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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Essay

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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Imagine living in a world where sights, sounds, images and thoughts are constantly changing and shifting. Unable to focus on whatever task is at hand, your mind wanders from one activity or thought to the next. Sometimes you become so lost among all the thoughts and images that you don't even notice when someone is speaking to you.
This is what it is like for many people who have Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD. Once called hyperkinesis or minimal brain dysfunction, ADHD is one of the most common mental disorders among children. It affects 3 to 5 percent of all children, and it is likely to occur two to three …show more content…

However, because almost everyone will behave in these manners at some time, the DSM has very specific guidelines for determining if they indicate ADHD.
Such behaviors must appear early in life, before age 7, and continue for at least 6 months. For children, these behaviors must occur more frequently and severely than in others of the same age. Most of all, the behaviors must create a true handicap in at least 2 areas of the person's life (e.g. school, home, work, social settings).
One of the difficulties in diagnosing ADHD is that it is usually accompanied by other problems. Many children who have ADHD also have a learning disability. This means that they have trouble with certain language or academic skills, commonly reading and math. A very small number of people with ADHD also have Tourette's syndrome. Those affected by Tourette's syndrome may have tics, facial twitches, and other such movements that they cannot control. Also, they may grimace, shrug, or yell out words abruptly.
Almost half of all children with ADHD, mostly boys, have another condition known as oppositional defiant disorder. This sometimes develops into more serious conduct disorders. Children with

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