Add Paper About Drugs

Kathryn Shelby Wells

Professor Barry Berger

Drugs, Society, and Behavior

December 12, 2013

Attention Deficit Disorder

Forgetting to do homework, daydreaming during class, or not being able to sit still are all pretty normal instances for some kids. However, where it gets more of a problem is when the child does this all the time, whether it is out of not getting enough attention, impulsivity, or hyperactivity. Those are the kids that seem to never listen or cant follow instructions. However, they may be struggling with the disorder known as attention deficit disorder, or ADD. This attention disorder is described as a neurobiological disorder that makes it difficult for people to inhibit their spontaneous responses, from all the way to movement, to speech, or to attentiveness (Segal and Smith). The term ADD is the more general term for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, ADHD. In general, there are three types of forms of ADD: Combined Type, Predominantly Inattentive Type, and Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type (Jaksa).

These types of disorders are difficult to detect because of the fact that it almost seems like normal kid behavior to ignore their parents. One way a parent could be sure that their child isn’t just ignoring them is by seeing if their child is having problems not only at home but also at school or when they are playing. It’s not just a child disease because it seems as though many people, regardless of age, can ignore people or cause problems for people. Statistics shows that approximately 4% to 6% of people, or 9 million adults, have ADD (Jaksa). This just goes to show that once diagnosed as a child, that one will continue to have problems with ADD into adulthood. In general, people will have problems concentrating, especially when it is on something they don’t have any interest in.

In order for this diagnosis to happen, the behaviors of distractibility, impulsivity, and/or hyperactivity more be displayed for long periods...