What Does an Attention Deficit Disorder Support Group Do?

(Attention Deficit Disorder) Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is commonly known as ADHD, and its causes are many. It is common in children and adolescents, and even continues to adulthood. In recent years, due to environmental and educational factors, the incidence of attention deficit disorder (ADD) has been increasing year by year. In the United States, about three to five percent of children suffer from attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder. It is difficult for the patient to concentrate on one thing. They may be too active. What Is Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)? Without proper treatment, it can adversely affect children's ability to learn and relationships with friends and family.

Attention deficit disorder

(Attention Deficit Disorder) Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is commonly known as ADHD, and its causes are many. It is common in children and adolescents, and even continues to adulthood. In recent years, due to environmental and educational factors, the incidence of attention deficit disorder (ADD) has been increasing year by year. In the United States, about three to five percent of children suffer from attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder. It is difficult for the patient to concentrate on one thing. They may be too active. What Is Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)? Without proper treatment, it can adversely affect children's ability to learn and relationships with friends and family.

nickname

Attention deficit disorder

TCM disease name

ADHD in children

English alias

Attention Deficit Disorder

Common symptoms

Inattention, poor grades, scribbled writing

Inattentiveness, poor grades, scribbled writing, too much activity, and children showing impulsive willfulness, backlash, unkindness, lack of self-restraint or naive, quirky, purposeless and playful, truant, fight ; Even lying, stealing, etc., no matter how educated will not help. With the increase of age, due to poor self-control, they are susceptible to adverse effects and temptations. Fighting, lying, stealing, and even embracing crimes may occur.

The following characteristics are mainly "attention":

1. Often unable to pay attention to details, making careless mistakes in homework, work or other activities;

2. It is difficult to maintain concentration in doing things or activities;

3. When others talk to him, they often show that they are not listening;

4. It is often difficult to complete things according to instructions, unable to complete homework, housework or work (not because of opposite behavior or inability to understand instructions);

5. Frequent difficulties with organizational work or planning activities;

6. Frequently evades or dislikes activities or work that require thought;

7. Often forget things (such as books or things needed for work);

8. It is easy to be disturbed;

9. Often forget what to do every day.

The following features are mainly "overdrive":

1. When sitting, I often feel embarrassed, playing with hands or feet, or constantly twisting my body;

2. Standing up often when you need to sit, or leaving a chair in class;

3. Running around or being overactive in inappropriate situations (if you are a teenager or an adult, you feel restless) 4. It is difficult to play or work quietly;

5. Always can't calm down, always doing something, or moving constantly;

6. Extremely loves speaking.

The following characteristics are mainly "impulsive":

1. Before someone else asks the question, rush to say the answer;

2. Can't wait for his turn;

3. Often interrupts things / conversations in inappropriate situations.

A survey of 1,292 juveniles who have committed crimes in the country has found that 978 of them have been diagnosed with ADHD during school age, with a prevalence rate of 75%. In some cases, defects in personality and behavior remain after adulthood. This is attention deficit disorder (

(A) Attention Disorder

Easily distracted when engaged in an activity. Therefore, during the class, as long as he heard a little noise in the classroom, his eyes immediately followed the sound, someone walked outside the window and immediately turned his head to look around. Due to distractions, there is always carelessness and error in completing work tasks or learning tasks. In particular, some detailed tasks that require patience to observe and complete are more error-prone. Often lose things and lose school supplies such as books, pencils, and stationery boxes or daily necessities. Doing homework and procrastination is also a common symptom of this kind of children. They only do homework for one hour. They often procrastinate, drink water, go to the toilet, and play for a while. It ca nt be completed in 2 to 3 hours. Parents need He was constantly urged by the side, and even the examination was not completed due to lack of attention.

(B) poor impulse control

Poor impulsive control is manifested by poor patience, unable to wait, and low tolerance for setbacks. Therefore, often people have to answer before they have finished speaking. When communicating with others, do nt listen to what others say before you intervene. The inability to listen patiently to others is often a prominent feature of these children. Carelessness in the exam, never check and check, often throw away some questions or make mistakes in the calculation of the correct results, or even turn the back of the test paper before looking at it, resulting in poor test results. In group games or competitions, you ca nt follow the rules of the game, you ca nt wait to take turns in order, but cut in line first. Frequent interference with other children's activities, conflict with peers, unpopular.

(3) Excessive activity

More active than other children, energetic and unable to calm down. When walking instead of walking in the middle of the road, you hop around the road, or walk around obstacles. Run fast without fear of danger when crossing the road. Even in public places that need to be quiet, it is not quiet, and always let the adults hold a string for him, worrying about their safety.

In school, class is not quiet, do small movements, play with stationery, books, and use your hands to dial the neighbors to make noise. After class, I stayed quietly in the classroom, always chasing and shouting with other classmates inside and outside the classroom, shouting loudly, which seriously affected the school order.

