AP Psych Final ADHD

ADHD A Complete Exploration

The Truth About ADHD When people talk about add or adhd, they always talk about what it looks like from the outside.

Everyone knows people with ADD/ADHD have trouble paying attentuon, focusing on things for long periods of time, etc. But do you have any idea what it feels like to have ADD or ADHD? I do. Since the 3rd grade, I have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder or ADD. So yes, I have trouble focusing, I can be fidgety - and not with one of those spinner things - and I sometimes seem to Mae absolutely random comments or jumps in a conversation.

But do you know what it feels like on my end?

Imagine everything around you moved at 1/10 the speed you do. While you walk normally, everyone else is in slow motion.

That's what it feels like to spend a day in my brain.

It's not that I can't concentrate, I can concentrate on something with all of my will, obtain a thorough understanding usually, and then my brain moves on to something else 10x faster than yours. So by the time your attention span is spent, I have, most likely, thought about 10 things in the time it took you to think about 1. It feels like your brain is on fire, powering through one thing to the next as fast as possible.

So if I'm ever talking to you, or commenting in class, and my topic seems absolutely unrelated to what we were just discussing, it's not that I wasn't paying attention, I focused on what was going on and then my thoughts jumped through 10 more things before I spoke - the connection makes perfect sense to me.

Next, fidgitting. You've all seen it - toe tapping, finger drumming, pen clicking, knuckle cracking, nail biting, leg shaking, the list goes on and on.

But do you know why we do it?

I just told you all about how it feels like my brain is on fire, burning with extra energy. Well if you want me to focus on something longer than I normallyndo, that energy can build up, and it's got to go somewhere.

So to focus on something for extended periods of time and release all that pent up energy, I start to figdit. Personally ism a leg shaker or a knuckle cracker. So if in focus on something for a long time, yes, you'll see me start to fidgit.

Which brings me to what is probably the worst thing about having ADD or ADHD - people assume that bc I'm shaking my leg, or tapping my foot I'm not paying attention. That couldn't be farther from the truth! But most people attempt to stop me from doing this, say it's distracting. Then later the same person who stopped me fidgitting complains I wasn't paying attention.

So for goodness sakes, let the fidgitters tap, crack, shake, click, (but NOT spin) to their hearts desire you may think they're distracted, but in reality it means were trying really hard to pay attention.

So I hope this has made things a little bit more clear about what ADD or ADHD feels like - now maybe you'll understand just about little bit more about the rest of what is in this article collection.

ADHD Medication, Does It Work?

Stimulant medication has been prescribed to

So is the risk actually worth the benefits?

people with ADHD for years, but is it a truly effective treatment?

Many doctors argue that the risk is well worth the potential side effects. While these side

While scientific studies prove the efficacy of

effects might seem extreme, they are also

these stimulant drugs in improving the

very uncommon. Meanwhile, the benefits

concentration ability of people with ADHD,

from these medications are proven to

they also result in side effects such as

increase students ability to concentrate as

dependency on the drug, stunted growth with

well as improve test scores.

long term use, and even an increased chance of a cardiac event.

So in reality the choice is up to the patient- do they believe the possible benefits outweigh

And those are just the minor effects, increased

the potential risks? Or is the whole thing just

anxiety, insomnia, lack of appetite, seizure,

too risky?

blurry vision, paranoia, depression, and even hallucination.

NON MEDICINAL TREATMENT What are some other treatment options for ADHD other than medicine?

The most common way go about treating ADHD without medication is through behavioral therapy.

While medication works on a neurological level to regulate the brain, behavior therapy addresses specific problem behaviors by structuring time at home, establishing predictability and routines, and increasing positive attention.

The basic idea is to set specific rules governing your child’s behavior (nothing vague or too broad), and to enforce your rules consistently, with positive consequences for following them and negative consequences for infractions.

Check out this infographic for more information about behavioral therapy.

WHAT'S UP WITH FIDGET SPINNERS?

Fidgeting can help, Spinners cannot.

Now this isn’t meant to discredit fidgeting in general. In her work, Julie Schweitzer, director of the attention, impulsivity and regulation laboratory at the University of California, Davis, has found that children with ADHD scored higher on an attention test while squirming in their seats and moving their legs, compared with when they sat still. Another study, published in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, found that the more kids with ADHD fidgeted, the better their working memory. Such movement We’ve all seen them around the school - probably stimulates under active regions whirring and spinning triangular toys of the brain, like the dorsolateral purring away all day. Sellers of these prefrontal cortex, which plays a role in devices claim many things everything attention, planning and impulse control. from reducing anxiety to “Curing” ADHD and even Autism. But what’s the truth But the fidget spinner does not provide behind these claims? So let’s set the kind of stimulation required to help something straight, the patent for the students with ADHD. The fidget spinner fidget spinner is NOT held by a requires very little personal movement, psychologist, a researcher, or any sort of and therefore does not stimulate the scientist at all. The patent belongs to under active regions of the brain affected Catherine Hettinger, a woman from by more substantial movement and florida with no background in science at “fidgeting.” all. Any evidence supporting the use of the fidget spinner to help students with So for goodness sakes, put your ADHD or autism spectrum disorders is ridiculous spinner away. All you’re doing purely anecdotal. is distracting yourself and others.

WHAT KIND OF FIDGET WORKS? A Fidget Cube

Different fidget toys work better for different people. In principle they all perform the same basic function - provide some sort of minor stimulation to release pent up energy in a non-disruptive manner.

