Get Help with ADHD Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Where can you turn for help with ADHD - Attention deficit Hyperactive Disorder? More children and young people are being given a diagnosis for this behavioural condition now than ever before and the statistics are increasing every year! As new research studies are undertaken around the world there are some interesting findings being published however, the rality is that no-one really knows. In the first half of this year alone research includes findings form Iowa state university that states that children spending two hours or more every day either watching TV or playing computer video games on games consoles had a 67% more chance of having attention problems. Other research from the journal Paediatrics links pesticides from fruit and veg with ADHD as children with this condition have been found to have much higher levels of organophosphates in their urine levels than children without the condition. These chemical are known to cause damage to the way the brain functi! ons. To confuse the situation even more some Australian research has found that 1 in 3 of all children diagnosed with ADHD have been misdiagnosed when they were reassessed by a multidisciplinary team.

Wherever you stand in this debate there is no getting away from the fact that if you do certain things it will help your child's ADHD symptoms. So what sort of things can you do?

Well, the first thing is to have a good understanding of what the behaviours are tht you are trying to get in check and this involves discussion with everyone who knows your child as more than likely they will behave very differently in different situations with different people. After that you can negotiate what are good behaviours and what are bad with your children and devise rewards and punishments accordingly.

Other things that you can do is to look at diet. This is very interesting because of the recent research which shows that in children with ADHD symptoms there is a higher level of pesticides from our fruit and vegetables. These pesticides could be contributing to ADHD type behaviours. So the advice here is to wash all fruit and vegetables thoroughly and buy organic when you can. However there is now evidence that free range eggs have more toxins in them than eggs from hens that are not free range. This shows how toxic our environment has become when the hens get more polluted from eating outside free range than they do when they are enclosed.

It may be these pesticides are causing the unwanted behaviours or children that are prone to ADHD may be more affected by them - This really is a chicken and egg situation! However using a good anti oxidant is a good idea because these mop up the toxins from the internal environment which are called free radicals and these are created through exercise.

Whilst exercise is good and helps young people with ADHD feel better through breaking down large amino acids so that smaller transmitters like serotonin (that helps you feel good) and melatonin ( helps sleep patterns), can break through to the brain. You can see that being constantly on the go, as is the case with ADHD can cause 'oxidative stress' ( the build up of toxins stored in the body known as free radicals.)

Certainly it helps to check out which additives and preservatives your child may be sensitive to and avoid them. Feingold diet is a brilliant way forward with this as it focuses on what to eliminate from your child's diet.

Also, something else that is simple and fun to do is to have a go at learning different relaxation therapies and techniques. This can help not only the ADHD child but also the family that live alongside the child to overcome the stressful lifestyle.