ADHD F.A.Q.
Frequently Asked Questions about ADHD:
“How can you tell if your child really has ADHD?”
The most common way to evaluate a child for ADHD is to first interview the parents in order to obtain a complete family psychiatric history, a description of the child’s behaviors, and information about the pregnancy, delivery and early development. Parents and teachers are also asked to complete symptom checklists. In order to diagnose ADHD a child must also be significantly impaired. In my work with families, I find that most parents who have children with ADHD have a reasonable idea what the problem is before they come to see me.
“What are positive effects of medication? Negative effects?”
Positive effects include a reduction in hyperactivity, impulsivity, and distractibility. People have the ability inhibit thoughts so that they can stay focused on one topic. Negative effects include decreased appetite, insomnia, stomach aches, and headaches. Sometimes the medication can increase tics. Some children appear to have their personalities depressed when the take stimulant medications. This appears to be unusual. If one experiences negative effects, sometimes they just go away as you get used to the medication. If not, you can ask your physician to try another medication.
“Doesn’t it seem like ADHD is a modern day epidemic? Is ADHD even real?”
ADHD is a real neurological disorder. People with ADHD have a lower level of brain activity in a part of their brains. Some structural differences have also been identified. In the past, children who could not succeed in school, could work on the family farm or some other job which was more ADHD friendly. We now have fewer jobs available which work well for people with ADHD. It is being identified frequently now since we are looking for it, are more sophisticated in our ability to identify it, and also because we make greater demands on younger children than we did in the past. ADHD was first identified over 100 years ago and has been treated with stimulant medications for over 60 years. In fact using stimulants to treat ADHD was the beginning of child psychopharmacology.
More on the way!
Tags: ADHD, adhd help, adhd in children, adhd specialist, adhd symptoms, attention defecit, hyperactivity disorder
