Literature Review. ADHD - Essay Example

The front part of the brain has slightest to do with aptitude, so it is likely to be very intelligent and still have ADHD. The study of ADHD goes back to the early 1900s. However, its name has changed over time. Children who survived the encephalitis epidemics of the 1920s were left with a post-encephalitic syndrome characterized by problems with memory, attention, hyperactivity, and a lack of impulse control. There was also a group of children who, though not post-encephalitic, presented clinically with the same triad of symptoms: hyperactivity, impulsivity, and distractibility.

The term minimal brain damage or hyperactive child syndrome was used for this group. However, when it became apparent that there was no frank evidence of brain damage, the designation was changed to minimal brain dysfunction, although hyperactive child syndrome was also in use (Okagaki, Kontos, &, 1998). During the 1970s, it was thought that the focus on hyperactivity was not clinically warranted and did not sufficiently accent problems with attention and impulse control. In view of the latter, the DSM-III revision of 1980 changed the designation to attention deficit disorder, with or without hyperactivity, thus highlighting inattention and distractibility. . ADHD is generally characterized by a persistent pattern of inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity that causes impairment across settings.

ADHD is a developmental disorder (symptoms present before age 7) with recognized subtypes: a predominantly impulsive-hyperactive subtype, a predominantly inattentive subtype, and a third subtype combining features of both. Adults with ADHD, while usually not physically hyperactive, often continue to have marked problems in time management, sustained attention, impulse control, social skills, and frustration tolerance. Academic and work-related problems may result from poor organization, planning, and follow-through.

Probably as many as four million children and four to five million adults in the United States suffer from Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Although ADHD was described by physicians many years ago, its frequency only recently has been recognized. Exact figures are not available, but it seems likely that between 3 to 10 percent of school-age children and 4 to 5 percent of adults have ADHD (Scheinbaum, Newton, Zecker, & Rosenfeld, 1995).. ADHD is frequently accompanied by learning disorders in reading, spelling, or arithmetic, and it may be accompanied by other behavior disorders.

ADHD is more common in boys than in girls. Child psychiatrists used to believe that the symptoms of ADHD diminished and disappeared as children grew older, but recent studies have found that ADHD frequently persists into adolescence and adult life. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, defines ADHD as a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that is more frequent and severe than typically observed in