Note: Homeopathic Treatment requires strict individualization. Please do not take any medicine without consulting your physician/homeopath.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a condition
that becomes apparent in some children in the preschool and early
school years. It is hard for these children to control their behavior
and/or pay attention.
ADHD - CAUSE
Most substantiated causes appear to fall in the realm of neurobiology
and genetics. This is not to say that environmental factors may
not influence the severity of the disorder, but such factors do
not seem to give rise to the condition by themselves.
ADHD - SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
The principal characteristics of ADHD are inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.
These symptoms appear early in a child's life. When the child's
hyperactivity, distractibility, poor concentration, or impulsivity
begin to affect performance in school, social relationships with
other children, or behavior at home, ADHD may be suspected. But
because the symptoms vary so much across settings, ADHD is not easy
to diagnose. This is especially true when inattentiveness is the
primary symptom.
There are three subtypes of ADHD recognized by professionals. These
are the predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type (that does not show significant inattention); the predominantly
inattentive type (that does not show significant hyperactive-impulsive
behavior) sometimes called ADD—an outdated
term for this entire disorder; and the combined type (that displays both inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive symptoms).
HOW DIAGNOSIS IS DONE for ADHD?
Because everyone shows some of these behaviors at times, the diagnosis
requires that such behavior be demonstrated to a degree that is
inappropriate for the person's age. The diagnostic guidelines also
contain specific requirements for determining when the symptoms
indicate ADHD. The behaviors must appear early in life, before
age 7, and continue for at least 6 months. Above all, the behaviors
must create a real handicap in at least two areas of a person's
life such as in the schoolroom, on the playground, at home, in the
community, or in social settings. So someone who shows some symptoms
but whose schoolwork or friendships are not impaired by these behaviors
would not be diagnosed with ADHD. Nor would a child who seems overly
active on the playground but functions well elsewhere receive an
ADHD diagnosis.
To assess whether a child has ADHD, specialists consider several
critical questions: Are these behaviors excessive, long-term, and
pervasive? That is, do they occur more often than in other children
the same age? Are they a continuous problem, not just a response
to a temporary situation? Do the behaviors occur in several settings
or only in one specific place like the playground or in the schoolroom?
The person's pattern of behavior is compared against a set of criteria
and characteristics of the disorder as listed in the DSM-IV-TR.
HOMEOPATHIC TREATMENT for Attention Defecit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Homeopathic medicines are
known to have deep effect on human psychology and have been found
effective in various mental and psychological disorders. The focus
of homeopathy is not to treat
the isolated symptoms of ADHD but to treat the child as a whole.
Not only the symptoms of ADHD but also the general physical and
mental constitution of the patient, past medical history, medical
history of parents, information about pregnancy and vaccination
- all are used to find the probable cause in a given case and based
on the final analysis a remedy is chosen for a patient. The following
medicines may help in the treatment of ADHD -
ADHD - CONVENTIONAL TREATMENT
The conventional treatment primarily uses a class of drugs known
as stimulants (amphetamines).
WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?
You can join various support groups. Behavioural therapy, Social-skills
training, Parenting skills training, Psychotherapy can be useful
for the patient and the family.
REFERENCE WORKS
Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 14th ed, McGraw-Hill
Davidson's Principles and Practise of Medicine, 17th ed, 1996,
Churchill Livingstone
New Manual of Homeopathic Materia Medica & Repertory, William
Boericke, 2nd revised ed., 2001, B. Jain |
