ADHD

ADHD is also known as Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and is characterized by a person’s inability to control emotions, stay focused on a task, and control distractions.

It is a disorder that frustrates many a parent and teacher when they have children under their supervision.

The medical cause of ADHD has not been definitely determined but it is thought that there is a chemical imbalance in the front part of the brain and the neurotransmitters are deficient.

Neurotransmitters help to make a healthy conduit in the brain for brainwave activity.

So is ADHD a true disability?

Ask anyone who has to care for a child or loved one who has the disorder.

A victim of this disorder cannot comprehend the consequences for today’s behavior in terms of the future.

It’s not to say they don’t care about the future but that the future is just not reality today.

You can’t give them warnings of future consequences to mold their behavior in the same way you can with children not suffering from this disorder.

But there is so much that is unknown about ADHD that it is very tough to get it an award of government Social Security benefits in the United States because of it.

In the U.K., families may qualify for what is known as Disability Living Allowance or DLA benefits to allow them to care for their children with ADHD.

It is just as tough to get these benefits in the U.K. as it is in the United States.

So why is it so tough to get benefits to help with the treatment of ADHD?

It is because critics believe that there are many people who will just simply claim ADHD and the diagnosis will be abused resulting in frivolous benefit awards.

Remember that some taxpayer has to pay for these benefits in the end.

It is very difficult to diagnose ADHD as a truly disabling disease eligible for government disability benefits.

Why is this?

First of all, there is no blood test or other physical test that will conclusively identify that a person has ADHD.

Not only this, there is no definitive cause for it either.

The lack of a standardized assessment test makes it difficult to pass the results through a set of filters to diagnose this disorder.

And the symptoms of ADHD are also found in other mental disorders too.

For example, in bipolar disorder a victim of it may have many grandiose and different ideas all at once—basically easily distracted.

A person with bipolar disorder will have many unfinished projects (inability to stay on task) which would also be indicative of a person with ADHD.

So here again, a conclusive case of the disorder cannot be diagnosed.

And in the case of children, anyone who understands them knows that all small children have problems with staying focused to some extent.

Children have to be taught acceptable behaviors but parents and teachers who hear something about ADHD try to explain a child’s behavior with it when they really are not qualified to diagnose it.

So much needs to be learned and standardized about ADHD in order to truly classify it as a bona fide disability qualifying it for government help.