Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is, without doubt, a subject of hot debate. Newspaper headlines scream accusations of turning our children into zombies. The nightly news raises speculation about misdiagnosis. TV commercials are asking us to talk to our doctor about ADHD. Yet, you also may have heard claim that ADHD is still largely under-diagnosed, many of them adults. This article debunks the myths, differentiates fact from speculation, and presents current research on the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of ADHD.
What is ADHD?
Most people are fairly familiar with ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, as a childhood disorder, but recent research indicates that children with ADHD grow up to become teenagers and adults with ADHD. And while core symptoms of the disorder do not change, the ways in which those symptoms manifest in adulthood can take on distinctly different characteristics.
ADHD is a mental disorder that affects four to six percent of the U.S. population. Although the exact nature and severity of symptoms vary from person to person, it is generally accepted that people with ADHD lack ability to focus attention, inhibit impulsiveness and, in some cases, control motor functioning. Only about two-thirds of people with the disorder have the overactive behavior component. This is why the generic term, ADD, is commonly used to refer to all types of ADHD, even among professionals.
ADHD is recognized as a disability under under federal legislation. (the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; the Americans with Disabilities Act; and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). Appropriate accommodations are made at school for children with ADHD and at work for adults with the disorder to help them become more efficient and productive.
Who's at Risk?
It was once thought that ADHD was primarily a childhood disorder. However, recent data now suggest that nearly 70 percent of children diagnosed with ADHD retain symptoms into adulthood . These symptoms often have a significant impact on family, work and personal relationships.
Research indicates that ADHD occurs in approximately three to five percent of school-age children and approximately two to four percent of adults. ADHD is more common among males. Three out of four children diagnosed are boys and two of every three adults are men. ADHD is found to exist in every country in which it has been studied. That list includes North America, South America, Great Britain, Scandinavia, Europe, Japan, China, Turkey, and the Middle East.