A REVIEW ON ATTENTION DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER (ADHD)

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopment disorder of childhood and often continues into adulthood. Children with ADHD may experience difficulty in sustaining attention, hyperactivity and impulsive behaviour. Children with ADHD may also struggle with low self-esteem, troubled relationships and poor performance in school. Symptoms sometimes lessen with age. However, some people never completely outgrow their ADHD symptoms. ADHD is often associated with co-occurring disorders including disruptive behaviour, moods, anxiety and substance abuse. ADHD not only affects the child’s life but also has an impact on the parents and siblings causing disturbances in family and marital functioning. The major concerning factor in families is the increased healthcare costs for patients and their family members.  Certain strategies can be applied to manage the condition and be successful in daily life.  This involves a multimodal treatment which includes educating the family and the individual by providing supportive care, psychotherapy and medications that improvise ADHD. Pharmacotherapy including stimulants, noradrenergic agents, alpha agonists and anti-depressants play a fundamental role in the long term management of ADHD but age specific treatment regimens have to be followed. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment can make a big difference in outcome and also helping the families learn how to handle an ADHD child.

Keywords: ADHD, hyperactivity, anxiety, neurodevelopment disorder, disruptive behaviour.