A disability that affects individuals attention span, includes excessive movements, and hasty or impulsive acts

Origins:

Earliest known origins: 1798, a Scottish doctor, Sir Alexander Crichton, started noticing, among young children, certain people’s being easily more distracted and unable to focus on their tasks/activities compared to others

- Wrote a book about the condition: An Inquiry Into the Nature and Origins of Mental Derangement: Comprehending A Concise System of the Physiology and Pathology of the Human Mind and A History of the Passions and Their Effects

- First appeared in the Second Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM II) in 1968: It had descriptions of children with high levels of activity and impulsivity, however, no clear definition or term

- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder-III-R(DSM-III-R): The term ADHD was introduced

Scientists haven’t identified a root cause of ADHD
Theories suggest that factors such as being born prematurely, brain injury, mother smoking, mother’s usage of alcohol, or extreme stress throughout the pregnancy

Symptoms:

Varying from high activity levels at one moment to having no motivation or ability to do any tasks or activities (excessive activity or restlessness)
Difficulty remaining/sitting still for extended periods of time (limited attention span)
Can’t pay close attention to details thus making hasty or impulsive choices that don’t often make
Have trouble focusing on tasks/activities such as lectures, conversations, school-work, etc
Doesn’t seem to engage with the listener as if their mind has drifted somewhere else
Avoids or dislikes tasks that require sustained mental effort
Easily distracted
Always “on the go” as if driven by a motor
Talks too much without meaning to or realizing
Fidgets with or taps hands or feet, or squirms in seat
Too hyperfocused
Trouble multitasking
Disorganization and problems prioritizing
Low frustration tolerance
Trouble coping with stress

Effects of ADHD on everyday life:

Poor school/work performance
Unemployment
Financial problems
The trouble with the law
Alcohol or other substance abuse
Frequent car accidents or other accidents
Unstable relationships
Poor physical and mental health
Poor self-image
Suicide attempts

Facts:

Most commonly diagnosed among young children especially boys compared to girls (12.9% compared to 5.6%)
Very difficult to diagnose as its common with disorders such as Anxiety or Mood Disorders
An estimated 8.4% of children and 2.5% of adults have it
According to a national 2016 parent survey, an estimate of 6.1 million (94%) of children are diagnosed with it
According to a national parent survey, 6 in 10 children with ADHD had at least one other mental, emotional, or behavioral disorder

Coping Mechanisms:

Create an organized calendar with important dates and times
Develop a habit of setting alarms and reminders on the phone for meetings, appointments, etc
Find fidget items to help with inattention
Mindfulness meditation
Deep breathing exercises
Affirmation journal
Focus on one task at a time instead of all of them as a whole
Listen to music to better be attentive to your task or activity such as school work
Exercise
Sit in front of the class to limit distractions

Personal Experience

Since I have moved to the United States, I have been diagnosed with ADHD. As a person who lives with ADHD, it’s a multifaceted aspect of my life that’s extremely difficult to fully comprehend or synthesize to several sentences. However, this is what I will say. For as long as I can remember, I took medication for it up until Junior year of high school where numerous harmful tics began to form with the medication's harms outweighing the long-term benefits it once possessed. Despite the withdrawal of the medication, I have been able to find coping mechanisms in order to manage it and not let it get overly out of control, however, it still often shows itself but to what I perceive as a lesser extreme. For example, I can be very hyperfocused, restless, and/or extremely unmotivated in a way that I need to get things done but I can’t seem to be able to do anything about it. Some coping mechanisms, but not limited, I use to help it are exercising, journaling, listening to music, photography, I have a magnetic balls cube that I play with whenever I need to be attentive or restless or in what I perceive to be an uncomfortable position. ADHD is a major part of my life and hugely impacts my daily activities so some days are better than others in managing it.

SOURCES

[1]: [A Brief History of ADHD] By WebMD

[2]: [What Is ADHD?] By American Psychiatric Association

[3]: [Changes in the Definition of ADHD in DSM-V: Subtle but Important] By NCBI

[4]: [Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)] By Mayo Clinic

[5]: [Data and Statistics About ADHD | Center for Disease Control and Prevention] By CDC