ADHD in children - everything you need to know about symptoms, types and treatment

ADHD in children

While ADHD in children is thought to be a minor problem, it can actually affect the adult life of the kid too so here are the details you need to know on this matter.

You might think children are supposed to be very energic all the time and wanting to play they might not be able to concentrate on given tasks as well as an adult can. Sometimes this may be true but if a kid proves to be hyperenergetic and have difficulties in concentrating you should go see a doctor.

Even though ADHD is known to be a common behavioral disorder, it only affects about 3 to 5% of children. Also, as an important observation made throughout the years, young boys are up to 3 times more prone to getting it than young girls.

As stated before, having ADD in childhood might have repercussions in the adulthood too. So if you find yourself having the symptoms as an adult, don’t hesitate to check a medic.

 ADHD or normal behavior?

Most of the times it may be really difficult to differentiate between a normal child and one with adhd.After all, being hyperactive and inattentive are characteristics typical of children in general.

There are two significant differences between them:

·               first is timespan. ADHD occurs over a longer period of time and is consistent

·                secondly, it obviously interferes with the child’s ability to socialize and perform properly in school, even though the child’s social and  overall intelligence might be high.

Now that we established the main differences and how to spot this problem let’s go more in depth and see what are the actual blueprints of ADHD.

Types of ADHD in Children

Most of us have only heard of the general ADHD term and thought there is only one type of it.

Actually it is categorized into three distinct types:

·         Predominantly Inattentive(ADD) – As the name states, this one appears obvious at the children who show mostly to not be able to pay attention properly, either in class or in general. Having this said, it isn’t necessary for the kid to be hyperactive in any way. Sometimes they might be incredibly quiet and lonely. Young girls are more susceptible to this, according to the National Resource for ADHD.

·         Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive – Being characterized with strong symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsiveness your child might be suffering from this ADHD type even though he might be able to concentrate properly on some tasks.

This should be obvious especially when in social situations like school activities and projects where the kid might cause disruptions and seek attention in a more violent manner.

·         Combined type – It is easy to figure what this means, this is the one type where one can observe all the previous mentioned symptoms. This is the most common type of ADHD and it presents cases where the child is both inattentive and hyperactive with consistent impulsive behavior.

Detailed Symptoms Of ADHD – detecting ADD propperly

I’ve mentioned before the main symptoms, but to help you understand this further I’ve made a list of more detailed and speciffic things that might suggest one has this condition.

Remember that if a child only presents one of these traits it might not be ADHD but if more than one are obvious enough and create concern you should go see a specialist.

Inattentive ADHD type

·         Has difficulty in learning and organizing thoughts

·         Moves slowly in daily activities

·         Is mostly daydreaming(not necessarily a bad thing, most children do this)

·         Gets bored too easily and also distracted in the same manner

·         Is consistently forgetful

·         Has trouble following instructions

·         Has listening problems when spoken to and can’t focus properly

·         Tendency to loose personal things

·         Can’t properly pay attention to details

Predominantly Hyperactive

• ·         Has difficulty in remaining seated and prefers moving around
• ·         Likes to run and climb excessively
• ·         Acts with ought thinking
• ·         Is permanently restless
• ·         Talks excessively
• ·         Interrupts conversations because he’s getting bored fast
• Combination
• ·         This one has symptoms from both sides, usually over 6.

For this observations to be as accurate as possible, it should be noted that the child should be under the age of 7 when  these symptoms occur and they should be consistent for more than 6 months.