Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is often the center of ongoing debates in the medical field. Critics have described ADHD as a diagnosis used to label difficult children who are not ill, but whose behavior is at the extreme end of normal range ( (K. Lange, 2010). However, unbalanced chemicals in the brain cause ADHD. It is not something children can control and it is more than a behavioral problem. “ADHD is not a disease per se but rather a group of symptoms representing a final common behavioral pathway for a gamut of emotional, psychological, and/or learning problems” (Furman, 2005). “The lack of evidence of a unique genetic, biological, or neurological pathology hinders the general acceptance of ADHD as neurobehavioral disease entity” ( (K. Lange, 2010). Therefore, the clinical diagnosis of ADHD remains and open question, which requires additional research ( (K. Lange, 2010). “There is no cure for ADHD and no single treatment for every child. Current ADHD treatments focus on symptom management with medications and behavior modification or with cognitive behavioral therapy” (Brain, 2012).
History
The study, diagnosis, and treatment of ADHD are not new. Sir Alexander Crichton, a Scottish physician, published an inquiry in 1798. He explored and authored material regarding attention and its diseases (K. Lange, 2010). In chapter two, Crichton writes, when born with attention difficulties, it becomes evident at an early period of life, and has a very bad effect, inasmuch as it renders him incapable of attending with constancy to any one object of education.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder But it seldom is in so great a degree as totally to i...

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... (2012). Retrieved on September 10, 2013 from www.effectivechildtherapy.com
Furman, L. (2005). What is attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)? Journal of
Child Neurology, 20:994-1002. Retrieved from http://jcn.sagepub.com
Lange, K., Reichl, S., Lange, K., Tucha, L., & Tucha, O. (2010). The History of Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, 253. Retrieved from www.springlink.com
Mayes, R. & Rafalovich, A. (2006). Suffer the Restless Children. Retrieved on
September 22, 2013 from https://facultystaff.richmond.edu
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2013). Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Children.
Retrieved September 8, 2013 from www.mayoclinic.com
Pelham, W.E., & Fabiano, G.A. (2008). Evidence-based psychosocial treatment for
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: An update. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 37, 185-214.

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