Adult ADHD, fact and myth

Abstract

Fact or myth? ADHD is a solution for teachers and school psychologists to cope with the problem of uproarious or unusual kids. ADHD is a mixed bag for all suspected organic patients in psycho-therapy.

Four temperament factors, that are stable throughout life can be decomposed in terms of their underlying genetic structure and their relationship to neurotransmitters: Novelty Seeking, Reward Dependence, Harm Avoidance, Persistence (Robert Cloninger - 1987). A lot of other temperament factors, can be decomposed, such as: novelty and excitement seeking, attention span, organizational ability, impulsivity.

In this study, 155 adults were diagnosed by the DSM IV (APA) as suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). All subjects filled out a questionnaire which classified each of them on a four-sequence scale: attention (length of the attention span, selective and divided attention), organization (in space and in time, long term memory, planning and decision making), impulsivity and need for excitement (novelty seeking, tendency to addiction).

What determines the diversity on these scales is probably a genetic variability (in D4 allele) causing over activity of the mesocortical dopaminergic pathway (related to the need for excitement), and of the mesolimbic dopaminergic pathway (related to the hyperactivity). Another effective factor is the insufficient development of the frontal lobe, leading to deficient inhibitory activity aimed at the seeking system (related to short attention span and the deficit in selective attention ability), and to deficit in learning ability, causing planning and decision making problems (related to the lack of organization).