Types of ADHD
There are three primary forms of ADHD:
form of inattentiveness
hyperactive-impulsive personality type
type of combination
Each form of ADHD has one or more distinguishing characteristics. Inattention and hyperactive-impulsive conduct are hallmarks of ADHD. The following are some of the most common manifestations of these behaviors:
Distraction, lack of concentration, and poor organizing skills are all examples of inattention.
Hyperactivity: incessant chatting and fidgeting, inability to stay focused on a task
Interrupting, taking risks are all examples of impulsivity.
Everyone is different, so it’s common for two people to experience the same symptoms in different ways. These behaviors, for example, are frequently different in males and girls. Boys may appear to be more energetic, while girls may appear to be quite inattentive.
The symptoms you experience will determine which type of ADHD you have.
Writing a piece like this can be difficult because, just as in politics, passions flare furiously, so do they in the ADHD debate. Is it hereditary? Is it a product of society? Is it even possible? However, after attending a fantastic lecture on non-medicated treatment alternatives for children and teens with ADHD and then finishing Marilyn Wedge's outstanding must-read book, A Disease Called Childhood: Why ADHD Became an American Epidemic, the reality is that the conversation must continue.
Wedge beautifully and thoroughly lays out what every parent should know before receiving an ADHD diagnosis for their child in her thought-provoking book. She delves into how "hyperkinetic reactivity to childhood" and "organic brain condition," essentially a modest kind of brain injury, were combined to produce a new disorder, today known as ADHD.
With the publication of DSM-III in 1980, a new ADHD was born. To meet diagnostic criteria at the time, eight symptoms were required. This was decreased to six symptoms with the release of DSM-5 in 2013, making it much easier to meet criteria. The onset age was even lowered to allow more teenagers to make the cut. Instead of having to meet criterion by the age of seven, the age limit was lifted to twelve, and teens now just had to meet five criteria to be eligible. Isn't that what statisticians do when they manipulate data to make something "statistically significant"? It ought to. There are numerous explanations for this. In fact, two-word words like Big Pharma and corporate America can readily sum them up.
She is well-known for her article "Why French Kids Don't Have ADHD," which was published in the New York Times "While Americans are quick to link ADHD to biological issues, Wedge claims that the French attribute it to psychosocial and situational factors. After observing French youngsters on a vacation to Paris one year, I couldn't help but notice how well-behaved, organized, and courteous a large group of young children was. True, it's an anecdote, but I'm not surprised in the least.
The most alarming aspect of Wedge's research is the apparent misrepresentation of expertise perpetrated by individuals who have been bought off by pharmaceutical companies. Despite the fact that I am a skeptic, hearing about ghostwriters writing in prestigious medical journals stopped me in my tracks. "Drug firms ghostwriting publications in medical journals extends back to the 1950s (p. 77)," writes Wedge. This most recently happened in 2002 with the introduction of the medication Ritalin-LA. According to one study she cites, 11 percent of publications published in major medical journals, such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, were ghostwritten by drug firms.
She also examines how many early research demonstrating pharmacological efficacy or seeking to establish genetic basis for ADHD were published in major journals, whereas follow-up studies refuting similar findings were only published in esoteric, lesser-known journals. Even the most well-intentioned prescribers today don't always have time or access to the most recent medical studies, she says. They may recollect reading in the New England Journal of Medicine that a particular medicine was efficacious, and they may never look back. Furthermore, she believes that many psychiatrists who made strong pronouncements concerning drugs are now retracting their statements, despite the fact that the damage has already been done. Finally, Wedge reveals that certain well-known ADHD experts who travel the country delivering seminars to other professionals regarding the scientific basis of ADHD are paid six figures annually by drug corporations. Given how tightly pharmaceutical firms control the discussion about ADHD, it's no surprise that "the United States consumes 70% of the world's stimulant medications, although accounting for only 4% of the world's population." " (p. 21).