Hi, my name is Lindsey and welcome to my life.
I have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder also known as ADHD. You might have heard it before,
maybe from your psychology class, your friend, or even online. At some point in
your life I'm sure you've had difficulties sitting still in lecture,
paying attention while studying, or being engaged in impulsive behaviours. However,
when these behaviors persist over time they become signs of ADHD a
neurodevelopmental condition. ADHD affects various aspects of my life.
Typically I've trouble focusing and can become easily distracted. This is known
as an attentiveness. I also have trouble sitting still for short periods of time
known as hyperactivity. I've been told that I can get impulsive at times. Often,
my body acts before my mind which can lead to unwise decision making,
inability to ignore danger, and inability to learn from previous mistakes but
what's really taking in my head to make me, well, me. ADHD can be explained by
physiological and neurochemical mechanisms. How about I show you? Let's look into the
brain for a second. At the front exists the prefrontal cortex which is part of
the frontal lobe and contributes to complex behaviour, planning, and
personality development. Individuals with ADHD, like me, tend to have a smaller
right side compared to the left resulting in small right brain activity.
A study showed that 90% of ADHD children also had right cortical lesions. In
another study, children with ADHD were also diagnosed with hypoperfusion known
as low blood flow in the frontal lobe while there was high blood flow in those
occipital and temporal cortices.
Now let's delve even deeper on the neurochemical side. Norepinephrine, a
stress hormone that activates our fight-or-flight response, and it's
precursor dopamine, a chemical that contributes to our pleasure and reward
system, are both neurotransmitters and are found in low levels in ADHD patients.
Both dopamine and norepinephrine also contribute to maintaining thoughts,
alertness, effort, motivation, and increased focus. So it's easy to see why
low levels of these two would affect individuals like me. This is my doctor,
Dr. Miranda, she can tell you more about some treatments I've done and I'm using now.
>>DR. MIRANDA: Hi Lindsey, there are two general types of treatments for ADHD that treat
different aspects of ADHD: pharmacological and psychosocial treatments.
>>LINDSEY: So what do each of these treatments address?
>>DR. MIRANDA: Great question!
pharmacological treatments have more of a direct impact on the neurochemistry
side of ADHD, as discussed earlier. Medications like amphetamine are
stimulants. Stimulants are the most effective treatment for ADHD and have a
responsiveness rate of 70 to 80%. What they do is they block the
absorption of dopamine and norepinephrine so they keep their levels high.
>> LINDSEY: How about psychosocial treatments you mentioned?
>>DR. MIRANDA: So cognitive behavioural therapy
or CBT is a type of psychosocial treatment that can be done individually
or in groups. CBT is designed to promote self control behaviors through
self-reflection and control strategies like time management. So an advantage of
group therapy is that it allows children the opportunity to improve their
behaviours without the use of medication. It is actually the preferred method for
children under the age of seven because before this age you haven't yet fully
developed your self-regulation abilities. >>LINDSEY: Wow thank you for making everything
clearer in terms of choice of treatments I personally find CBT helpful for myself
but everyone is different. >>DR. MIRANDA: Yeah, absolutely, Lindsay! Anytime you or your
friends have any questions always feel free to come to us, we can help you out.
>>LINDSEY: Thanks doc, have a great day!