ADHD is one of the most common mental health problems in America. As many as 11% may have the condition, and there’s a lot of misinformation floating around. Many aspects of ADHD are relatively unknown to the public. With that in mind, here are 21 things you might not have known about this condition.
1. There Are Three Subtypes
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Not all ADHD conditions are created equal. There are actually two ADHD types and another that combines them to make a third type.
The first is the inattentive type.
The inattentive type has trouble paying attention to details or makes thoughtless mistakes on homework or class assignments. They can appear, naturally enough, to be inattentive, unorganized, and disobedient because they are unable to keep their mind on any given person or thing for long. Their mind wanders, so exerting mental effort is difficult.
They will frequently lose their toys or schoolwork, and they will often forget to brush their teeth or make their bed.
The second type is the hyperactive-impulsive type.
Instead of being unable to focus, these children will be unable to sit still. They will fidget or squirm whenever they are forced to remain in one place and often have problems with the volume of their voice. They always want to play and like to yell and scream.
When they’re not on the move, hyperactive types tend to talk entirely too much or give answers before they’ve heard the entire question.
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The third type is by far the most common.
A combined type is a combination of the first two. The most common symptoms include general hyperactivity and inattention in varying amounts.
2. ADHD Is Nearly Always Present in Childhood
ADHD is always a childhood condition, though it often lasts into adulthood. If an adult is diagnosed with ADHD without having been diagnosed as a child, they likely had ADHD for a much longer time – it just hadn’t been diagnosed yet.
The only time this is not the case is when ADHD is caused by a brain injury or disease. This is the only known way to acquire ADHD outside of already having it.
3. There Are Numerous Causes of ADHD
While a number of genes have been linked to ADHD, there is no single gene that will cause it in a child. However, several risk factors have been identified. These include:
- Smoking or drinking during pregnancy
- Premature delivery
- Brain injuries during birth
- Low birth weight
- Lead exposure
Unlike what some common myths would tell you, bad parenting cannot cause ADHD, but certain parenting methods can improve or worsen ADHD symptoms.
Likewise, sugar, television, and social factors do not play any part in the onset of ADHD, but several factors, including those listed, can exacerbate symptoms.
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4. Diagnosing ADHD Isn’t Easy
Another commonly believed myth states that if psychostimulants, a common medication for ADHD patients, has a positive effect on their behavior, this is enough justification for an ADHD diagnosis. This is false. Children with and without ADHD respond the same way to stimulant medications.
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Likewise, an ADHD child is not always going to be hyperactive or inattentive, especially when in the presence of strangers or in a strange building like a doctor’s office. Thus, a single visit to a psychiatrist is not enough to determine if a child has ADHD.
Many other things can cause symptoms that look like ADHD. Parents often must help their child’s doctor by answering questions about their child for a successful diagnosis.
5. Many Children Don’t Outgrow ADHD
It’s heartening to know that ADHD is not forever for many children diagnosed with the condition, though most will continue to have some symptoms throughout their life. About 70 percent of children with ADHD will still have symptoms during their teens, and as many as 60 percent of children will have symptoms into adulthood, when the disorder becomes known as adult ADHD.
As children age, the hyperactivity aspect of ADHD often lessens, but most organizational and attention problems do not, even into adulthood. That said, most adults adapt, becoming productive members of society. Those with adult ADHD can even accomplish more than those without since they often have more energy and more creativity than those without the disorder. Medication can help for those with strong symptoms into adulthood.
6. ADHD Is Not OCD
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Commonly mistaken for each other, ADHD is distinctly different from OCD. While ADHD patients display hyperactivity and inattention, OCD is characterized as an anxiety disorder that causes unwanted thoughts to repeatedly intrude on the patient’s mind. Sometimes this manifests in the compulsive performance of certain rituals to get rid of these thoughts.
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7. ADHD Diagnosis Differs by Location
If you live in the US and are on the west coast, you are far less likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than if you lived in the Midwest. The state with the lowest number of children diagnosed with ADHD is Nevada, with only 4.2 percent of children diagnosed. The highest, Kentucky, has 14.8 percent of all children diagnosed with ADHD.
