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Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is thought of as a childhood disorder but is as common in adults too. It is characterized by hyperactivity, impulsiveness', disobedience and loud or angry outbursts. For children, it is an issue in school as the child cannot be controlled and teaching is almost impossible for the individual or the whole class. This article will look at how the disorder is acquired, how it is treated and the correlation between stress and ADHD.

It is thought that 80% of people with ADHD have a genetic predisposition to the disorder. The other 20% are thought to acquire it through prenatal or postnatal exposure to toxins and in some cases traumatic episodes leading to injury may be responsible. High on the list of prenatal toxins are alcohol and nicotine.

Treatment for ADHD is often a combination of medication and counselling. The aim of medication is to stimulate the areas of the brain that are responsible for focusing, attention and impulse control. Counselling is aimed at helping the ADHD sufferer to organise their life. A recent method that has been known for a while but never acted on is diet modification. Although diet modification will not prevent ADHD it is thought that eating foods without artificial colouring and flavours and cutting down on fatty food and sugar improves the attention spans of children at school.

There is no correlation between acquiring the disorder and stress but it is obvious that someone suffering from ADHD is likely to have a stressful time. The more stress that the person faces the worse their ADHD is likely to become thus implementing stress management strategies is a good idea. The key technique is to be able to relax. Relaxation techniques like deep breathing or meditation are useful but may be difficult to implement, especially in children .

# posted by Medical Information : 5:19 AM