ADHD Awareness Month: What is ADHD?
October is ADHD Awareness Month, a month dedicated to educating individuals and giving reliable information on the disorder.
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects roughly 9.4% of children and 4.4% of adults in the United States alone. Among many other things, the disorder can inhibit an individual’s ability to keep still or pay attention for long periods of time.
An individual with ADHD will experience various symptoms, and no two people with ADHD are bound to have the exact same effects of the disorder. Those who may suspect that they have ADHD should contact their healthcare provider for the next step of diagnosis. Diagnoses can be determined by a psychiatrist, psychologist, or primary care physician. Some symptoms of ADHD include (but are not limited to):
Being easily distracted
Excessively talking
Squirming or fidgeting
Difficulty staying organized or staying on task
Difficulty sleeping
Difficulty being on time
Little to no attention to detail
Trouble regulating emotions
Sensory issues
Impulsivity and recklessness
While many of these symptoms are the most prevalent among those with the disorder, individuals can still have it even if symptoms are not outwardly exposed. For example, ADHD is commonly associated with boys, while girls are more likely to go most of their lives undiagnosed. Girls, who are reprimanded much earlier for rambunctious tendencies than boys, learn to mask their disorder from an early age and are usually less hyperactive as a result. ADHD in an adult can also be hard to diagnose, since their hyperactivity is usually less noticeable, and many healthcare providers want proof of ADHD from childhood.
Lifestyle editor, Paige Singer, was diagnosed with ADHD at 18 and says that when she was a little girl she never paid attention in class and spent much of it daydreaming. She wasn’t aware that wasn’t normal, and because she wasn’t disruptive in class she ended up missing out on treatment that would have helped her throughout childhood. Instead, she was given a bipolar misdiagnosis, which is a common occurrence due to the emotional regulation issues causing outbursts in children who do not know how to properly handle their emotions.
Undiagnosed ADHD can be a problem in itself, but may also lead to other problems. Roughly 80% of individuals with ADHD may also develop other psychiatric disorders in their life such as depression, anxiety, or OCD. There is even a much higher likelihood of developing an eating disorder for those diagnosed with ADHD, most commonly binge eating disorder.
Treatment options for ADHD can vary depending on factors such as age and severity. For many children, treatment can include medication, behavioral therapy, or behavioral interventions if needed. For ADHD in teens, adolescents, and adults, The ADA recommends behavioral therapy or sometimes psychotherapy, along with medication, if needed.
For more information including symptoms, treatment, and statistics,, please visit “What is ADHD?”.