(Four) learning difficulties

The sacrifice of academic performance. Grades are often highly volatile. Parents and teachers rise when they are under strict control, and then fall to a trough after relaxing management.

(5) Abnormal sensory function

Activities such as flipping palms are not flexible, holding chopsticks, holding a pen to write, button buttons, tying shoelaces, and doing manual operations are awkward. Eyeballs are slightly tremor, eye movements are not coordinated when reading, and words with similar radicals are confused when recognizing words, such as 6 and 9, it is difficult to distinguish between b and p.

(6) Problems of conduct

Disobey parents' orders at home, deliberately fight with parents, violate school discipline at school, lie, fight, truant, skip school, go out, etc.

(7) Social problems

About half of children with ADHD often feel lonely at school and feel that they have no friends. The reason for these problems is that in their interactions with their friends, they are often self-centered, give orders to others, and interfere with others' games; they often lack social skills, do not respect their elders, cannot cooperate with their friends, and do not follow the rules when playing , They ca nt wait in turn; they ca nt observe the feelings of others, for example, they ca nt change the topic in time when they are joking and cause others to be angry; Attack method to solve ...

(8) Emotional problems

Emotional problems are also more common in children with ADHD, such as irritability, unhappiness. When they are unhappy, they are always angry, irritable, extreme, and even act against adults and attack others.

How can I tell if I have ADD?

Everyone has a time to get lost, but how can I tell if I have ADD? Where is this boundary? Under what circumstances do we need to worry about our absent-mindedness? Under what circumstances should we seek help from a psychologist? Experts believe that there are three aspects that need to be quantified to determine whether ADD is affected.

First: In the past 6 months, you must have "often" or "very frequently" 6 or more of the following 9 performances:

Inattention to details or frequent careless mistakes in work or life;

It is difficult to maintain concentration at work or play;

When others are talking to you, you don't pay attention to listening, and often go astray;

Failure to follow instructions and complete work;

Difficult to organize work and activities;

Avoidance, dislike, or reluctance to participate in work or activities that require sustained attention;

Loss of essentials for work or activities;

Easy to distract (mostly due to external stimuli);

Forget about daily activities.

Second: The above performance at least "often" or "very frequently" affected at least one or more of the following functions:

family life;

work;

social interaction;

Treat others in the community;

Educational activities;

Marital relationship;

management of money;

When driving;

leisure or entertainment;

When dealing with daily affairs.

Third: The above performance begins before the age of 7 (the widest standard begins before the age of 10) and continues into adulthood.

If your mental problem meets these three conditions, then you undoubtedly need the help of a psychologist, and the sooner the better.

Performance and characteristics of ADD

Personally, having ADD does not mean being overactive. On the contrary, people with ADD may be quite quiet or even serious. On the other hand, having ADD does not mean a slow response. Many ADD patients are talented, responsive, and very successful.

In addition to distractions, there are other symptoms suggesting you may be a potential ADD. For example, at work, you are very focused on the very challenging PROJECT, but you are not interested in the boring and boring parts; the home is even messed up. Sometimes it is the hard work that partially cures your "attention deficit." Therefore, people with attention deficit and disorder are often those with higher IQ.

Another situation is, for example, you are a highly creative person, always eager to paint and write novels, but you are unwilling to put into practice each time, because you always feel that you lack self-discipline or strong There are many excuses. What's more, you even suspect that you have mild depression. In fact, the real reason may be ADD. Patients with ADD generally have a strong desire for creativity, but it is precisely because of ADD that their creativity cannot be exerted, which leads to their depression. If you don't understand this early, ADD may really cause depression.

ADD is more of a temperament for people who are born with an optimistic personality than a disease. So don't worry about it, be brave to face your defects and actively improve it. Because only accepting yourself and being friends are the prerequisites for reshaping a new life. For those with ADD who are naturally depressed, they need to seek help from a psychologist in a timely manner.

1. Build a "support" system

Although women generally play the role of supporters in the family, as an ADD you need to build a support system for yourself. For example, you can find an ADD group online, post and join chat rooms.

2. Prioritize the sequence every day

If your most important thing is to accompany your children, then don't worry about how your house is organized and whether your clothes are finished. If the first priority is to ensure that the children are given dance lessons, then don't write about the dry cleaners on the road. Get yourself a LIST every morning after getting up in the morning, then focus on the most important things.

3. leave yourself some time

It is also important to give yourself time to rest and give yourself a quiet space. Even if it is only 10 minutes, close your eyes and take a deep breath. If you can forget the hustle and bustle around you, even for a few minutes, you will have the strength to continue.

4. Create an ADD-friendly environment

Make calendars, checklists, use small blackboards, PDAs, and laptops. In short, use all the tools to remind yourself of things to do to make your life easier and easier.

5. Smile and maintain a sense of humor

Review your life every week, think about the most "ADD" jokes you make, and laugh a lot. If you can maintain a sense of humor, as a panacea for yourself and the children of ADD, you may be able to reduce your stress.

