Florine Roche
Daijiworld Media Network
Mangalore, Jan 30: One among the many common behavioral disorders seen among children in the recent times is Attention Deficiency/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Though the disorder affects millions of children all over the world many believe that that the disorder has not got the attention it deserves in India and it continues to haunt children and parents alike.
According to the latest survey conducted by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India (ASSOCHAM), the details of which were released recently, prevalence of children diagnosed with ADHD in India has gone up from 4% to 11% in the last six years. The study also reveals that ADHD in children with symptoms of absentmindedness and extra activeness is on the rise especially in cities and metros and is seen more among boys than girls.
The survey titled “Rising number of ADHD kids in metropolitan cities” was conducted by ASSOCHAM for the years 2005 to 2011, says that there has been over 175% increase in ADHD between the ages of 3 to 17. It states that the major causes for this disorder are genetics, diet, social, physical and parental environment too contributing in its own way. The survey was conducted by ASSOCHAM in 10 major cities of India namely Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Luknow. The study has revealed that ADHD prevalence has increased among boys from 6 to 11 percent, while among girls it rose to 5.5% from 2% over the last six years.
Genes and Environment play a role
If the findings really project the reality, it is certainly a cause to worry as ADHD is a chronic condition that affects children and often persists into adulthood. While there are many factors that contribute to ADHD, it is believed that the disorder is hereditary and genetics are a factor in 75 per cent of the cases. Apart from this, environmental factors such as alcohol, tobacco smoke and exposure to lead in early life and complications during pregnancy are the other contributing factors for the disorder. While genetic factor is something which is not within the control of the parents it is the remaining 25% of the causes on which they need to pay attention and play a pro-active role to prevent the disorder from precipitating.
It is said that the disorder develops in early childhood, starting from as early as 3 years and can continue till adulthood if left untreated or unattended due to lack of quality time given to their kids. The study gives a subtle hint that parents play a crucial role to help such children to overcome the disorder. It is therefore, necessary for parents to keep a close watch on the changes in the behavior of their children over a period of time.
Symptoms of the disorder range from difficulty in concentration for the child, difficulty in making and maintaining friendships and conflictual relations with parents arising out of telling lies, stealing, stubbornness and demanding behavior. Children with ADHD may also suffer from low self-esteem, impulsive behavior, disturbed relationships and poor academic performance in school. However, these children compensate for this by their ability to multi task and are also gifted with high energy levels. Hence despite the glaring shortfalls, the energy they exude often put parents in soup as they fail to notice anything amiss in their children.
Releasing the results of the survey ASSOCHAM Chairman B K Rao stated that their researchers interacted with more than 1000 school children, teachers and doctors and in every class they have found one to three children diagnosed with the disorder. Their study also reveals that children at the age of four are more prone this disorder. Though the disorder may improve with age, it may jeopardize the child’s academic performance and interpersonal relations and will deal a heavy blow to their personality development.
Views Differ
But is ADHD really a problem that calls for urgent consideration or is there a media hype created around this disorder, is a question to ponder over. Dr Venkatesan of All India Institute of Speech and Therapy, Mysore, a Clinical Psychologist has altogether a different approach to the disorder. He says the world over ADHD is just about 1% and the same yardstick should not be used to measure the extent of the disorder in Indian children vis-à-vis children in other countries. He says “we have a tendency to club academic inattentiveness as ADHD which is wrong. Most healthy children are inattentive, hyperactive or impulsive at one time or the other. If a 5 year old child is not able to sit and study but is capable of watching cartoon continuously for hours together it cannot be termed as ADHD. It is normal for small children to suffer from short attention spans or to stick on to one activity for long period. But that cannot be termed as ADHD”.
May be the problem lies somewhere in between. Hilda Rayappan of Prajna Counselling Centre says “there might be an increase in ADHD cases or something similar to that for the simple reason that people now come forward to find a solution to the problem. Many a time parents are unable to cope up with the crisis of handling children who are hyperactive and it may not be ADHD. What is required is the combined efforts of counselor, pediatrician, clinical psychologist, psychiatrists and parents to know whether it is really ADHD and then go ahead with the medication if required”.
The survey of ASSOCHAM Apart, parents need not get unreasonably worried if they see symptoms which may be similar to those of ADHD. They have to take the counselors and their pediatrician into confidence and shower their children with love and care and spend quality time with them rather than opting for the extreme step of medication.