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As well, once diagnosed with ADHD, the west is far less likely to prescribe medication. Only 2 percent of children in Nevada receive medication for ADHD, roughly half of those diagnosed. In Kentucky, that number is 10.4 percent.
8. ADHD Is Not Just Hyperactivity
While it might seem that anyone who is super energetic could be stamped with an ADHD label, this simply isn’t the case. In the public eye, the poster child for ADHD is one that’s bouncing on the bed and off the walls. Meanwhile, many people with ADHD couldn’t imagine getting up refreshed in the morning.
Many of those with ADHD daydream nearly constantly, off in their own little world where no one can bother them. Consequently, adults with ADHD suffer from being indecisive or not knowing what to do with their lives. For these adults, the same self-help methods of organization and time management can help as those who have the same problems without ADHD.
9. ADHD Differs by Gender
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Since boys and girls are both human with human brains, you’d think that ADHD would affect them similarly. Again, this isn’t actually the case. Whether due to biological or social factors or a combination of the two, boys and girls tend to display ADHD symptoms differently.
Boys tend to show symptoms more externally by acting out or being impulsive. Boys with ADHD also tend to be more hyperactive than girls, letting their energy out by running or hitting others. In fact, they can be very physically aggressive. Finally, they also have more trouble focusing and can seem extremely inattentive.
Conversely, girls with ADHD tend not to show their symptoms as much, their symptoms being far more internal. They tend to be more withdrawn than other girls their age and become overwhelmed with low self-esteem and anxiety. While, like boys, they can be inattentive, girls tend to show it less, daydreaming frequently and having trouble keeping their grades up. Likewise, while not as likely to be physically aggressive, girls with ADHD will be more likely to tease others and call other children (or adults) mean names.
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10. ADHD Is Not Associated With Intellect
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In fact, some of the smartest people in the world have had ADHD. However, contributing to the perception of intellectual slowness, there is often a 30 percent developmental lag in those with ADHD. Most commonly, those with the condition lag behind in maintaining their relationships with others, motor skills, the ability to correct their own behaviors, personal independence, being responsible, and memory recall.
While not a fault of their intelligence, these children can seem to have matured far less than other children their own age. Eventually, this lag can correct itself, but the interim is a long and painful journey.
11. ADHD Is Not an Excuse
One of the hardest parts of living with children with ADHD is living with the stigma that your child is simply using ADHD as an excuse for his behavior. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Children with ADHD must try very hard just to be as cognizant of their surroundings. No one would be able to keep up with everything around if their mind kept telling them to look at new, more interesting things.
Children have to learn to compensate for their energy and lack of attention, and parents are a key part of that.
12. Parents Need Treatment Too
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If you are a parent to a child with ADHD, you must accept that while nothing you do can change a child’s mental disorder, parents can do a lot to help kids cope. To create lasting behavioral change, parents need to create a home atmosphere that encourages children to learn control over their behavior.
Most therapists work with parents to help foster such an environment. Without the encouragement and support of their parents, any treatment designed to help a child with ADHD is sure to fail.
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13. ADHD Is Not the Only Problem
ADHD is often not the only mental condition a patient has to deal with. 20 percent of those with ADHD also have depression, and nearly as many can have bipolar disorder as well. 50 percent have some form of learning disability in addition to ADHD, like dyslexia or writing problems.
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Various anxiety disorders are another set of conditions that often accompany ADHD. As many as 30 percent of children with ADHD have some form of anxiety disorder.
Oppositional defiant disorder, characterized by stubbornness, angry outbursts, and defiant acts like rule breaking, affect as many as 40 percent of those with ADHD. As you can see, the disorder often comes with a lot more than just ADHD, and that is already a lot to deal with on its own.
14. ADHD Can Be Treated by Different Medications
Three major categories of medication are used to treat ADHD. Which one used depends on the child or adult being treated.
Stimulant medication is the most well-known of the three.
For more than half a century, they have been used to treat the condition. Dosage varies from every four hours to every 12 hours. No long term-term side effects have been established, but short-term side effects can include upset stomach, lack of appetite, insomnia, and irritability.
For those who dislike the side effects of stimulant medication, nonstimulant medication has been introduced relatively recently, approved for ADHD in 2003.
