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Summary: The Story Of ADHD

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The Story of ADHD: Prevalence, Course, Symptoms and Treatment Colin Gibson Heritage College Sean Scott Abnormal Psychology Wednesday, April 12, 2017 ADHD is a psychological disorder that affects 7.5% (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) of North Americans in a given year. Recently, it has been theorized that the disorder is on the rise, worldwide. It is hypothesized that the final cause of ADHD is neurological. Persons diagnosed with ADHD tend to be inattentive, hyperactive-impulsive or a combination of the two, depending on which variation they live with. ADHD can affect people's relationships and their ability to deal with everyday tasks. This paper will outline the prevalence, course of illness, symptoms and treatments …show more content…

Though, most of the evidence points to other factors that explain the increase in prevalence. First, part of the increase in diagnosis is due to a change in the criteria for diagnosing ADHD (Polanczyk et al., 2014). Second, the increase may also be due to more access to mental healthcare and mental health awareness (Thomas et al., 2015). Third, changes to the DSM-V have made it clear that the symptoms seen in patients must “interfere with, or reduce the quality of functioning”; this was not the case in DSM-IV (Thomas et al., 2015). Furthermore, the DSM change may also affect the rate of prevalence in years to come. More research is needed to determine whether there is an increase in the true prevalence of ADHD. Course of Illness The course of ADHD changes as diagnosed children enter adulthood. Additionally, it is widely believed that innate (beginning with gene expression) neurological factors greatly contribute to the symptoms and may be …show more content…

(2017). Subcortical brain volume differences in participants with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children and adults: a cross-sectional mega-analysis, 4(4), 310-319. Retrieved April 10, 2017, from http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(17)30049-4/fulltext MA, E. M. S., & BA, K. L. D. (2013). Developmental course of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and its predictors. J Can Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry, 22(1), 47. Nakao, T., Radua, J., Rubia, K., & Mataix-Cols, D. (2011). Gray matter volume abnormalities in ADHD: voxel-based meta-analysis exploring the effects of age and stimulant medication. American Journal of Psychiatry, 168(11), 1154-1163. Polanczyk, G. V., Willcutt, E. G., Salum, G. A., Kieling, C., & Rohde, L. A. (2014). ADHD prevalence estimates across three decades: an updated systematic review and meta-regression analysis. International journal of epidemiology, 43(2), 434-442. Rubia, K., Norman, L., Lukito, S., Alegria, A., & Wulff, M. (2016). Neuroimaging of ADHD: From matter over mind to mind over matter. Thomas, R., Sanders, S., Doust, J., Beller, E., & Glasziou, P. (2015). Prevalence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Pediatrics, 135(4),

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