ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER: a syndrome of learning and behavioral problems that is not caused by any serious underlying physical or mental disorder and is characterized especially by difficulty in sustaining attention, by impulsive behavior (as in speaking out of turn), and usually by excessive activity - also called minimal brain dysfunction.
According to the American Psychiatric Association, a child is considered to have ADD who shows eight of the following symptoms for at least six months, beginning before the seventh birthday:
Often fidgets hands or feet or squirms in seat
Has trouble staying in seat when required
Is easily distracted
Has trouble waiting turn
Often blurts out answers before question is completed
Trouble doing chores or following through with instructions
Has trouble sustaining attention to work or play activities
Often shifts from one unfinished task to another
Has trouble playing quietly
Often talks too much
Often interrupts others or butts into other children's games
Doesn't seem to listen to what's being said
Often loses things (toys, pencils, books, assignments)
Does dangerous things without considering consequences, such as running into the street without looking
DRUG TREATMENTS of narcotics, including an amphetamine called RITALIN are overprescribed, and may have unwanted side-effects (sleeplessness, loss of appetite, irritability, headaches, fatigue, withdrawal, crying for no reason, sensitivity to criticism, or Tics (involuntary, motor movements of face and arms) which may lead to "Tourette's syndrome".
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