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They can last up to 24 hours and cause fewer side effects. Sometimes they are prescribed alongside stimulant medication.
Antidepressants take up the last category and are infrequently used to treat ADHD in a case-by-case basis.
While the FDA recently announced that antidepressants can lead to an increased risk of suicide in children and teens, the drugs are still sometimes the best treatment option. They should be considered carefully.
15. ADHD Often Needs Behavioral Therapy
As easy as it would be to simply pop a pill and let the problem go away, research has found that medical treatment is far more effective if combined with behavioral therapy as well. As touched on before, this includes not just time with their therapist, but also time with parents and even school teachers.
Parents must remember that their child might be easily discouraged. Giving short, clear, and simple commands can help a child feel like they are making progress when they fully understand what they need to do. As well, remaining consistent on what is and isn’t allowed can do wonders for helping a child learn how to cope and act.
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16. Alternative Treatments Aren’t Effective
Many people, afraid of the effects of stimulants or antidepressants and wary of behavioral therapy’s usefulness, turn to alternative treatments such as diet changes, vitamin supplements, unlicensed training in attention or visual skills, traditional psychotherapy, or even turning to allergies as a cause of the behavior. None of these have been found to be an effective treatment for ADHD in a scientific setting.
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While some children can benefit from additional behavioral or mental training, not all children will benefit. Behavioral therapy and prescription drugs are the only methods proven to have an effect on ADHD and its symptoms.
17. Stimulants Continue to Be Useful After Puberty
Going back to myth popping, one common wisdom floating around says that stimulant medication will cease being useful after a child reaches puberty. Once again, this is a myth. Psychostimulants continue to be useful into the teen years and even into adulthood.
18. ADHD Isn’t Being Misdiagnosed
More and more children between two and five years old have been given treatment for ADHD as the years have gone by. It can be hard to believe, but ADHD affects an estimated 42 percent of all children in the United States. Many people spreading the rumor that ADHD is being misdiagnosed say that this is the reason why diagnoses are increasing.
Diagnosis percentages by year:
- 2003: 7.8%
- 2007: 9.5%
- 2011: 11 %
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Research has actually shown that ADHD has remained constant for several decades, but ADHD is being diagnosed more often in recent years because psychologists have a better understanding of it now than in the past. Doctors are now better educated and better able to help their patients with a correct diagnosis. In fact, 80 percent of adults with ADHD have gone undiagnosed due to the lack of knowledge at the time they were displaying the strongest symptoms.
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19. Demographics Affect ADHD
While ADHD affects all children of any race, there may be conditions in different races that affect ADHD differently. In the 2000s, ADHD diagnoses increased among young African-American girls by 90 percent.
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As a corollary, Latino children are diagnosed with ADHD nearly half as much as whites or African-Americans are diagnosed.
Age is another factor. Children at age five are at the highest risk of being diagnosed with severe ADHD. Moderate ADHD is diagnosed most often in children around age seven. Lastly, eight-year-old children are the most likely to be diagnosed with mild ADHD.
20. ADHD Medication Doesn’t Affect Personality
The truth is that proper dosages of ADHD medication actually have little effect on a person’s personality, only increasing their ability to remain calm and focused. The highest levels of medication are typically prescribed for those between the ages of nine and twelve. Many teens and adults need significantly less due to their greater control over their behavior.
This is not to say that personality changes are nonexistent. Some people may become less talkative or withdrawn, and others will lose some of their spontaneity or become listless. However, these effects are not complete personality makeovers and can be mitigated with the proper dosages and behavioral changes.
21. Fish and Exercise Can Help ADHD
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Recently, a study published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine stated that pregnant women who ate two servings of fish each week had a 60 percent lower chance of their child developing ADHD. Scientists are still trying to find out why, but if you’re expecting, it might not be a bad idea to include some fish in your diet.
In another recent study, Michigan State University researchers studied 40 children aged eight to ten. Half were diagnosed with ADHD and half were not. The children were observed after 20 minutes of peaceful activity and 20 minutes after some exercise on a treadmill. Both groups scored better on a psychological test after using the treadmill, with the ADHD group scoring six percent better.
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