Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, is often thought to be an issue that appears only in children. Yet ADHD is a chronic, lifelong disorder, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsiveness all manifest throughout the formative years of childhood in someone with ADHD, and persist through adolescence into adulthood. Early treatment of ADHD provides many key benefits in childhood, as well as in later life in academic, personal and social realms.
School Performance
A child's performance and behavior in school have a profound psychological impact on that child. According to the National Institutes of Health, children with ADHD often have difficulty focusing and staying on task, seem to daydream, and often don't listen when spoken to in the classroom environment. However, medications combined with behavioral therapy can help. Prescription drugs such as amphetamine/dextroamphetamine, or Adderall; methylphenidate, or Methylin; and atomoxetine, or Strattera, affect the brain chemicals, norepinephrine and dopamine, helping to improve focus and behavioral issues on a neurological level. Early behavioral therapy combined with a medication can enable a child to perform better in school, leading to improved self-esteem and more positive feedback from teachers. These benefits will grow as the child progresses through school, helping with future academic performance.
Social Development and Family
Children with ADHD often have difficulty making friends and maintaining social relationships due to their disorder. According to a report by the Surgeon General, ADHD can interfere with a child's ability to form social bonds with their peers as well as their parents. Untreated early ADHD is also linked to the eventual development of behavioral disorders. With the help of a physician and therapist, a child whose ADHD is treated early will have help getting his hyperactive, impulsive, and inattentive symptoms under control, allowing for improved social and familial interaction through the course of their developmental years.
Life Coping Skills
Since children with unmanaged ADHD tend to be more likely to drop out of school, reports the Surgeon General, early treatment is essential toward ensuring a positive and productive future, both in the academic realm as well as in future careers. Sometimes people with untreated ADHD turn to substance abuse later in life to manage their own symptoms, according to the UC Davis MIND Institute. Catching ADHD early allows medical professionals to help a child understand her disorder and how it is properly treated. Through medication and behavioral therapy, someone with ADHD will learn to understand her disorder as she grows into adulthood, and can learn to cope with ADHD's effects in day-to-day life. Early treatment of ADHD can create positive coping mechanisms, both in interpersonal relationships and throughout higher education and future careers.
Developing Treatment Strategies
Another crucial benefit of treating ADHD early in a person's life involves the ongoing research into the disorder. UC Davis reports that research is constantly underway to improve the medical community's understanding of both the cause and effects of ADHD. Technology, such as brain imaging, improvements in medication, and the role in which genes play in ADHD, takes time to yield results; a child treated early for ADHD will have plenty of time to take advantage of science's new insights into this complex disorder.
References
- UC Davis MIND Institute: ADHD Program
- Mental Health - A Report of the Surgeon General:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Public Health Issues in ADHD: Individual, System, and Cost Burden of the Disorder Workshop
- National Institute of Mental Health:Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
