ADHD
One of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders is ADHD. Often diagnosed in childhood, symptoms continue into adulthood and can be severe enough to impact school, home life, and even relationships. While primarily marked by difficulty with attention, organization, and impulsivity, additional symptoms include:
Getting Diagnosed
There is no single test to diagnose ADHD, and reaching an accurate diagnosis may appear different for children or adults seeking care. However, both include an assessment, clinical interview, and often gathering a history of symptoms from family and teachers.
Treatment
Like many mental health conditions, ADHD is often best treated with therapy and medication.
Children are often first offered behavior therapy, which focuses on training parents to provide effective parenting interventions. Medication may also be added depending on the childs and family's specific circumstances.
Adults often benefit from tandem treatment of therapy and medication. Learning executive functioning skills such as time management, organization, sleep hygiene and even emotional regulation are taught and improved upon in therapy. Starting medication assists in the individual's ability to consistently implement and learn the executive functioning skills mentioned above. However, like children, medication is not always needed to see improvements and is based on the individual's circumstances.
Cited, CDC 2022 [Learn About Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) | CDC]