Are Genetic Explanations of ADHD faulty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Are Genetic Explanations of ADHD faulty - Essay Example tatistical Manual of Mental Disorders -IV-TR defines ADHD as a developmental disorder that occurs in childhood, invariably prior to the age of seven, and is characterized by â€Å"developmentally inappropriate levels of inattention and/or hyperactive-impulsive behavior†, which causes impairment to one or more than one of major life activities, like family, peer, educational, occupational, social or adpative funtioning. This lack of a single acceptable definition provides indication of the division of the interpretation of the evidence available on ADHD, and is acceptable as knowledge. Children with ADHD display inattentiveness, impulsive behavior, and restlessness. They find it difficult to maintain attention in particular to activities that do not appeal to them or is non-rewarding. This behavior is often combined with the problem of responding to distractions that make it difficult to focus on tasks at hand. Adults with ADHD often have difficulty with time management, procrastination, organization, risk taking, careless behavior, and distractible and impulsive behavior, which leads to poor structuring of their lives, and inability to plan and execute complex daily tasks. (Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder). The original manner in which children with ADHD was looked at was to treat them as children with learning difficulties, and that provide them with special education as a means to make them all right. Thus making it essentially an issue of nurture. Present day psychologists tend to question this understanding of ADHD, and have brought a new perspective of ADHD from the nature angle, in the form of a biological or neurochemical problem, as an explanation for ADHD. Support for this comes from psychologists, who believe that the mind and body are more closely intertwined than was earlier believed, and that the body could cause problems of the mind. These beliefs are founded or the findings that Downs syndrome and cancer could have a genetic basis.