Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - Symptoms

Symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder typically have difficulty completing a task, are easily distracted, and often seem to have their minds wandering off into the distance rather than focusing on any real action. They try to avoid situations that require attention to detail and organizational skills, often lose things they need, and are generally forgetful. Hyperactivity is manifested by restlessness, endless running and climbing. Patients are constantly on the move and are overly talkative. Hyperactivity may decrease with age, manifesting itself in adolescents or adults only as a feeling of inner restlessness. Impulsivity may manifest itself as impatience, lack of self-control, an inability to listen to an answer to the end, or to wait for their turn. People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder often have low self-esteem, are highly vulnerable to failure, are quarrelsome, aggressive, have trouble establishing relationships with others, and have poor learning ability. All this entails poor academic performance, unfavorable relationships with relatives and peers. The minimum age at which attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can be diagnosed is 3 years. At this age, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can manifest itself in excessive motor activity, irrepressible climbing, aggressiveness, and destructive actions.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder course

The presence of hyperactivity in a preschool-aged child is quite difficult to interpret, since healthy children of this age are also characterized by increased mobility. Additional symptoms facilitate the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: fits of rage, aggressive or desperate (without regard for risk) actions. In elementary school, children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder may not cope with the program due to a deficit in cognitive functions and have difficulty establishing relationships with peers. In adolescence, symptoms may undergo both quantitative and qualitative changes. With age, the number of symptoms decreases, so the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which is possible even in adolescence, becomes increasingly problematic as the child grows older. For example, the main symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in older people may manifest themselves as a feeling of inner restlessness, impatience, and not excessive motor activity. In adolescence, patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder often cannot cope with independent work, in addition, they are characterized by risky adventures that often end in accidents or traffic accidents - all this can be regarded as additional symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Three possible outcomes of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are described:

1. In 30% of patients, symptoms decrease as they get older (“delayed maturation”);
2. in 40% of patients, symptoms persist into adulthood (residual state);
3. In 30% of cases, symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are accompanied by more serious psychopathological manifestations, such as drug addiction or antisocial personality disorder (“maturing regression”).

Symptoms of ADHD may persist throughout the patient's life, but the problem of ADHD in adults is currently under-researched, and the effect of psychostimulants in adults is variable. In adults, ADHD may be the cause of social maladjustment, patients are forced to write everything down so as not to miss something important, cannot concentrate on any one task and bring it to completion, leaving only unfinished projects, delay in completing important tasks, and burst into angry outbursts. However, it seems that only a minority of children develop ADHD into the adult variant. Diagnosis of ADHD in adults is also complicated by frequent comorbid mental disorders, in particular, depression and antisocial personality disorder.

Approximately two-thirds of elementary school students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have at least one other mental disorder. Patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are more likely than the general population to be diagnosed with conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, learning disorders, communication disorders, anxiety and affective disorders, Tourette syndrome, and chronic tics. In addition, patients often have difficulty understanding cues and demonstrating restraint in social situations.