Verified by 
October is ADHD Awareness month, meaning it's time to fix our flickering national focus on a sometimes-impairing brain condition that’s reportedly now as prevalent as the common cold.
There’s a lot of confusion, misunderstanding, stigma, and controversy out there about Attention deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. So for those of you who aren’t philosophically opposed to science, here’s my eclectic list—culled from the most reliable sources I could muster—of key things you need to know.
• ADHD is a mental disorder stemming from childhood, which often, if not always, lasts in some form into adulthood.
• Symptoms include forgetfulness, distractedness, impulsivity, and difficulty finishing tasks, to a degree that interferes with school, work, and relationships
• The disorder puts kids and adults at a significantly higher risk of anxiety and low self-esteem. People with ADHD are also more likely than others to have social conflicts and major injuries.
• Parent surveys suggest approximately 9.5 percent of children from 4-17 years old have been diagnosed with ADHD as of 2007. That’s 5.4 million kids.
• These numbers have been steadily rising, with a 22 percent jump in parent-reported ADHD between 2003 and 2007.
• The National Institutes of Mental Health estimates that 4.4 four percent of U.S. adults—more than 9.6 million people—have ADHD.
• While experts believe that some children are being too quickly and erroneously diagnosed with ADHD by panicked parents and pediatricians, they also contend that many kids aren’t getting the attention and help that they need.
• Authentic cases of ADHD may stem from one or more of a variety of causes, including heredity, low-birth weight, brain injuries, and environmental exposures, including lead and/or a mother’s alcohol or tobacco use during pregnancy. It is believed to involve a malfunction with the way the brain processes neurotransmitters including dopamine,which is important in motivation and interest.
• The correct term is ADHD, not ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), which is what it was called until 1987, and it can manifest in a hyperactive, inattentive, or “combined” form.
• Boys with ADHD are two to three times as likely to be diagnosed as girls, although some researchers believe more girls would be diagnosed were it not for the fact that many have the “inattentive” form of the disorder. Many girls therefore grow up with their ADHD undiagnosed and untreated, which can lead to serious consequences including depression, anxiety, and suicide attempts.
• The likelihood of being diagnosed with ADHD varies dramatically between U.S. states, from a low of 5.6% in Nevada to a high of 15.6% in North Carolina.
• Medication, most often with stimulants, remains the most common treatment for children with ADHD. As of 2007, more than 66 percent of diagnosed kids were receiving medication treatment.
• Medication, nevertheless, is not helpful for everyone who has ADHD, even after trying various doses and formulas, and side-effects, including sleeplessness, loss of appetite, and irritability, are common.
• Among non-pharmaceutical treatments – and for myself and my own child, I strongly favor non-pharmaceutical treatments—my favorite is daily, intense exercise. Increasing research shows that even 20 minutes of exercise a day—e.g. swimming, brisk walking, going to the gym—can be a powerful brain-booster for all sorts of people, and particularly beneficial to those of us whose brains need some extra revving up.
• Another effective treatment for people with ADHD is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which doesn’t so much focus on the imperfect focus as on the negative “self-talk” that becomes a major problem after living with the disorder.
• Neurofeedback also appears to be effective—again, in particular for coping most effectively with the anxiety that so often accompanies ADHD. Adherents of this therapy point to several small studies that indicate benefits, but the treatment is very expensive; insurance rarely pays for it, and there has yet to be a gold-standard, double-blind, peer-reviewed trial that would confirm some heady claims of effectiveness.
