ADHD mean attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The name sef no helep — e sound like say attention just finish, but no be exactly wetin people dey experience. Better way to talk am: ADHD na difference for how brain dey control attention, movement, and impulse.
Health agencies dey call am neurodevelopmental condition. World Health Organization put am under neurodevelopmental disorders for ICD-11, and CDC call am "one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood", and talk say the symptoms dey start from childhood and plenti times dey continue reach adulthood.
The three types
Doctors dey describe ADHD for three forms, depending on which symptoms strong pass when dem assess person:
- Inattentive type pass — e hard to hold attention, to organise, to finish wetin you start.
- Hyperactive-impulsive type pass — body no fit rest, you do before you think, e hard to wait.
- Combined — the two join together.
CDC talk say symptoms fit change as time dey go, and e fit look different for adults. The pikin wey no fit sit down for eight years, fit be the person wey no fit stop to collect new project for twenty-eight.
Wetin e no be
E no be say effort no dey. Na this misunderstanding common pass, and na im dey cost pass. The World Federation of ADHD International Consensus Statement — review wey only use meta-analyses and very big studies — start by talking say wrong ideas about ADHD dey stigmatise people wey get am and dey delay treatment.
No be sugar, no be screen, no be say dem spoil the pikin. CDC talk say the causes never fully clear, but e list the risk factors wey research don identify: genetics, wey e talk say dey play important role; environment things like lead; alcohol and tobacco for pregnancy; pikin health wahala including head injury; and parent mental health and family environment. Sugar and screen time no dey that list. Screen time only show for CDC page as something wey you fit reduce as part of general healthy habit — no be as cause.
E no rare, and no be children thing alone. The consensus statement put ADHD for around 5.9% of young people and 2.5% of adults. Another global meta-analysis estimate persistent adult ADHD — meaning say e start from childhood and e continue — for 2.58%, and dem find say the number dey drop as person dey old.
E no be explanation for everything. For the whole of medicine, "I no fit concentrate" na one of the symptoms wey point to the most things. Bad sleep, anxiety wey nobody treat, depression, grief, thyroid wahala, long stress, hunger, and just say the work no fit you — all of dem dey produce the same complaint. This one important pass as e sound: if you talk say "na my ADHD", and na anxiety wey nobody treat, you don talk yourself comot from the help wey for work.
Why diagnosis get threshold
NICE, the UK body wey dey write clinical guideline, don put down wetin must true before dem go diagnose ADHD. The symptoms must meet the diagnostic criteria for DSM-5 or ICD-11, dem must cause "at least moderate psychological, social, or educational or occupational impairment", and dem must dey "happening often, occurring in 2 or more important settings including social, familial, educational or occupational settings".
Na that last part you suppose sidon with. One setting no reach. If your head dey scatter for work wey you hate, but you sharp everywhere else, na the work be the better explanation. If the same pattern follow you enter school, work, house, friendship and money — na that pattern doctor dey find.
NICE talk am clear say dem no suppose make diagnosis "solely on the basis of rating scale or observational data". Online quiz no fit diagnose you. This page too no fit.
Why the word "lazy" stick
For plenti African homes, Nigerian homes join body, word no dey for this thing. Sharp pikin dey wey no dey finish anything, and word dey for that pikin, and the word na lazy. Sometimes na stubborn. Sometimes na "na you no wan face your book".
That naming no be wickedness. Most of the adults wey dey talk am never hear the other explanation — specialist assessment for Nigeria don concentrate for cities and teaching hospitals, and the researchers wey study ADHD for rural south-eastern Nigeria talk am plain for their conclusion.
But wrong name get cost. If the explanation wey you grow up with na character, then every difficulty turn evidence about who you be, instead of information about how you dey work. Na that part you fit drop.
Wetin dey actually help
The honest answer na: e depend on wetin dey happen — na why the assessment question matter. NIMH describe the standard treatment as medication and psychosocial interventions, and e mention cognitive behavioural therapy, parent training and school support as examples.
Meanwhile — and this one true whether ADHD na the explanation or e no be — the practical strategies for this site worth to try. To make first step small, to put reminders outside your head, and to ask for help with exact words, dey useful to anybody wey attention no dey behave for.