Does Your Child Need ADHD Treatment?
Determining whether or not your child has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is very difficult. The lists of ADHD symptoms are often too subjective for a concrete diagnosis to be made, even by qualified personnel. And many other things can cause ADHD-like symptoms to appear. Anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, and depression can all manifest in ways that are easily mistaken for ADHD. Once a diagnosis of ADHD is made, the next step is to determine what the ADHD treatment should be. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Checklist The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders contains a checklist that is the most commonly used method of diagnosing ADHD. In order for a diagnosis to be made, a minimum of six different behaviors must be noticed and all must last for at least six months. A few of these need to have been present before the age of seven and must be the root cause of significant difficulty in the person’s life. The symptoms are broken down into two lists: inattentiveness and hyperactivity/impulsive behavior. When attempting to diagnose a person, both lists are checked and cross-referenced. The lists are: Inattentiveness : Often fails to pay close attention to details and makes careless mistakes at school or work.