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HIGH ENERGY, LACK OF FOCUS DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN YOUR CHILD HAS ADHD! (3274 hits)

For Immediate Release From CHADD!

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - As the mom of an elementary schoolboy, I hear a lot of talk about ADHD. But what is it exactly? How do you tell the difference between a kid who just has a ton of energy and one who has a problem that needs to be addressed? Are there things that put a child at risk for ADHD?

ANSWER: Awareness of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/adhd/symptoms-causes/syc-20350889?mc_id=us&utm_source=newsnetwork&utm_medium=l&utm_content=content&utm_campaign=mayoclinic&geo=national&placementsite=enterprise&cauid=100721), or ADHD, has grown significantly over the past 20 years. The number of children diagnosed with ADHD has grown substantially, too. But it’s wise to be cautious about labeling all high-energy children, or children who have some difficulty focusing, with ADHD. There isn’t one test that can diagnose ADHD definitively, but there are criteria that health care providers can use to identify this disorder.

ADHD is a chronic condition that involves problems with inattention or distraction, hyperactivity and impulsive behavior. Some people use the term ADHD casually for any child who has trouble focusing on a task for long or one who can sustain high levels of activity for a long time. But it’s helpful to recognize that most healthy people are occasionally inattentive, hyperactive or impulsive.

For example, it’s normal for preschoolers to have short attention spans and be unable to stick with one activity. Even in older children and teens, attention span can vary throughout the day. Young children also are naturally energetic. They often have plenty of energy left long after their parents are worn out. And some children simply enjoy a higher level of activity than others. Children should never be classified as having ADHD just because they’re different from their friends or siblings.

A critical distinction between typical childhood behaviors and those of ADHD is that ADHD symptoms consistently and significantly disrupt daily life and relationships. Children with ADHD don’t have it only in one environment. If a child has significant problems at school but is fine at home — or the other way around — something other than ADHD is going on. Two other key characteristics of ADHD behaviors are that they begin when a child is young (before age 12), and they last more than six months.

Children who have a parent or sibling with ADHD tend to have a higher risk of developing the disorder than children who don’t have that family history. The same is true of children who experience a complex medical condition early in life. For example, children who were born prematurely tend to develop ADHD more often than other children.

Read the ful article HERE!: http://www.healthnewsdigest.com/news/adhd0...