What you need to know about ADHD
ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. ADHD is one of the most common disorders; it is usually first diagnosed in childhood and often lasts till adulthood. ADHD causes symptoms like having trouble paying attention, controlling impulsive behaviors and being overly active.
People suffering from ADHD find it hard to concentrate on a subject, due to failure of which it is tough for them to eliminate small mistakes which they make in everyday activities. They also find it difficult to follow detailed instructions, organizing tasks and planning schedules.
The people with ADHD are easily distracted by little things around, external stimuli and often lose things. They are likely to leave working projects unfinished and usually have poor listening skills.
Some tasks that adolescents with ADHD may have trouble with on a daily basis include:
- Focusing on homework, school and assignments
- Reading cues
- Maintaining personal hygiene
- Helping with chores at home
- Time management
- Driving safely
There are three kinds of ADHD, predominantly inattentive, predominantly hyperactive-impulsive and a combination of both.
Predominantly Inattentive
- As the name suggests, people with this type of ADHD may have extreme difficulty in focusing, & finishing tasks and following instructions.
- This type is most common among girls who have ADHD.
Predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type
- People with this type of ADHD show primarily hyperactive, restless, and impulsive behavior. This can include constant fidgeting, interrupting people while talking and not being able to have patience.
- Although inattentiveness is less of a concern with this type of ADHD, people with predominantly hyperactive-impulsive ADHD may still find difficulty focusing on tasks.
Combination ADHD
- This is a mixture of both predominantly inattentive and predominantly hyperactive-impulsive types.
- The person suffering from this condition has problems in concentrating as well as contains impulsive behaviour.
What is ADD?
ADD stands for Attention Deficit Disorder. It is a neurological disorder which causes diversified behavioural problems like, focusing on school, completing assignments & tasks, following instructions, social interactions etc. Earlier, ADD was classified as, the people who have problems paying attention but aren’t hyperactive.
How ADD is different from ADHD?
ADHD was referred to as ADD in the past, however, both disorders are an attention deficit disorder. ADD is the subtype of ADHD. A person with ADHD shows hyperactivity and impulsivity, on the other hand, a person with ADD shows mainly inattentive behaviour. A person with ADD has no symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity and carries complaints of distractibility, disorganization, procrastination and forgetfulness.
ADHD in Adults
For most people, ADHD symptoms decrease or can become less frequent as they grow older. Untreated ADHD in adults may have a negative impact on many aspects of their career and life. Symptoms such as trouble in time management, forgetfulness, restlessness, and impatience can cause problems at work, home and in all types of relationships.
ADHD in Children
One in ten children between the ages of 5 to 17 years is diagnosed with ADHD, making this one of the most common childhood disorders. For children, ADHD is usually associated with problems at school. Children with ADHD face difficulties in a controlled classroom setting.
- Unable to focus: The people suffering from ADHD find it difficult to concentrate which often results in inattentiveness in class or while performing an activity. They might have a habit of forgetting or losing things.
- Overly Active: An individual who suffers from ADHD is unable to sit calm or quiet; he might do excessive talking and physical movement. A low patience level has been found in a person as a symptom.
- Emotional ferment: A person finds it hard to control his emotions, he may get aggressive in certain situations.
- Daydreaming: It isn’t necessary for the person to be boisterous; he might be quieter and full of thoughts. A child with ADHD might stare at the sky or space, day dream and unable to focus on what’s happening around.
- Balanced diet: One must keep a healthy diet routine to keep the body’s metabolism strong and boosting. The person must avoid eating junk as much as possible and start consuming healthy food.
- Exercise: Exercising and performing physical activity can be extremely helpful to the person suffering from ADHD. One must exercise or do physical activities for at least an hour every day.
- Get enough sleep: Giving rest to the body and eyes is a symbol of calming down the nerves of a person. It helps one to keep a collective mind and positive attitude, one must rest as much as the body requires.
- Limit your screen time (mobiles, t.v.): Excessive use of electronic gadgets like, t.v., mobile phones and computers harm the body and potentially unstable the mind of a person.
- Spending time outdoors: Spending more time outdoors helps a person to calm down and ease the ADHD symptoms. Fresh air in the morning helps a person to relax the body and have self-possession.
- Meditation: Meditation helps a lot in keeping the mind calm and collective, it escalates the potential to concentrate and increases focus of a person.
In children and adults, meditation has shown positive effects on attention and thought processes, as well as on stress, anxiety, and depression.
Avoiding specific allergens, frozen food, food additives and also eating freshly cooked food can be the potential ways to help reduce ADHD.
- If a person has ADHD, a consistent schedule with a proper structure may be very helpful.
- For adults, making a list, keeping a calendar and setting reminders can be helpful.
- For children, it can be helpful to focus on writing down homework and keeping their daily items such as books, toys, bags in assigned spots.