Very distracted or hyperactive children – such in our schools over the past decade has become significantly more – by 24%. What is it, a consequence of our overactive lifestyle? And how can you help your child?
“Restless”, “talkative”, “easily distracted”, “runs around like a windup”, “answers without hearing a question”, “it is difficult for him to maintain attention”, “he constantly loses something” … More and more parents say this about their children. And in desperation they puzzle over how to help the child, at least for a few minutes, concentrate on what the teacher says. What in early childhood could be explained by personality traits or an excess of energy becomes a serious problem at school. After all, it is the school that requires perseverance, discipline and the ability to concentrate from children. Parents are confused: if the child is hyperactive and inattentive, then why can he enthusiastically engage in what he is especially interested in? For example, he can spend hours disassembling an alarm clock, trying to understand its device, or “hang” in a computer game … but he is not able to read a book to the end or understand the condition of a simple task. “We are talking about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a minor brain disorder,” explains neuropsychologist Tatiana Akhutina. “Sometimes there is only attention deficit or only hyperactivity, but more often children have a combination of features of both.” This disorder, according to some reports, affects up to 38% of all children, and in boys it occurs three times more often than in girls.
Data
A third of children diagnosed with ADHD continue to have symptoms into adulthood. 57% of children with ADHD also suffer from other disorders such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, sleep disturbances, depression and anxiety disorders*.
* Published on the Pediatrics website on March 4, 2013.
There is no consensus on how this syndrome occurs. Most neuropsychologists associate it with insufficient activity of the frontal lobes of the brain, primarily with disturbances in the production of the hormone dopamine, which, in particular, is responsible for the strength of our motivation and ability to concentrate*. The development of the brain in children with this syndrome occurs normally, but with a delay (on average by three years) **, so some children “outgrow” their hyperactivity and inattention. Child psychiatrist Philip Shaw clarifies: “We found that those areas of the brain that are responsible for higher mental functions – memory, attention, control of behavior – develop with a delay. And only one area – the primary motor cortex – develops faster than in other children. This is the reason for hyperactivity.”
Psychotherapist Thom Hartmann suggested that we inherited the symptoms of ADHD from primitive people***. In the prehistoric hunter, periods of hyper-attention (when tracking prey) alternated with periods of inactivity. The transition from hunting to farming brought with it a different type of attention: now it was necessary to plan for the long term. But in the genes of some of us, there are traits of a “hunting” lifestyle. This theory indirectly confirms the discovery of anthropologist Ben Campbell (Ben Campbell): he discovered a gene mutation in the nomadic tribes of Kenya that causes symptoms of ADHD. Interestingly, no such mutation was found in the tribes that switched to a sedentary lifestyle. A.S.
Read more:
- Elementary School: Safety and Curiosity
Have a question?
Center for Diagnostics of the Development of Children and Adolescents of the Institute of Developmental Physiology of the Russian Academy of Education
tel. (499) 245 0433, (499) 245 0353, (499) 245 2530.
* Human Genetics, 2009, vol. 126.
** Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (pnas.org), 2007.
*** BMC Evolutionary biology, 2008, vol. 8.
“Try to understand the characteristics of your child”
Tatyana Akhutina, neuropsychologist, Doctor of Psychology, Head of the Laboratory for the Study of Learning Difficulties at the Moscow City Psychological and Pedagogical University (MGPPU).
Psychologies : Many children are restless, naughty: how to understand if attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is hidden behind these features?
Tatyana Akhutina : It is best to consult a psychologist or doctor. The specialist offers adults to answer two groups of questions: one concerns attention disorders, the second concerns hyperactivity-impulsivity. For example, do the following statements apply to the child: “Usually has difficulty maintaining attention when performing a task or during play”; “Makes restless movements with arms or legs, fidgets in place”? For each topic – 9 questions. If at least 6 out of 9 answers “yes”, there is reason to assume ADHD. The conclusion is made by the doctor, who must exclude diseases with similar symptoms.
Does the child need to take medication?
T. A. : In Western countries, treatment is a combination of behavioral and drug therapy. In Russia, such drugs are prohibited. Conversely, some of our researchers consider effective nootropic drugs that are not recognized in the West. Who is right is hard to say. In any case, an integrated approach is required here: not only drugs, but also psychological and pedagogical correction. This syndrome brings a lot of trouble: the child does not listen to explanations in the lesson, answers inappropriately, makes many mistakes, gets bad grades, he is constantly scolded. And the more they scold, the less desire he has to learn! It turns out a vicious circle. The task of the psychologist is to help the child cope with difficulties and change his behavior, and maintain motivation for learning.
What to advise parents?
T. A. : Try to understand the characteristics of the child. Active and inattentive children need encouragement more than others. It is useful for them to write a daily routine so that they learn the basics of planning. When a child begins to get tired, irritated, it is important to give him the opportunity to move around. For example, if he cannot sit still in the subway, you can walk along the car with him, look at the subway map: how far are we from the transfer? It is useful for such children to play sports in order to splash out their energy. Teachers also need to know better about the characteristics of such students: it is known that a child with ADHD will make fewer mistakes during the test if the teacher is standing nearby.
Interview Alina Nikolskaya
About it
“52 Ways to Overcome Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Children. Treat and educate? Sabina Dosani
In the book of an English child psychiatrist, parents will find useful ideas: how best to organize the life of a child with ADHD, how to communicate with him and what to teach in the first place (Tsentrpoligraf, 2010).