While the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV) of the American Psychiatric Association) put forth a list of behaviors which predominantly fall in the category of ADD and/or ADHD, many researchers still maintain that there is no set way to diagnosis or develop a treatment program to these disorders which will be guaranteed to work. At the same time there is another set of researchers who maintain that these disorders actually do not exist at all. However, in the real world, parents and educators still continue to struggle with the task of coping with children who are hyperactive and who have very low attention span and whose behavior often interferes with schooling and family life. [Armstrong, 1997]
Over the past couple of years there has been a vast increase in the number of Americans suffering from ADHD. ADHD has become a hot topic of discussion for the public resulting in rising attention and concern. The way health professionals go about treating and making sure they properly treat patients suffering from ADHD is by thoroughly assessing the patient. As this disorder became more known, it resulted in more parents becoming more aware and realizing that their student’s poor performance in school or behavioral problems might not be intentional.
The CDC website is a government sponsored website that provides the public with details about various diseases and disorders. Specifically, it has a section on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder which details everything from symptoms and diagnostics to managing ADHD in the educational environment. This section of the website is meant to give a sufficient amount of information for the general public looking into ADHD for the first time. The information is nowhere near a complete analysis of ADHD, but it sufficiently informs the reader. It also directs the reader to various other websites if they are in need of more information. The webpages contain many of the elements of pathos, logos, and ethos, which will be analyzed in the following paragraphs.
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, more commonly referred to as simply ADHD, is the most commonly diagnosed disorder among American children today. According to the National Institute on Mental Health an estimated 3 to 5 percent of school age children are affected by this disorder. (1) There are more diagnosed cases of ADHD of in the United States than there are anywhere in the world. The main symptoms of ADHD include "developmentally inappropriate levels of attention, concentration, activity, distractibility, and impulsivity." (1) While the number of people diagnosed with ADHD increases dramatically every year, there is still much about the disorder that is not understood. While scientists have deduced that ADHD originates in the brain, they still have many questions about the nature of it. The classification of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder has become quite a controversial topic in American society today. There are some who believe that by recognizing the symptoms associated with the disorder as ADHD; science is simply putting a band-aid on a problem that could be otherwise corrected with behavior modification.
Nakamura, K. Richard. “Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorders: Are Children Being Overmedicated?” National Institute of Mental Health. 2002. Web. 02 May 2014.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), more commonly referred to as ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), has only recently come to notice of scientists. It affects 3.5 million people under the age of 18 and 5 million people over the age of 18. Its current cause of existence is due to defects at neurotransmitter sites, rendering patients inattentive and impulsive. However, every year more progress is made in locating the cause and finding more effective treatments. ADHD's first diagnosis was made in 1902 by Dr. George Still. He observed 20 children who were inattentive, impulsive, hyperactive, and showed mood swings. He initially attributed their behavior to mild brain damage. By 1917 ADHD or constantly active was still thought to have this cause. At this time, viral encephalitis seemed to be linked to the disease because, after being infected, children had impaired attention, memory, and impulse control. In 1937 ADHD was known as minimal brain dysfunction and began to be treated with amphetamines, which made children with the disorder much calmer.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children. 1998-2010. Mayo Foundation for Medical Eduaction and Research 05 May 2014
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most frequently diagnosed neurobehavioral disorder in children and young adults (Schilling, Walsh & Yun, 2011). Though there is a breadth of research on the topic, the fact that individuals with ADHD have to overcome many difficulties throughout their life, like failing to inhibit inappropriate actions that can otherwise lead to antisocial behavior, severe injuries and in many cases end with imprisonment with 40-70% of detainees being diagnosed with ADHD (Rösler et al. 2004, as cited by Schilling, Walsh & Yun, 2011), suggests that there is still necessity to discuss the dominant explanations for this disability. The following essay is going to briefly state the definition of ADHD according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), it will then outline and evaluate the present genetic and evolutionary position on ADHD.
Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) is a condition that can affect any person’s behavior and way of life. In their book, Special Education, J.Ysseldyke and B. Algozzine state that no area has experienced as much growth as learning disabilities. It is by far the largest of all special education categories. Enormous changes in the last century have changed the way society treats children with disabilities. Psychologist William Lee Heward affirms that in the 1800’s there were few public provisions dealing with adults or children with special needs. Psychologists researched in order to discover the characteristics of a person with ADHD and the effects it has on human behavior. Teachers, parents, and other people have an important role in dealing with a person who has the condition. Special education today is an area of growing interest and of continuing controversies.
It has been known since the beginning of time that not all people have the same brain function, social graces or self control. Children have daydreamed, been distracted, wiggled and have been routinely disruptive in classrooms. The condition dubbed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a new name for old behaviors. It has only been the last 40 or so years that these behaviors have become known as a disorder. They were previously accepted, on the most part, as common childhood behavior that would be outgrown. The controversy over the treatment, Ritalin, during the 1960s is when ADHD became well known (Conrad 563). Before that children and their families managed to survive without the labeling and medicating of children who didn’t fit perfectly into the mold. The brain function of a child with ADHD may be different, but who’s to say that difference needs to be changed. The person with ADHD still gets the job done, just differently, with a lot more effort and creativity. There are many who benefit from an ADHD diagnosis, the child is not always one of them.
Most people have heard of the term Attention Deficit Hyperactive (ADHD) disorder. “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurobiological disorder that interferes with an individual’s ability to attend to tasks (inattention), inhibits one’s behavior (impulsivity), and may interfere with a person’s ability to regulate one’s activity level (hyper-activity) in developmentally appropriate ways (Barkley 19)”. The most important job for teachers and parents is to separate fact from fiction, to clarify what we know and don’t know.
ADHD is a disorder that has been on the rise for several years now. The disorder is one that can cause many impairments to a child’s attention span, making it difficult to concentrate and to keep on task, especially on schoolwork. (Graham, 2007) The statistics have been growing ...
The purpose of this research was to describe and understand Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and the most effective treatment options that are available today. ADHD is a mental health disorder that affects 3-9% of the population in ways that, if left untreated, can wreak havoc on the mind of the sufferer. It makes concentration difficult, large tasks seem insurmountable, and causes impulsive and hyperactive tendencies. Fortunately, research and experiments have led to new and effective treatments to help those who suffer from this disorder (Dupaul 8). This research examined journal articles and internet sources on the topic to help unlock the complexities of the disorder through scientific research. It also was a way to separate the myths of the disorder from the truths, while discovering the causes, diagnosis methods, and best treatment alternatives to battle this prevalent disorder.
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), once called hyperkinesis or minimal brain dysfunction, is one of the most common mental disorders among children. (Elia, Ambrosini, Rapoport, 1999) It affects 3 to 5 percent of all children, with approximately 60% to 80% of these children experiencing persistence of symptoms into adolescence and adulthood, causing a lifetime of frustrated dreams and emotional pain. There are two types of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: an inattentive type and a combined type. The symptoms of ADHD can be classified into three categories: inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. This behaviour stops ADHD sufferers from focussing deliberately on organising and completing a specific task that they may not enjoy, learning new skills or information is proved to be impossible. An example of such behaviour is recognised by the report written by the National Institute of Mental Health where one of the subjects under study was unable to pass schooling examinations due to her inattentive behaviour. Such behaviour can damage the person's relationships with others in addition to disrupting their daily life, consuming energy, and diminishing self-esteem. (National Institute of Mental Health 1999) There are also secondary symptoms which are associated with ADHD, such as learning disorders, anxiety, depression and other mood disorders, tic disorders, and conduct disorders. (Spencer, Biederman, and Wilens 1999 in Monastra V, Monastra D, George, 2002)
C. Keith Conners; the founder of the ADHD program at Duke University with a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Harvard University, said during an interview with The New York Times: “The numbers make it look like an epidemic. Well, it’s not. It’s preposterous...This is a concoction to justify the giving out of medication at unprecedented and unjustifiable levels.” (Schwarz, 2013). This addresses the controversy over whether or not physicians overdiagnose the Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; due to the sudden increase of ADHD diagnosis in the past decade, many have reason to believe that physicians are misjudging the criteria used to determine whether or not an individual has the disorder and others are lead to the assumption that due