What is ADHD and its Signs and Symptoms?

Author : Dr. Jakir Hossain Laskar, PhD

ADHD is a medical condition which stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, causing abnormal cognitive brain activity that triggers loss of self-control and lack of attention. It is a complex neurodevelopmental impairment of self-managing functions causing great difficulty in managing and focusing many aspects of daily routines. Joel Nigg, professor of Psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University, said that ADHD is a breakdown in the brain connectivity along with communication networks interrelated around emotion, arousal, behavior and attention. This childhood mental disorder not only affects children but also many adults and is more common among boys than girls.

Distractions and having trouble finishing tasks occur in many children and young adults. But we will call it ADHD if only the behaviors appear before 7-8 years of age and continue for at least 6 to 8 months.

Signs and Symptoms of ADHD in Children

A. Inattentive Type –

Children who become easily distracted and inattentive face troubles focusing on attention and concentration. ADHD kids struggle to pay attention and follow directions staying on tasks; they are found absent-minded, forgetful who cannot finish important details of what they start.

1. Kids make careless mistakes and fail to give proper attention in homework and schoolwork with overlooking details and inaccurate work.
2. They cannot continue attention and have difficulty remaining focused in prolonged reading.
3. When teachers speak directly to the kids, they do not listen, often their mind seem elsewhere.
4. They cannot finish schoolwork in due time following the instructions; they lose focus immediately after starting a task and they cannot manage their time and cannot finish the task before deadline.
5. Some of them are very much reluctant to perform routine homework being mentally disorganized and sidetracked. They lose pencils, books, paperwork, school materials, etc. which are necessary for educational activities.
6. Being distracted by external stimuli, kids often forget their daily activities. They feel bored quickly and cannot learn anything new in an organized way.
7. ADHD kids cannot follow instructions; so they procrastinate starting tasks and fail to work out the logical step-by-step process.

B. Hyperactive Type –

Hyperactive children show fidgety with jumping or climbing with acts that disrupt others. These kids are restless rushing through things and struggle to staying quiet or sitting still when required.

1. Kids start squirming and twisting hands and feet sitting in the bench. They often leave their seat in the classroom.
2. ADHD kids cannot engage in leisure activities seating quietly as it is uncomfortable for them to sit still for a prolonged time.
3. They often are talkative, make inappropriate situations without waiting for turns in conversation.
4. Child with hyperactivity interrupts on others, butts into conversations, intrudes on others activities. They snatch other students’ things and valuables without asking and receiving permission.
5. They say something suddenly in answers without careful consideration. Children always move around playing and touching with everything in their around. They roam around in the study-room at home, shake their feet and touch many things elsewhere.

C. Impulsive Type –

Kids with intense impulse act promptly without thinking properly. Induced by emotional impulsive reactions, children snatch things of others and behave strangely by doing things without asking for permission.

1. Teenagers with strong impulse make instant gratifications of their choice instead of delayed gratifications.
2. Impatience is a key-note symptom of this ADHD type. Kids cannot wait for their turns in games. Making friends and keeping them is difficult for the kids.
3. Impulsive children show negative attitudes and disruptive behavior to authority figures, like parents and teachers.

Other coexist Medical Conditions with ADHD

Many children and teenagers with ADHD have signs of other psychiatric problems including…

1. Learning Disability – These disorders affect children’s ability to understand spoken and written language, the capacity to do mathematical calculations with due attention. Reading and language-based learning disability is dyslexia. Also, there are many more learning disabilities which coexist along with attention deficit hyperactive disorder.
2. Mental Depression – Patients with depressive disorders show symptoms like psychomotor agitation causing restlessness, reduced interest in activities, impaired ability to think, inattention and indecisiveness, angry outbursts and irritability over small matters. All these symptoms are almost similar with ADHD.
3. Conduct Disorder – Symptoms of conduct disorders, such as, destructive behavior, aggressive conduct featuring physical harm to others, deceitful behavior and violations of rules are something seen in ADHD patients.
4. Anxiety Neurosis – These patients suffer with difficulty of focusing on anything and of thinking clearly on study-related issues. When they are in anxious mood, they feel restless with their body go on high alert. Difficulty in concentration, irritability and agitated feeling are also featured in anxiety. All these aforesaid symptoms are very much common in ADHD.
5. Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) – Common symptoms of ODD are explosive anger, physical aggression and verbal abuse, argumentative and vindictive behavior with signs of defiance of rules and laws, and deliberately annoying others. ODD kids are often angry and resentful; they lose temper because of their irritable mood. They also upset and annoy others with spiteful behavior. Mild to moderate symptoms of ODD are common with ADHD.
6. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) – Autistic child show repetitive movements featuring flicking of fingers, flapping of hands and rocking back and forth. They get upset to follow familiar routines and they show less interest in interacting with other children including kids of a similar age. This neuro-developmental disease is featured by social and cognitive impairments, repetitive behaviors and communication difficulties similar to ADHD.

Signs and Symptoms of ADHD in Adults

1. Because of restlessness, adults with ADHD experience trouble in relaxation.
2. Lack of attention and lack of focus can cause reckless driving leading to traffic accidents in adults.
3. They face time management problems and procrastinate on important tasks.
4. Life of adults with ADHD seems chaotic with severe lacking of organizational skills.
5. Forgetfulness is a key-note symptom of adult ADHD. Impulsiveness may also manifest in them in various ways, including performing without due consideration to the consequences, rushing through tasks, being socio-culturally inappropriate, etc.
6. Adult ADHD patients are mostly hypercritical of themselves which eventually leads to poor self-image.
7. Some of them suffer in emotional instability. They become easily bored and on the spur of the moment they get violently excited. Simple frustrations can be intolerable to them leading to severe mood swing.
8. Lack of motivation is a guiding symptom in adult ADHD causing fear of failure influenced by negative attitudes.
9. Mental fatigue and moderate anxiety may occur in adults with ADHD. They also suffer in substance misuse syndrome featuring addiction of alcohol, tobacco and other narcotic drugs.
10. Many adults with ADHD face trouble to make romantic or professional relations. Insensitive, irresponsible and uncaring attitudes lead to chronic stress and tension.