Behavioral Mental Illness: ADHD

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For my research project I chose to study ADHD. Last spring I was diagnosed with ADHD and I decided that now would be a good time to learn more about the disease. ADHD is prevalent in family, as well as the population as a whole. In my family, 4 out of 5 of my paternal grandparent’s biological grandchildren have been diagnosed with ADHD. This disease also affects the world. An estimated 7-8% of children and 4-5% of adults in America have been diagnosed with ADHD. ADHD is a behavioral mental illness that is characterized by “distractibility, inattentiveness, restlessness, and impulsivity”. Yet everyone who suffers from ADHD does not suffer all the same symptoms. This difference in symptoms resulted in the creation of three different types of ADHD. One type of ADHD is Inattentive ADHD. As the name implies people with this version of ADHD suffer from an inability to focus when attempting to complete tasks, but they do not suffer from hyperactivity or impulsive decision making. People suffering from this form of ADHD have difficulties focusing on simple tasks such as “listening to a lecture, completing an assignment, following or carrying on a conversation, or reading social cues”1. Their constant distractibility often “causes problems with short-term memory, organization, and time management”1. Yet people with Inattentive ADHD can go into a state of hyperfocus when they’re participating in an activity that they enjoy. When they go into this hyperfocus state, they become unaware of the world beyond that activity including the passing of time or movement around them. A second form of ADHD is Hyperactive/Impulsive ADHD. This form of the disease is characterized by restlessness, excessive talking, impulsivity and extreme im... ... middle of paper ... ...xing the problem. I think this information will be extremely helpful for people all over the world because so often people with ADHD go undiagnosed and if they were to be diagnosed then they could get the help that they need. From personal experience I know that after being diagnosed I felt the most relaxed I’d felt in years because I finally knew the cause of some of the problems I had. Discovering that there was a way for me to work past these problems was extremely relieving to hear. If by sharing this information I can help others I would immediately do so because I know how life changing this information can be. Works Cited Diseases and Disorders: ADHD, Detroit: Lucent Books, 2010, pp. 14-29. Diseases and Disorders: ADHD, Detroit: Lucent Books, 2010, pp. 30-43. Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health, 3rd ed., Detroit: Gale, 2013, pp. 363-367.

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