ADHD what is that?
People throw around the term ADHD but how many people know what it is and how it affects people daily?
According to Forbes Health, 8.7 million adults and 6 million children have been diagnosed with ADHD in the US, it is also very common for people to go undiagnosed. ADHD makes people impulsive and leads to saying or doing the wrong thing. Often, the result is having to correct their mistakes over and over again, which is difficult to deal with on a daily basis. But while they struggle on the inside, they also face criticism and judgment from peers. While people with ADHD may seem annoying, you should understand what they have to go through every day. You should become informed.
What is ADHD?
ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It is not a disease and cannot be caught; it also has no cure. It is a brain-based condition that affects people's behavior. They act impulsively, inattention, disorganization, forgetfulness, impulsivity, low frustration tolerance, and so much more.
Effects of ADHD
It is easy for people with ADHD to get stressed out quickly. School and work build up until there is too much stress. Because of ADHD behaviors the stress gets increased.
While it's normal for work to build up for anyone, someone without ADHD could sit down and work it all out without much of a struggle. People with ADHD have to try everything to stay focused enough to finish the work. Their brain is working against them, so it takes longer.
What It's Like to Have ADHD
My best friend Maeve has ADHD. I have been friends with her for 7 years and in High School I saw her being treated differently on a daily basis because she has ADHD. Especially in early high school, she struggled with finding ways to stay organized, manage her temper or focus on one thing. This struggle caused her life to be very hectic, such as forgetting things or arguing with people.
Over time she figured herself out and found what worked for her. Even still, because she had some tough years early on, people still treated her badly. People would tell her to shut up, just ignore her, and wouldn't want to hang out with her.
They did this because they just assumed what she had to say wasn't related to what we were talking about. 98% of the time she was talking about the subject and she had a good idea, she just sometimes would say it out loud when it wasn't her turn to talk. These kids didn't comprehend what having ADHD was like.
ADHD Treatment
There are different ways to help people who have ADHD. The two classic approaches are behavioral approaches and medications.
Behavioral therapy focuses on behaviors to change and doing things to help the person change them. People could also go the medical route since there are now medicines that can help. They would work with doctors and find the right medicine for that specific person. The medicine targets brain chemicals more specifically dopamine and norepinephrine, which affect how well someone can focus on things.
Forbes Health says that 32% of the children who are diagnosed do a combination of medicine and behavioral therapy so that they get a bit of both. Studies show that this is the better route. The therapist would be working with the person to make sure the medicine is working, but also to find ways the person can help themselves.
How You Can Help
Just understanding what ADHD is helps. Be patient with people and know that they are working hard to get through everyday life. Know that you might have to repeat yourself or they will tell you the same thing over and over again and that’s ok. Know that they hyperfocus on things and so they will be so focused on one thing they won't be paying attention. You can help them by reminding them they have other things to do.
The more kids and teenagers know about what ADHD is and how to help, the less likely kids will be bullied. Most neurotypical kids don't know what to do with kids who have ADHD and so they backlash against them. Kids criticize them and put all their ideas and input to the side and don't care. This is not helping the kids with ADHD fit in and it often makes their behaviors worse. There are plenty of things that people can do to help and awareness is the first step.
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