yesAnd I forgot some appointments, yes. He confused dates and did not organize himself well even with the notes posted on the refrigerator. But María is perfectly operational, she has a job and takes care of the home and her son responsibly. She has trouble concentrating and sometimes she loses her temper, but who doesn’t she have these days? However, when she went with her son to the psychologist’s office because he had serious learning difficulties, she realized that the symptoms described by the specialist were not just those of the child. They perfectly defined their own personality: they both had ADHD.
This is a case that specialists describe more and more frequently. Parents come when they observe impulsiveness or difficulty paying attention to their children… And they leave the consultation with a double diagnosis.
It seems logical, in a disorder that has an important genetic component: it is 80 percent hereditary, according to the Valencian Institute of Pediatric Neurology. Depression, for its part, is inherited in 39 percent, or breast cancer, 27 percent.
It is a disorder that has an important genetic component: it is hereditary up to 80 percent, according to experts
On the other hand, although this neurological condition is associated with childhood, the truth is that its symptoms last. There are studies that affirm that 80 percent of affected children will continue to suffer from it in adolescence. And between 30 and 65 percent will also have it as adults. That’s why many parents today discover it through their own children: they were simply never diagnosed when they were young.
Although it has been known since the beginning of the 20th century, what is now called ADHD has had different names over the years. And the emphasis has been placed on different symptoms. It was in 1967 when the World Health Organization listed it for the first time as a diagnostic category, with the name of hyperkinetic syndrome.
A year later, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) published by the American Psychiatric Association published the same name and is considered a worldwide reference in the diagnosis of mental disorders. It was not until its fifth edition, the DSM-V, when it appears under the name of ADHD in the category of neurodevelopmental disorders.
It is a disorder that is not without controversy. Many experts consider that there is currently an overdiagnosis, but at the same time there is an underdiagnosis of ADHD in adults: it is estimated that 3.4 percent of adults suffer from it, compared to five percent of the child population.
This underdiagnosis in adults is due in part to the lack of detection in their childhood —since, as it cannot be identified by imaging techniques, it is a condition that is difficult to diagnose— and in part to the symptoms, which in the adult are different: hyperactivity is reduced, but difficulty concentrating is maintained, for example, which translates into disorganization or difficulty managing time, something that often —in the absence of a diagnosis by a specialist— summarized as a ‘character trait’…
ADHD is associated with childhood, but can continue throughout life. Half of people with the disorder will continue to have it as adults.
But the truth is that ADHD is much more than a character trait, and can sometimes be associated with other pathologies such as depression, eating disorders or substance abuse. The accent on these other pathologies makes ADHD masked… and without treatment.
Although not all cases show a family history, far from it, the truth is that if a minor is diagnosed with this neurological disorder, it is very likely that there is another member of the family who suffers from it: a sibling or an adult. According to different studies, parents and siblings are between 2 and 8 times more likely to suffer from it than the general population. Already in the worst case, it would have something ‘advantageous’ or comforting, since the adult or the oldest of the siblings would have in those cases the ability to perfectly imagine how the youngest of the family feels.
However, the work to reduce and overcome their symptoms, with the help of treatment, will be doubled in these homes. If your child has been diagnosed, talk to the specialist: you may also suffer from this disorder.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.