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Attention Deficit Disorder: Children
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Ritalin and other ADD and ADHD medications do improve short-term behavior and school performance in many children with ADD and ADHD symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder and Ritalin is a convenient way to handle hard-to-handle kids. But, Ritalin and other ADD and ADHD medications ... have many potentially harmful side effects.
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Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition characterized by inattention and/or impulsivity and hyperactivity that begins in children prior to the age of seven. Their inattention leads to daydreaming, distractibility, and difficulties sustaining effort on a single task for a prolonged period of time. Their impulsivity disrupts classrooms and creates problems with peers, as they blurt out answers, interrupt others, or shift from schoolwork to inappropriate activities. Their hyperactivity is frustrating to those around them and poorly tolerated at school. Children with ADHD show academic underachievement and conduct problems. As they grow older, they are at risk for low self-esteem, poor peer relationships, conflict with parents, delinquency, smoking, and substance abuse.
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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most misunderstood, misdiagnosed and incorrectly managed disorders. It is ... one of the most commonly diagnosed child psychiatric disorders. According to the Centers for Disease Control's new National Resource Center for ADHD, it affects 4-6 percent of school-age children, and between 2-4 percent of adults. It is diagnosed more frequently in boys as in girls, perhaps because girls may have less of a tendency to be hyperactive. ADHD can affect relationships and school performance, thereby leading to self esteem problems. It may contribute to learning, social and emotional difficulties as well as career problems.
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Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a developmental condition of inattention and distractibility, with or without accompanying hyperactivity. In the past, various terms were used to describe this condition, including hyperactive syndrome and, from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition (DSM-III), "minimal brain dysfunction." In the revised DSM-III, this condition was renamed ADHD. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV-TR), adults or children must have had an onset of symptoms before age 7 years that caused significant social or academic impairment. More recently, attention has focused on adult forms of ADHD, which probably have been underdiagnosed.
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Attention Deficit Disorder and Ritalin have become almost synonymous. Up to 90% of children who are first diagnosed with ADD receive a prescription for Ritalin. At least a dozen other drugs are prescribed for these symptoms as well. There has been a 500% increase in the use of Ritalin alone since 1991. Short- term use of these medications is associated with a 70 to 80% improvement in symptoms. So naturally, it appears that the drugs have solved the problem.
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Attention Deficit Disorder or ADD was first noted as early as the mid 19th century, but of course it wasn’t given this name until decades later. It was always thought that poor parenting skills were to blame for the unruly unmanageable child, and the saying “spare the rod spoil the child” was used quite frequently in regard to this type of child. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, ADD is the most commonly diagnosed disorder in children with symptoms that can carry on into adulthood; between 3-5% of all children have ADD and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). ADD is typically characterized by inattention or the inability to focus on one subject for any length of time and high distractibility, whereas ADHD is demonstrated by these symptoms in addition to hyperactivity, the inability to sit still, restlessness, fidgeting, and impulsiveness or reacting rather than acting, blurting out answers even when inappropriate, and making decisions without considering the consequences.
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