Is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) a mental disorder?
What is child hyperactivity, where does the attention deficit come from and how to raise a restless child – said psychologist Yulia Konovalova.
Despite the fact that hyperactivity and autism are more common in growing children in our time, in fact, attention deficit disorder is the inability to maintain attention for a long time on one object or action.
Such children are very mobile, they constantly change activities and rarely bring something to the end. Such images as “an awl in one place”, “what I see, I sing about” are very suitable for such children.
Hyperactivity is a condition in which the activity and excitability of a person exceeds the norm. If such behavior is a problem for others, hyperactivity is treated as a mental disorder.
Causes of hyperactivity can be infections, birth trauma, difficult childbirth, lead poisoning, or malnutrition.
Hyperactivity is more common in children and adolescents than in adults.
Statistically, hyperactivity is 4 times more common in boys. Symptoms almost always appear between 2 and 3 years of age. The average age of visiting a doctor is 8-10 years.
They can see a bird and, imitating it, start running, then their eyes catch on a toy and they start playing with it, then they will be distracted by a rustle, and they will tell what is happening there – and so on all the time.
Their imagination is often very mobile, and the fantasy is rich. They start to tell some incredible stories, but their attention is rarely enough to finish these stories.
Information overload
There is a theory that in our time space is very heavily overloaded with information and objects, in principle, it is very difficult even for an adult to concentrate in a metropolis. When the child’s psyche cannot cope with the experience of reality, the child “leaves” it to other worlds.
When a child begins to live in all worlds at the same time, including fantasy ones, and cannot linger in one of them, this is similar to hyperactivity. In any case, it is a way of coping with a reality that is constantly changing and in which it is uncomfortable, unsafe, too disturbing.
Traumatic events, such as moving, parental divorce, or other major changes in a child’s life, can provoke a more pronounced manifestation of ADHD. But for the development of attention deficit disorder, there must be a predisposition and a mental disorder. By the age of 4-5, the violation is already clearly visible, and by 6-7 it is fully manifested.
If you have ever tried to repeat all the actions that a small child performs for at least a few hours, you know that almost no adult is missing for several hours – we get tired much earlier, then when the child continues to play his games no matter how what didn’t happen.
A child with ADHD is many times more active than usual. Of course, with such a cub, it is very difficult for both parents and teachers. Often they try to force such children to sit still, to be silent for a long time, but all to no avail. The kid will honestly try, but after a while you can notice how his body itself begins to twitch, crawl and make movements. Although the child is still trying. Have pity on the child – he himself does not understand what is happening to him, and because he fails to fulfill your requirements, his anxiety only intensifies. Which in turn only exacerbates the situation.
Borders and routine
In raising such special children, parents will have to be patient. Only the methodical and constant fixing of boundaries contributes to the development of concentration. At least several times a day, catch your child and fix it in your arms. He gets the experience of stopping and a sense of the outer boundary that a calm adult endures. For such children, it is very important to rhythmize the daily routine.
It is optimal that the same actions are performed in the same sequence at the same time. If this does not quite work out, then at least maintain the sequence. For example, we go to school only after breakfast. And nothing else.
It is also important for such children to constantly perform attention exercises, but just sitting down and starting to practice right away will not work for them, because there is a lot of energy in their body that is distracting. Therefore, before classes it is very good to create the possibility of physical fatigue.
Direct the activity in such a way that the child runs, jumps, gets tired and after that you will have 10-15 minutes to do the concentration exercises. It’s great if active sports appear in the lives of such children – for example, football, so that they can get physically tired. When scheduling classes or completing tasks, consider the rhythm – active-calmly-actively-calmly.
There should always be physical activity first, and then tasks.
Often, attention deficit disorder is accompanied by sleep disturbance. And according to the doctor’s prescription, you can take weak drugs so that the child can get rest and recuperate.
But the most important thing, as always, is the patience of the parent, his love and acceptance of the characteristics of his child.