Symptoms

Not all symptoms are present in all individuals with ADHD nor do they have the same intensity. However, three main characteristic behaviours are evident:

Hyperactivity

Increase of motor and/or verbal activity. Difficulty in being quiet and concentrating on the same activity during a reasonable time period. They move excessively without any specific purpose, chatting and making noise.

Impulsivity

Individuals with ADHD tend to act without thinking about the consequences. They interrupt or disturb conversations and games. They find it hard to wait for their turn and display difficulty in following rules. This impulsivity could be the most serious characteristic of the clinical profile, especially if it persists throughout time.

Attention deficit

This is a tendency to get distracted easily. Individuals exhibit a lack of concentration, difficulty in maintaining their attention for several minutes, and an inability to plan ahead. They are disorganized and not concentrated.

Diagnosis and treatment

There are different health professionals who can diagnose ADHD: psychiatrists, neurologists, pediatricians, neuropediatricians and/or clinical psychologists.

A diagnosis on time, together with a multimodal treatment are preventive actions that help reduce this disorder, and can prevent consequent learning disorders, school drop-outs, dissocial conduct, emotional imbalance. In the long term this leads to saving health and social expenses.