Attention disorder has physical cause
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are four times more likely than average to suffer mental problems in later life, researchers have found. They said ADHD was a physical disease and there was a difference between the disorder and ordinary bad behaviour.
Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are four times more likely than average to suffer mental problems in later life, researchers have found. They said ADHD was a physical disease and there was a difference between the disorder and ordinary bad behaviour.
Professor Eric Taylor of the Institute of Psychiatry in London told the British Association of Science that not enough children with the disorder were being medicated. He said 1.4 per cent of British children - about 70,000 - had acute or "hyperkinetic" ADHD, which should be treated with drugs such as Ritalin. Only one-third of them were receiving the drug, which improved their ability to concentrate, he said. In the US up to 6 per cent of children are receiving it.
A further 3.4 per cent of British children, 180,000, had a milder form of ADHD, which could be treated with psychiatric methods, he said.
His studies found that bad parenting was not the cause of ADHD, although a "chaotic" lifestyle could be a trigger for the pattern of bad behaviour typifying ADHD, which Professor Taylor described as being "impulsive, inattentive, disorganised and [emotionally] volatile". Ignoring the problem could have serious repercussions, he said. ADHD sufferers were four times more likely to suffer mental illness, including manic depression, and engage in antisocial behaviour. "Brain scans show that people with ADHD have less development of the right frontal lobe, parts of the cerebellum, and the basal ganglia. It's not a problem that depends on the society; the Chinese and South Africans have reported it."
ADHD was not a purely negative condition, Professor Taylor added. "Billy Connolly has identified himself as having it, so has Robin Williams."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments