MAY MY CHILD HAVE ATTENTION DEFICIT AND HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER?

Is your child more active than other children and does this mobility disrupt his harmony with his environment?

Does your child forget many things or act like he/she doesn't listen when you talk to him/her?

Is your child generally impatient or acting without thinking? Have bad things happened to you?

Do you receive complaints from your child's teacher that he often misbehaves at school or does not listen to lessons?

Does your child have difficulty starting, continuing and finishing schoolwork?

If you answered "yes" to half of the questions above, your child may have ADHD (Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity) problem.

Attention Deficit and hyperactivity disorder is a disorder that gives its first signals in early childhood. There are some typical features of this disorder; We can group these features under three main headings, such as attention deficit, hyperactivity and impulsivity.

We can say that one of the three headings we have listed is more dominant to a certain extent in children experiencing this problem. For example; While attention deficit disorder is dominant in some children, hyperactivity or impulsivity may be more prominent in others.

In the type where hyperactivity is present;

• Fidgeting in the seat, moving hands and feet

• Running around unnecessarily, climbing on objects

• Inability to play games or do other work calmly

• Inability to sit in one place for a certain period of time, constantly moving

• Talking too much

In the type where distraction is dominant;

• Easily distracted

• Difficulty paying attention to a particular task or game

• Making mistakes due to carelessness

• Having difficulty organizing tasks and activities

• Such as homework and in-class activities Avoiding doing work that requires intense mental effort

• Leaving the work started unfinished

• Discussed Appearing not to be listening while performing

• Forgetfulness in daily activities

• Losing items needed for activities

In the type where impulsivity (taking action without thinking) is dominant;

• Answering the question before it is completed

• Having difficulty waiting for your turn

• Interrupting others or interrupting their games

• Some situations such as running, pushing, pulling without thinking about the consequences

can be observed. Some children may be equally active in these three types of situations at the same time.

Is every active child hyperactive?

The general nature of many children may be active and energetic. Not every active child has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In some cases, some children may be active and curious by nature. In order for a child to be diagnosed with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), they must exhibit some destructive (violent) behavior towards their friends, themselves and their environment. Again, not every child who has difficulty paying attention has ADHD.

Perhaps the child may not have enough motivation for whatever subject he or she needs to be interested in.

Some Psychological problems are also confused with ADHD. It is possible to come across some symptoms that look like ADHD but are not ADHD in children of families that cannot set enough limits and rules for their children. Since the child does not have enough self-control, he may have uncontrolled attitudes.

Again, since the child's anxious or depressed mood may make the child restless and careless, some conditions similar to ADHD may occur. When children are depressed or anxious, they may sometimes lose control and act restlessly. This attitude is a defensive behavior in which they try to prevent spiritual collapse; It should not be confused with ADHD.

As a result, in order to understand whether a child has ADHD, the child must undergo a healthy evaluation and a treatment plan must be created according to the results of the evaluation.

Unfortunately, in our country's conditions, a child can easily be diagnosed with ADHD after a number of psychiatric examinations that are very short and carried out without the use of any evaluation tools, and children are forced to take certain drug treatments that are not needed. The prevalence rate of ADHD, which is estimated to be 8% in the clinic, seems to be at a very high rate due to these misdiagnoses.

In summary, it is a very wrong proposition to say that every child who is active and disorganized has ADHD. A definitive diagnosis can be made with a number of psychological and cognitive tests and scales for the child administered by child and adolescent psychologists in our center.

How is attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder treated?

At the center, "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy", a US-based therapy technique that is applied by psychologists who are experts on this subject and can be effective very quickly, is applied. With this therapy, your child will first regulate his thoughts about the difficulties he is experiencing and turn his emotions into positive ones, and therefore change these developmental behaviors.

With this therapy technique, you will be able to participate in your child's therapy process, and by staying in cooperation with the therapist through the exercises you will do at home, your child's family, You will be able to adapt to school and the environment in a short time.

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