Adhd

            Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is a group of chronic disorders that begin in childhood and sometimes last into adult life. (Mayo Foundation, 2001) In fact, studies have shown that by the age of twenty, more than sixty percent of ADHD patients are in remission. (Saito, 2000) ADHD most often occurs between ages six and eighteen. (Rosenbaum, 2001) People having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have a hard time paying attention, concentrating, sitting still, and controlling impulsive behavior. These same characteristics may be classified as inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. Studies conducted over the past two decades have estimated the prevalence of ADHD to be between five and ten percent in school-aged children. (Shapiro, 2001) Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is associated with multiple impairments, such as school failure, substance abuse, psychiatric disorder comorbidy, social disabilities and increased accidents. (Saito, 2000) In the past attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was often diagnosed as attention-deficit disorder (ADD), hyperactivity and even sometimes as minimal brain dysfunction. The criteria for diagnosing the disorder were very often found to be different for one doctor to another. Today, there are much more stringent guidelines for the diagnoses of ADHD than there were in the past; they encompass all aspects of the condition unlike previous diagnoses. In 1998, the National Institute of Mental Health agreed that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a legitimate condition.
             The DSM-IV criteria for used for diagnosing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are current and state of the art. They allow for greater uniformity across the many things the disorder includes. DSM-IV criteria for ADHD require the identification of at least six out of nine, in either or both categories, behaviors to a degree that is maladaptive and inconsistent with a normal developmental level.