What is ADHD?

How does ADHD work? You may have heard it before, or know people who have it but do you know what it is or how it works?

Causes of ADHD:

As the CDC states, the main causes of ADHD aren’t known for sure, but the CDC also states that genetics may be a main cause. In addition, another reason might be tobacco and alcohol use during pregnancy. Brian injury is also stated as a cause for ADHD in the CDC list of causes. One more cause that the CDC says is premature delivery (born earlier than supposed to).

Symptoms of ADHD:

The symptoms for ADHD as stated by the NHS (National Health Service) of the United Kingdom are short attention span and getting easily distracted, being unable to concentrate, and appearing forgetful or losing things. Short attention and getting easily distracted works because people with ADHD pay attention in short periods of time and get distracted by things other people wouldn’t notice. Being unable to concentrate works because people with ADHD either can’t focus on what they’re doing or can’t pay attention to what they’re doing for long periods of time. Appearing forgetful and losing things works by giving people with ADHD a hard time remembering things or making it really easy for ADHD people to lose their things really easily.

Treatment of ADHD:

Treatment of ADHD is really confusing. The best way I can explain is that there is no cure for ADHD. There are only ways to make it less effective and these treatments are Medication, behavioral therapy, parent training, and finally educational support. These treatments are used as stated by CHADD, an organization that provides help to people with ADHD. 

The first treatment of ADHD is medication, most commonly pills which are called Adderall and Clonidine. Adderall is used for making it easier to focus and concentrate with people with ADHD. Clonidine is effectively a sleeping pill because some people with ADHD are really hyper and have a really hard time getting to sleep. 

Behavioral therapy works by having a Behavior interventionist note down your behavior and then you go to therapy where goals are set for you to meet. Educational support works in many ways. One is having a behavioral interventionist (or BI) or one-on-one. These are people who keep an eye on people with ADHD by reminding them to focus or by helping them in their work. These are the two of the many ways a BI helps people with ADHD. 

Our final treatment is parent training with ADHD. This works by having your parents get a book or going to classes to learn how to deal with ADHD and helping give you a normal life. The process goes like this. First you have to be confirmed to have ADHD by a professional. After, your parents will go to classes or get books to learn how to deal with ADHD properly. Those are the steps how parent training works.

Conclusion:

My conclusion with ADHD is that ADHD is a medical problem that can’t be cured, but there are treatments like medication or behavioral interventionists in which people with ADHD have a somewhat normal life. The actual cause of ADHD is not known but genetics are suspected to be the main reason. ADHD does have symptoms but it varies with each person. This is my conclusion and explanation of ADHD. I hope you liked it!