IS IT JUST LAZINESS OR AM I HAVING THE SYMPTOMS OF ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER?

The biggest frustration of anyone working against a deadline is the incessant lack of focus on the task in demand. For writers, it is called experiencing a ‘writer’s block’. Though this tends to go away sooner, with the right motivation. Now there’s this other circumstance that you can’t really get yourself to finish a task without having to wander off into other activities. You keep on scheduling and rescheduling the task at hand over and over just to end up stuck. On top of having short attention span, you are also experiencing other unproductive symptoms.

You find it hard to avoid even the slightest distractions, you keep missing other scheduled activities. Throughout your day,you’re trying to retrieve misplaced personal items like your phone. Forgetting where you placed them within a short period of time. Paying attention to detail is a struggle and you are finding it hard to remain organized. If that is not enough, you are constantly experiencing mood swings, one time you’reexcited, then anxious, hyperactive, then in a second you are enraged.

Understanding the difference between ADD and any other short-term melt-down

We can all attest to the reality that at one point in life we experience fatigue. All the symptoms mentioned above could point to a number of issues. For instance, when experiencing a depressive episode, you are more likely to have difficulty staying on tasks to completion. No matter how hard you try to force the mind to focus on a single task, you find yourself drifting off. Thus explaining the sudden feeling of laziness.

Other symptoms of ADD

They include: aggressiveness, fidgeting, impulsivity, irritability, lack of restraint, or persistent repetition of words or actions, absent-mindedness, learning difficulties.

ADD vs ADHD

Attention deficit disorder is typically used to describe inattentive-type ADHD while Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder is the official medical term recognized today by medics. The two terms can therefore be used interchangeably.

However Attention Deficit Disorder is not just a onetimefeeling of laziness. In fact, it is categorized as a type of chronic mental disorder that begins in childhood and may persist into adulthood. The causes of ADHD vary. You are more exposed to developing this condition, if either of your parents had it or close relatives. Having an already existing mental health disorder can also put you at a greater risk of developing ADHD. Other factors include exposure to environmental toxins during early development stages such as exposing a child to toys that contain lead metal or surfaces that contain traces of the metal such as water pipes. An alcoholic or smoking expectant mother can cause her unborn child to develop ADHD. Attention Deficit Disorder, just like every other mental health or mood disorder, if not managed properly, can affect close relationships negatively and may cripple a person from having a sense of self-worth (experience low self-esteem).

Treatment

Medication. Prescribed stimulants as medication to reduce ADD symptoms react or affect children differently.

Cognitive behavioral therapy. If your child is diagnosed with ADHD, you as a parent are advised to seek behavioral therapy training first before prescribing medication. However if the child is much older, medication and behavioral management training will go hand in hand. This will help the child not to act out in a disruptive manner upon interacting with other children in school. Thus positive behavior is cultivated in the child.

Parents are trained to help their children create a routine to help the child avoid experiencing burnouts or being overwhelmed by activities of the day. By doing so, a child has limited activities to decide on. In a way, the parent is training the child on how to plan their day. Parents are also advised to ensure that the child gets enough rest and is on a healthy diet to keep the symptoms at bay.

Treatments for adults are more or less the same; medication, behavioral training and psychotherapy that best fits an adult. The likelihood of children developing ADD to adulthood is however very low.