These fidget toys provide constant, minor stimulation to replace more intrusive outlets for energy such as foot tapping or finger drumming.

I have tried several of these ADHD fidgets over the past few years and have found two that work best in my opinion.

First is the Tangle. A Tangle is a series of 90-degree curves, connected and able to pivot at each joint. This allows for constant motion in a variety of different ways.

A Tangle

The other is a fidget cube which provides a variety of different tactile areas to interact with. The downside is this can often be distracting

ARE ADHD STUDENTS JUST BAD STUDENTS? With all the negative effects of ADHD on concentration and focus, are students with ADHD poor students?

Studies show that students with ADHD are actually included under the umbrella of the "Gifted Student" classification.

Current research indicates the rapid thought process which leads students with ADHD to have trouble concentrating also provide them the potential to perform at higher levels.

The issue here is, this lack of concentration often leads students to fall short of their full potential.

As defined by Whitmore in 1980, an Underachieving Gifted Student is a student who, "Demonstrates exceptionally high capacity for academic achievement and is not performing satisfactorily for their levels on daily academic tasks”

In fact, many studies have pointed to a positive correlation between specially designed, more diverse, and more difficult course work and a higher level of achievement and success in students with ADHD - much the same as the effect this type of education has on gifted or talented students.

The key similarity between the giftedness and ADHD exists in which activities the students excel when performing. Both gifted and ADHD students show a lack of achievement in course work they deem boring or not a challenge. In contrast, both groups of students tend to excel when working on engaging, self chosen tasks.

Recent studies by educational and developmental psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California at Berkeley show that the majority of students included under the definition of gifted show a large number of similarity to students with ADHD. In fact, giftedness and ADHD often co-occur.

So before dismissing a student who appears to be under-performing as merely a waste of time or a poor student, carefully consider the possibility there might be more at play than just lethargy and poor work ethic.

INTUITION A CURIOUS PHENOMENON

DESPITE RACING THOUGHTS AND TROUBLE PAYING ATTENTION, PEOPLE WITH ADHD HAVE A CURIOUS ABILITY TO SEE RIGHT INTO THE HEART OF A PROBLEM. Despite having difficulty concentrating and staying on task for long periods of time, ADHD also comes with some benefits as well.

One of the most interesting benefits of having ADHD is remarkable intuition about situations.

Many people with ADHD report not consciously coming to decisions in many situations, acting only on gut instinct and intuition - and often coming out ahead of others who thought more carefully.

People with ADHD report just "knowing" things. They don't know how or why, but they have an intuitive sense of what they have to do.

"PEOPLE WITH ADHD OFTEN HAVE A SPECIAL 'FEEL' FOR LIFE, A WAY OF SEEING RIGHT INTO THE HEART OF MATTERS WHILE OTHERS HAVE TO REASON THEIR WAY METHODICALLY."

INTUITION SO WHAT IS IT?

This sense of "knowing" is often just a gut instinct people with ADHD have.

Intuition is not some sort of 6th sense, the feeling of "knowing" stems from the rapid firing thoughts of an ADHD patient.

The quickly moving thoughts of someone with ADHD cause the person to form connections very quickly and reach decisions or conclusions unconsciously.

Psychologists generally agree people with ADHD should usually trust this initial gut instinct as it the result of the same thought processes of normal decision making - just occur at an accelerated pace.

What Causes ADHD?

ADHD is not the result of laziness, poor motivation, low

There is no single cause for ADHD. Scientists agree

intelligence, disobedience, poor upbringing or

that ADHD is a medical disorder affecting the several

selfishness—to name just a few. Although having

areas of the brain with the frontal area likely having

ADHD doesn’t exclude you from having some of these

the greatest involvement. Those areas involved are

difficulties, these problems do not cause chronic

responsible for certain executive functions that control

inattention, hyperactivity and impulsiveness—the core

the regulation of behavior, working memory, thinking,

symptoms of ADHD. ADHD is a medical disorder, and it

planning and organizing. Heredity is the most common

can be caused by a number of factors that affect how

cause of ADHD. This has been confirmed in studies

the brain develops and functions.

looking at the rates of occurrence of ADHD within families, studies of adopted ADHD children and twin

Current research indicates the frontal lobe, basal

studies. Molecular genetic research has focused on the

ganglia, caudate nucleus, cerebellum, as well as other

specific genes that may be responsible for

areas of the brain, play a significant role in ADHD

characteristics of ADHD. Other risk factors for ADHD

because they are involved in complex processes that

have to do with factors that can influence brain

regulate behavior (Teeter, 1998). These higher order

development and functioning such as exposure to toxic

processes are referred to as executive functions.

substances in the developing fetus and acquired brain

Executive functions include such processes as

injury due to trauma or disease. Factors such as diet,

inhibition, working memory, planning, self-monitoring,

vestibular dysfunction, television viewing and

verbal regulation, motor control, maintaining and

parenting have not been proven to be causes of ADHD.

changing mental set and emotional regulation.

According to a current model of ADHD developed by Dr. Russell Barkley, problems in response inhibition is the core deficit in ADHD. This has a cascading effect on the other executive functions listed above (Barkley, 1997).

Try Something With Me

Play some music on your phone Then play a TED talk on your chromebook And turn on the tv And talk to a friend And try to do some homework Do all of this at once for a few minutes.

Welcome To Life With ADHD