ADHD and its Effects on Depressive Behavior

Attention Defficite/ Hyperactivity Disorder is one of the most previlant behavioral disorders affecting American children, with 5% of school age children, and 2-4% of adults being diagnosed. ADHD is diagnosed by consistant dehibilitating behaviors of hyperactivity and inntatention, however it is often misdiagnosed in children who are younger than their class mates, for this reason Xiaolong Peng, Pan Lin, Tongsheng Zhang, and Jue Wang (2013) have been working with a large data set of MRI scans of children diagnosed with ADHD to create an efficiant biological diognostic tool. A diagnostic tool based on five different factors in the brain which are predominant in ADHD patients would also help improve the understanding, prevention and treatment of ADHD. Because the behavior of ADHD patients interfears with every aspect of daily life, from personal relationships to education, this is the reason according to Kathryn L. Humphreys, Shaina J. Katz, Steve S. Lee and Constance Hammen (2013) that ADHD typically precedes the onset of depression. Humphreys looked at different aspects of children with ADHD's lives such as peer problems and parent-child difficulties to determine which was the best predictor for the later onset of depression. This reaserch is very relevant in todays society with 10% of the population affected by depression in their lifetime. The causes of depression are so varied that any predictors should be studied thuroughly. ADHD is a very common predictor for long term depressive behavior in adults. There is substancial evidence that ties these two behaviors together through different stressors durring childhood of children with ADHD. However there is less reaserch to show the biological ties between the two disorders. There ...

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...advancing and allowing us to see in more detail the structures of the brain and their minute differences such as a smaller amygalda which has a drastic effect on behavioral regulation and impulse control. There is more to be understood about these disorders and how they can be better coped with.

Works Cited

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Najman, J. M. (). The association of ADHD and depression: Mediation by peer problems and parent–child difficulties in two complementary samples.. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 122, 854-867.

Hu, D. (). Extreme Learning Machine-Based Classification of ADHD Using Brain Structural MRI Data. PLoS ONE, 8, e79476.

Stauber, F. (). Amygdala Reduction in Patients with ADHD Compared with Major Depression and Healthy Volunteers. Acta Psychiatr Scand, , 111-118.