THE GREAT ATTENTION DEFICIT: ADHD
Often times we hear parents complaining of children who are hyper- active or cannot stay still or focused for some time. Often termed as ‘ngwana o o lapisang...o sankeng a iketla’.
There may be complaints of not finishing tasks, not willing to share; not being able to wait for their turn, or always wanting to be the first, always interrupting others, being too loud,
day dreaming, not concentrating and not being able to do work without supervision amongst others.
Sometimes it’s just childhood behaviour but other times it may be a condition known as
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) which affects about 5-10% of children of school going age.ADHD is a disorder that affects normal neural development and causes childhood symptoms such as being impulsive hyperactive and not being able to pay attention. Even though it affects more boys than girls,one possibility could be than girls often present with the version where they don’t pay as much attention hence leading to under diagnosis as compared to boys who may present mostly with impulsivity and hyper-activeness which is often markedly noticeable. In families where children have a first degree relative with adhd, meaning a relative from the immediate nuclear family,the child may have up to eight times the chance of having adhd. Other risk factors include being born prematurely, mom smoking during pregnancy, and having unmanaged hypertension during pregnancy. The symptoms are often severe enough to affect the patient socially, their performance at school and for older working individuals their jobs. Although the diagnosis of ADHD is made at any age, a child should have had the symptoms before the 12th birthday.
Following assessment by a qualified health practitioner such as a pediatrician, a family medicine specialist or a general doctor, a child may be managed through behaviour modification,or medications ,commonly stimulants.
Unfortunately this condition often impairs the patients function at school and future work,however with interventions a child can be assisted to function better but most patients go on to live with this disorder affecting their relationships later on in life,impairing their ability to manage risk taking behavior and are often involved in risk taking behaviour including bad driving. Patients often end up dropping out of school so it’s important to diagnose this early on and seek management and care early on and not just allude the behaviour to lack of respect. it’s important to also ensure that in life the child does not seek refuge in substance abuse and to also assess them for other personality disorders.
Dr Wada Goitsemang is a Family Medicine Specialist and CEO of Dr Wada’s Tutorials Contact at :74 55 38 90