Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Neurodevelopmental disorder / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by executive dysfunction occasioning symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity and emotional dysregulation that are excessive and pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inappropriate.[8]
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder | |
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Specialty | |
Symptoms |
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Usual onset | In most cases at least some ADHD symptoms and impairments onset during the developmental period. |
Causes | Genetic (inherited, de novo) and to a lesser extent, environmental factors (exposure to biohazards during pregnancy, traumatic brain injury) |
Diagnostic method | Based on impairing symptoms after other possible causes have been ruled out |
Differential diagnosis |
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Treatment |
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Medication |
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Frequency | 0.8–1.5% (2019, using DSM-IV-TR and ICD-10)[2] |
ADHD symptoms arise from executive dysfunction,[17] and emotional dysregulation is often considered a core symptom.[21] Difficulties in self-regulation such as time management, inhibition and sustained attention may cause poor professional performance, relationship difficulties and numerous health risks,[22][23] collectively predisposing to a diminished quality of life[24] and a direct average reduction in life expectancy of 13 years.[25][26] ADHD is associated with other neurodevelopmental and mental disorders as well as non-psychiatric disorders, which can cause additional impairment.[27]
Although people with ADHD struggle to persist on tasks with temporally delayed consequences, they may be able to do so on tasks they find intrinsically interesting or immediately rewarding;[28][16] this is known as hyperfocus (more colloquially)[29] or perseverative responding.[30] This mental state is often hard to disengage from[31][32] and can be related to risks such as for internet addiction[33] and types of offending behaviour.[34]
ADHD represents the extreme lower end of the continuous dimensional trait (bell curve) of executive functioning and self-regulation, which is supported by twin, brain imaging and molecular genetic studies.[35][12][36][16][37][38][39][40]
The precise causes of ADHD are unknown in the majority of cases.[41][42] For most people with ADHD, many genetic and environmental risk factors accumulate to cause the disorder.[43] The environmental risks for ADHD are biological and most often exert their effects in the prenatal period.[7] However, in rare cases a single event might cause ADHD such as traumatic brain injury,[44][45][46][47] exposure to biohazards during pregnancy,[7] a major genetic mutation[48] or extreme environmental deprivation very early in life.[7] There is no biologically distinct adult onset ADHD except for when ADHD occurs after traumatic brain injury.[49][45][7]