult to pay attention or focus? Or do you get easily distracted by extraneous stimuli?
ADHD is a brain disorder that can affect your ability to pay attention, focus and control your behavior. It’s a treatable condition that can improve your life. But you must have the right diagnosis to receive the right treatment.
What Are The Symptoms Of ADHD
ADHD is a disorder that affects how people focus on tasks and activities. It can have many symptoms, including inattention, hyperactivity-impulsivity or a combination of both.
The exact causes of ADHD are not known, but it is thought that genetic and environmental factors can affect brain development.
Children with ADHD often have difficulty sitting still and paying attention in school or at work. They may fidget or squirm, talk too much, or act out of control.
Diagnosis is usually made by a mental health professional, like a psychologist or psychiatrist, or by a primary care provider, like a pediatrician. It involves symptom testing and interviews, a thorough medical history and evaluation for conditions that commonly co-occur with ADHD, such as oppositional defiant disorder, anxiety, or mood disorders.
Causes Of ADHD
A child with ADHD has an underdeveloped frontal lobe, which impacts her ability to plan, change habits, and remember social cues. It also affects her ability to learn from mistakes and understand cause and effect.
Symptoms can begin as early as four years old. The disorder typically goes undiagnosed throughout childhood, and it is difficult to recognize as a problem if the symptoms are not addressed early on.
As a result, adults can often find themselves struggling with impulsive behavior, poor organizational skills, time management issues and difficulty in concentrating on work or school tasks.
People with ADHD can benefit from a number of treatment options, including behavioral coaching, individual therapy, self-help groups and medication. Treatment is often a collaborative effort between the patient, family and professionals.
Getting Diagnosed With ADHD
It’s not unusual for people to have ADHD symptoms for years and decades, but they may not be diagnosed until they start experiencing difficulties in everyday life. They might find that they’re struggling to maintain friendships or juggling their responsibilities at work.
To be diagnosed with adult ADHD, your doctor will look at your present symptoms and ask about any problems you had as a child. They may also want to check your old school records or talk with other adults who knew you well when you were a child.
A diagnosis of ADHD requires several criteria to be met, including that you have symptoms that began before age 12 and have continued for more than six months. Symptoms must also occur in more than one setting and cause impairment.
Risk Factors Of ADHD
ADHD is a common psychiatric disorder that affects 1-3% of children. It is a complex disorder with high comorbidity with developmental and learning difficulties, anxiety disorders, depression and other mental health conditions.
Biological: ADHD is associated with changes in the brain’s two attentional networks, which result from differences in the way certain neurotransmitters (chemicals in the brain that help control behavior) work. These include dopamine and norepinephrine.
Genetic: ADHD has been linked to variants in the dopamine transporter gene, which may increase risk of the disorder. Other gene-environment interactions have also been implicated.
Several studies have linked ADHD to the exposure to chemicals such as lead and organophosphate pesticides during childhood. These chemicals are commonly used in farming and may affect neurodevelopment.
Complications Of ADHD
If you have ADHD, it can make it hard to stay organized and focus. This can lead to frustration, a loss of self-confidence, and feelings of hopelessness.
You may also have trouble with relationships, work, and other daily activities. It can also affect your social skills and cause problems with impulsive behavior.
A doctor may start you on medicine to help with your symptoms. Your care team will monitor how well the medicine works and adjust your dose based on your response.
Medications usually have side effects, but these often go away in time. They can include jitteriness, irritability, moodiness, stomachaches, headaches, and high blood pressure. You should let the doctor know right away if you have any of these side effects.
