Today’s post is a guest post from Everyday Health.
We have all heard the acronym ADHD banded around, but do we actually know what it is and what it entails? This brief article is intended to teach you a little more about ADHD and how to cope if you or your child is living with it.
For starters ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and it refers to a spectrum of behavioural problems associated with a poor attention span. These are generally things like restlessness, hyperactivity or impulsiveness, things which many young children have. The difference is that these behaviours often hinder the sufferer’s ability to learn and socialize properly.
If you thing you have ADHD, or your child does, then you may recognise some of the following symptoms.
1. Hyperactivity. There are a number of things that hyperactivity can cause you do. You may find it tricky keeping your hands and feet still or to not move around on your chair. Situations were you are required to sit are also hard, as it is tempting to move about.
If it is a child living with ADHD they may run around a lot or spend a lot of time climbing in and out or over things. Adults won’t do this as much, but they may just like or feel they need to be active, or possibly they are often agitated.
These symptoms will not just happen once, but for an extended period of time and to the extent of not being natural for someone of that age or with that intelligence.
2. Attention difficulties. When you are living with ADHD you may find that you get easily distracted. You might sometimes forget what you are meant to be doing or fail to follow instructions.
As hard as you try, you often end up not being able to pay close attention, which can lead to mistakes at work. Work may not get finished and you may find it hard to look like you are listening when people are speaking to you.
3. Impulsiveness. ADHD can make it hard for you to figure out when to talk and when to refrain from talking. You may find that in social situations you talk incessantly. Where as most people know when to let others speak, you may struggle with that. Likewise it might be hard for you not blurt out answers before the appropriate time.
There are various things that could be the cause of ADHD, but as yet no definitive cause has been isolated. Biological and environmental factors can play a big part. Your diet is also thought to play apart in ADHD. Various studies have shown that their is a link between hyperactivity and foods with artificial food colours, specifically the preservative sodium benzoate.
Other research suggests that social factors make a difference to your behaviour, for example, because of dysfunctional family life or feelings of inadequacy within the education system. It is thought that our relationship with our care-givers has a huge impact on our attentional and self-regulatory abilities.
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