6. Accept help, ask for help

Don't think about being "Superman." Admit it, there are times when you cannot support it. It is not shameful to seek help from others at this time.

7. Get in the habit of saying NO

ADD women always like to be over-committed. Always unconsciously say yes to all requirements. In the future, please say "I will consider" and reduce the number of commitments. Ask them to keep you informed of their important PROJECTs and dates, and then see if you have time to participate, instead of just agreeing to the results but not doing it.

8. Ask your doctor about PMS

Women with ADD always have more severe symptoms of PMS than ordinary people. Therefore, precautions in special periods should be stricter.

9. Educate people around you to receive ADD

Tell your husband and your close friends what ADD is and how it affects your life, persuade them to help you overcome the symptoms of ADD, help you take part of the responsibility and remind you in good faith, think about how to make your life more peaceful happy.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) was first discussed in the early 20th century. In 1902, an article by Dr. George Still, who was interested in childhood diseases, was published in London. He found that some children seemed to be unable to stop, their emotions were ups and downs, and they often caused trouble. The main characteristics of ADHD are inattention, overactivity, and impulsivity, but these symptoms often make it difficult for them to follow regular behaviors or maintain fixed performance. Dr. Steele believes that these children "have abnormalities in motion control." He wrote an article on the subject and published it in the British Medical Journal. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), published by the American Psychological Association, first described hyperactivity disorder in 1980 and called it "childhood hyperactivity abnormalities. After several revisions by related scholars, the term "attention deficit hyperactivity disorder" finally came into being, and its symptoms and diagnostic criteria have become increasingly clear. The fourth edition of the latest Diagnostic Manual for Mental Illness (DSM-IV) divides ADHD into three different types: "attention deficit", "overactive", and "attention deficit combined with overactive". In DSM-, attention deficit and hyperactivity / impulsivity each have 9 symptoms, and the diagnosis can be confirmed by meeting 6 or more symptoms. At the same time, every symptom must occur in more than one environment, such as at school and at home. Other conditions include that symptoms must be observed before the age of 7 and that no other psychological factors are responsible. The use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and functional scanning (FMRI, which analyzes blood flow in the brain) can help us understand the differences between ADHD patients and the general structure and functionality of the brain. At present, the most consistent data is the reduction in the size of the middle cerebellum (the cerebellar vermiform, located at the lower back of the brain) and the middle brain region (including part of the brain stem).

We used to think that ADHD is related to the prefrontal lobe of the brain. However, in fact, most people who suffer from ADHD are due to the cerebellum not functioning properly. Studies over the past 20 years have found that people with cerebellar dysplasia also have symptoms of ADHD. Functional scans also revealed low cerebellar activity in ADHD patients.

Harvard University research found that Ritalin (the most commonly used prescription drug) can increase ADHD activity in places with low cerebellar activity. We also know that ADHD does not occur alone, and often merges like dyslexia, developmental coordination difficulties, and even autism. This suggests that multi-region or single-region dysfunction in the brain may affect multi-region integration and connection. There are some independent studies that support these diagnoses, which are actually caused by cerebellar function.

We know that there are more and more children with ADHD. What is the prevalence of ADHD? With the gradual unification of ADHD diagnostic standards in the world, the prevalence of ADHD reported by scholars at home and abroad is now close, such as the United States 3.4-4.7%, Germany 3.9% -9.0%, Japan 4%, Australia 7.5% -11% , New Zealand 3.0%, Brazil 5.8%. In recent years, the prevalence of ADHD reported in various parts of China is about 1.3% -13.4%, such as Beijing 8.6%, Shanghai 4.0%, Tianjin 3.8%, Henan 10.2%, Harbin 6.9%, Jilin 10.8%, Hefei 10.6%, and Hunan 7.3 %, Guangzhou 1.3%. According to 7 large domestic surveys, the prevalence of ADHD in China is 4.31% -5.83%. At present, foreign scholars generally believe that the prevalence of ADHD is about 3% -6%. A rough estimate is that there are approximately 1,461-17.9 million children with ADHD in China!

ADHD is the most common psychological and behavioral disorder in childhood. It has attracted widespread attention from parents, teachers, medical workers and the whole society. After suffering from ADHD, especially in children with severe or comorbid conditions, if they cannot be diagnosed and treated in a timely manner, the condition will gradually worsen, which will not only affect their own study and life, but also cause extreme harm to families, schools and society. The great harm also brings a heavy burden on the family and society.

ADHD is a chronic process with symptoms that persist for many years, and may persist for life. About 70% of children's symptoms will last until adolescence, and 30% of children's symptoms will last for life. What's more, because childhood neglect can cause adults to have troubles in their work performance, daily life, or interpersonal interactions, so that they fall into lack of self-confidence, frustration, depression, unexplained grumpy, and even depression. . In addition, the risk of secondary or comorbid destructive behavior disorder and emotional disorder is also increased, and the risk of adult substance dependence, anti-social personality disorder, and crime may also increase.