Introduction
ADHD stands for Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity disorder which is a mental disorder that results into a mixture of behaviors that are disruptive. It is common in children at their early stages of growth. Usually, these behaviors result into a child’s difficulty in development, social life, family relationship and performance in any activity it engages in. Major symptoms for this disorder include inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness.
At times, hyperactivity is not present and at this juncture the disorder is referred to as DH or HD inattentive where the child has some abnormal behaviors such as not thinking before acting, fearless, impatience, inability to sit or stick in a job for a long time, problem in paying attention, inability to control emotions and difficulty in following instructions, as such the child has problems in his/her social life.
Although these characters are common to all children, the intensity and extent in child’s life development is what raises concern. Many factors contribute to these disorders such as failure in child’s attempt to do something like in education, desperation from death of a parent or divorce and such like circumstances that might adversely affect the child’s mentality.
Medication is not an adequate solution for such disorders and the environment in which the child is exposed has a big role to play in improving these disorders (Holowenko, 1999). ADHD is a disorder that is real but does not necessarily require medical attention for its correction.
ADHD is real
Diagnosis has shown that this disorder is real and it is caused by neurological and biochemical processes which are responsible for attention payment and right reasoning due to brain functioning problems.
The maturation period for the child’s neurons, level of lead poisoning and genetic inheritance are all factors contributing to how a child behaves. This behavior can either cease at a certain age or continue up to childhood. Though the disorders are common with all children, one can be right to conclude that ADHD does not exist but the level of their exaggeration makes the disorder real.
In some cases this order can be inherited from parents and it is possible for more than one kid in a family to have to have it. In this case, the child’s behavior is determined by the biological make up of the brain and the neurons. Such disorders are humiliating not only to the victims but also to the close relatives. It is good to diagnosis for this disorder immediately the symptoms are noticed. Diagnosis is supposed to be done by a qualified psychiatrist.
In as much as the child behavior is not at free will, parents have a big role to play so as to improve the conditions. Exposure to the right type of environment at both home and school can play a great role in treating such kind of disorder. Encouragement and counseling cannot be left unmentioned as this will help the child understand the situation he/she is at and this can yield positive results.
Free will is a situation where by one freely chooses on what to do. It is an important factor in psychology because the brain functions to choose on what to do without any external force. If ADHD was a free will situation then no one could have chosen on either of the symptoms but because it relays on determinism, the state becomes more natural and real (Kalat 2010).
Effect of western culture on ADHDs
According to statistics, more boys are vulnerable to this disorder than girls although, at the current, large number of children has been diagnosed with this disorder. There various cultural factors that determine the development of a child’s brain in the western culture such as lack of support from the parents and this leads to mental torture.
In child development, a child requires a lot of attention from his/her parents who give directions and advise on how things should be done. Also in school, the children are put into a lot of pressure in order to perform excellently in academics.
This may be a negative impact in that the child feels inadequate as she/he struggles to achieve the required requirements. Currently, the society is too busy to take care of the children and to give them guidance on how to live. Competitiveness and individualism is highly encouraged and this means the child is left alone to carryout his/her own activities even at an early stage. There is also a failure on the side of mothers who fail to take their responsibility of teaching the children morals.
Moral decay in the society is also a contributing factor towards these disorders. These cultural practices have been proved to contribute towards ADHD through various researches carried out. This can be true though on the contrary, these disorders are said to have been caused by biological factors in such a way that they can be passed from parents to their children. The frontal hemisphere of the brain is concerned with coordination and a delay in development in this part of the brain can lead to such kind of disorder.
Side effects of the used drugs
In western culture, once a child is diagnosed with this disorder, medication is prescribed in form of stimulant such as Ratlin which acts to improve the impulsiveness and the inattention in a child.
This drug is to be taken for 7 to 8 years and in the begging the drug seems effective but with time, the disorder symptom reoccurs. The drug is not meant to improve the child’s knowledge or activeness but it helps improve the conditions for this improvement for a short duration of time.
To most psychiatrics, this behavior can be corrected by use of either depressant or stimulants. These drugs are believed to activate the brain functioning incase of stimulant while the depressants are used to reduce the rate of brain functioning thus keeping the child’s brain at par with those of other children of the same age.
However, this is not true as such practices will eventually lead to some kind of resistance to the drugs thus leaving the condition the same or worst. Instead of concentrating on the child’s abilities, a lot of reliability has been laid on doctors who give prescription; this has led to pharmaceutical making abnormal profits.
Many are the side effects associated with these drugs such as mood swings, weight loss, appetite loss, irritability, insomnia, uncontrolled emotions, dizziness, retarded growth, lack of creativity, headaches, problem in body movement , stomachs’ and many more (Litchblau 2010). This is contrary to what has been published indicating that the drugs used have no known side effects.
Conclusion
ADHD is a type of disorder that can be caused by either biological or environmental factors, although all children have these characters at their early developmental stages, their degree of persistence in a child’s life and level of exaggerations as compared to those of other children of the same age calls for concern for such disorders.
Diagnosis for this disorder is of great value though use of drugs cannot have a long lasting solution. It is therefore advisable to look for other ways of treating or avoiding such cases that may lead to these disorders. Use of drugs is dangerous due to the side effects they lead to. ADHD is real and it exists.
Reference List
Holowenko H. (1999). Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a multidisciplinary approach. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Kalat, J. (2010). Introduction to Psychology. Wudsworth: Cengage Learning.
Litchblau, L. (2010). Psychopharmacology Demystified. Wudsworth: Cengage Learning.