A student`s journey through Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD)

Posted by innoclazz on March 7th, 2020

In today`s world, everyone believe Education for all and a comfortable journey through the process of learning are mandatory. However, not everyone is same, say it in learning, behavior and temperament. Every child is entitled to be blessed with moments of joy, a feeling of worthiness, pranks, inquisitiveness, laughter and feeling of security throughout the channel of learning. Unfortunately, as we progress, our children are creeping slowly towards stress, burden, and a state of dilemma resulting in multitude of conditions that hinder their learning process. Every new milestone in a child`s life is turning into a bane because of mental illnesses such as ADHD, specific learning disorders, temper tantrum, rebellious behavior,  poor memory and the list is growing. Although most of the disorders can be managed or at least be suppressed to an extent, ADHD seems to be a serious condition resulting in prolonged mental deficit. This post is designed to explain the basic mechanism of ADHD, causes, symptoms, management and parental advice on the condition.

ADHD is the neurobiological impairment characterized by a state of uncontrolled impulsiveness, distractions, inability to focus, lack of concentration, unexplained over-active behavior (hyperactivity), frequent mood swings resulting in the overall slowness of development. Most of the times, parents blame, reject, taunt the child`s attitude because they think it is a deliberate act of the kid seeking for attention. However, ADHD has clear-cut underlying causes and a psychopathological mechanism that produce symptoms. More than the pathological significance, many social issues proliferate the condition furthermore. home tuition jobs near me

In India, there is a raise in the incidence and prevalence of ADHD among primary school children. About 11.32% of children of this age experience symptoms prominently. Among these, males are more prone sharing 66.7% and their counterparts (females) suffer 33.3%. The prevalence among lower socio-economic group was found to be 16.33% and that among middle socio-economic group was 6.84%. ADHD affects roughly 2.5% of adults

Causes of ADHD

1. ADHD is a heterogeneous behavioral disorder linked with many causes. Deficiency of the brain chemical such as catecholamine, disturbed glucose metabolism in the brain, head injury causing frontal lobe dysfunction.
2. Many studies have proved that genetic influences as a result of rare mutations, chromosomal aberrations and a defect in the human thyroid receptor gene found in chromosome 3 have contributed to the diseases. Dopamine transporter gene located on the chromosome 5, and D4 receptor gene on chromosome 11 also proved to be the causes in twins.
3. Some of the central nervous system infections caused by bacterium (meningitis and encephalitis) as well as Reye’s, chronic substance abuse during pregnancy, poor nutrition of pregnant mother, high risk child birth such as low birth weight baby and premature babies also are at high risk.
4. Some of the induced causes such as premature labor, forceps delivery, forceful delivery of head and neck, decreased oxygen supply due to delayed cry (anoxia) and several chronic viral infections contribute to ADHD.
5. Some studies suggest that the use of organic pollutants such as pesticides made up of, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) can result in ADHDs.
6. Several mental and neurological illnesses such as epilepsy, mental retardation, cerebral palsy can also cause this condition.
7. On the social front, adverse social and family environments that include single parent, low parental education, poverty, illiteracy, bullying , bad parenting, maltreatment and family discord are associated with ADHD.
8. Some kids express persistent feeling of anxiety, occasional fear, feeling tired easily.

Symptoms of ADHD

ADHD is syndrome in nature (many symptoms). Children suffer as a result of feeling disconnected from the world, show carelessness attitude, social isolation, and anguish. Many children lack the ability to concentrate and least attention to the details. Most typical symptom is, keep jumping into the new tasks before finishing the old ones hence they fail to complete the simple assignments given by the teacher at schools. Some chronic cases manifest by their poor organizational skills, for example, if we ask a child to keep their drawing or writing material into their specified location, they fail to do so. As the brain is disorganized, kids lack the ability to focus or prioritize their tasks. Some parents complain that their children continuously losing or misplacing their belongings such as pen, pencil, eraser and play toys things. Since the brain damage is evident in some cases, children suffer from amnesia – forgetfulness. Most prominent symptom is the hyperactivity associated with restlessness and edginess, excessive talking. If the ADHD coincides with other mental illnesses, then the severity of symptoms take toll. Young children with ADHD are highly rebellious, they can`t stay silent and some children talk irrelevantly. 75% of the cases present with mood swings, poor coping with stress, extreme impatience, and high risk behaviors.

Managing children with ADHD

Treatment is based on multidimensional approach associated with Individual Psychotherapy, family therapy, social therapies, behavioral therapies, medicines, counselling and specific symptom management. Both the parents and teachers must remember the principle that accept the child but not necessarily the behavior. Remember that all behavior has meaning. At any cost, do not criticize the child and it is better to avoid discussing symptoms with the child unless it is necessary. Being empathetic by understanding the child's feelings and point of view is helpful in tackling the phenomenon. Individual psychotherapy should address poor self-concept, inattentiveness, depression, extreme dependency and poor communication. In a family therapy, the family should completely devote their time to understand the mechanism.  Children and adolescents may benefit by attending group counselling. Peer relationships play an important part in group therapy because peers often help each other by exchanging information, identifying with the group, expressing feelings openly, and suggesting solutions to problems.  Play therapy provide an opportunity to act out feelings such as anger, hostility, frustration, and fear. On the other hand, behavioral therapy attempts to alter a client's behavior and modify or remove symptoms such as temper tantrums or bed-wetting.

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