ADD/ADHD Behavior: Hyperactive or Just Really Bad Behavior?

By Michele Ballard

Attention-deficit disorder (ADD), later known as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), one of the most diagnosed behavior disorders in America today, is also one of the most controversial. The reason, ADD ADHD behavior is hard to isolate from normal, bad behavior in kids.

On many fronts, it is said that ADD or ADHD is just a tag to homogenize behavior, to control individuality and maintain the status quo. Social and cultural critics point out that ADD ADHD symptoms do not contradict what usually perceived as "normal" behavior. After all, almost everybody must have had experienced more than once being unruly in class, restlessness, impulsive decisions, or missing deadlines and commitments -- all major symptoms of ADD/ADHD. As the Center for Disease Control and Prevention states, "It is not uncommon that physically and mentally non-pathological individuals exhibit at least some of the symptoms from time to time."

Thus, the ADD or ADHD diagnosis is sometimes seen subjective. The debate resurfaces: who draws the line between normal and abnormal behavior anyway? Isn't short attention spans are even encouraged in this age of multi-tasking and information overload? Is being different should automatically mean deviant? And if deviant, should it automatically lead to potentially addicting medication to make one conform?

Meanwhile, health reports released recently is seen to support unruly ADD ADHD behavior as a "real disease." The reports, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, links the behavior disorder to variants in the brain chemical dopamine.

The first research lead by Dr. Philip Shaw say persons, most particularly children, with a certain variant of the dopamine receptor gene may have a "greatly increased risk" of having ADHD and surprisingly, tended be "a little bit more intelligent" and to get better. The second study shows ADD ADHD behavior stems from reduced production of dopamine, which explains how medications like Ritalin may be beneficial -- and prone to being abused by patients -- because like nicotine and cocaine, they increase dopamine function in the brain.

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Article courtesy of www.goarticles.com.