What department should I go to for ADHD?

Which department should I go to for ADHD? This is a question often asked by parents of children with ADHD. ADHD is generally thought to be more common in children, so see a pediatrician. However, studies have shown that ADHD is related to factors such as cranial nerve transmission, brain damage, heredity, abnormal family relationships and improper education. Therefore, experts recommend that children with ADHD also see a neurologist.

If a child has ADHD, then what parents want to know most is the treatment of ADHD. So what specific methods can be used to treat ADHD? In fact, the focus of treatment is to cultivate and develop their self-control and attention. The main purpose is to train children to use better cognitive activities to improve their attention and overcome distractions; the second is to reduce children's excessive activities and bad behaviors through a certain program of training.

Secondly, recreational therapy can also be used. According to the personality characteristics and family conditions of the children, various forms of entertainment activities should be arranged reasonably according to local conditions. Such as singing games, to adjust the atmosphere and cultivate temperament. Children should be especially encouraged to participate in group recreational activities, and be given guidance and corrected for deviant behaviors during these activities.

Causes of ADHD

1. Genetics

Family studies, twin studies, and foster child studies support that genetic factors are an important risk factor for ADHD, with an average heritability of approximately 76%.

2. Neurotransmitters

Neurobiochemical and psychopharmacological studies have found that there is an imbalance in neurochemical transmitters in the brain, such as low dopamine and norepinephrine function and decreased 5-HT function in the patient's blood and urine. Some scholars have proposed the dopamine, norepinephrine and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) hypotheses of ADHD, but no hypothesis can fully explain the cause and mechanism of ADHD.

3. Neuroanatomy and Neurophysiology

Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed abnormal development of the patient's frontal lobe and asymmetry of the rostral end of the bilateral caudate nucleus. Functional MRI also found that ADHD patients have brain function defects, such as hypofunction of the frontal lobe and abnormal activation of functions in the frontal lobe, especially the prefrontal lobe, basal ganglia, anterior cingulate cortex, cerebellum and other parts.

4. Environmental factors

Includes prenatal, perinatal and postnatal factors. Risk factors associated with pregnancy and childbirth include smoking and drinking by mothers of ADHD patients, premature birth, postpartum hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, and thyroid dysfunction. Childhood illnesses that have been linked to the development of ADHD include viral infections, meningitis, encephalitis, head injuries, epilepsy, toxins, and drugs. More controversial factors include malnutrition, diet-related allergies, excessive intake of beverages or foods containing food additives, iron deficiency in children, elevated blood lead levels, and decreased blood zinc levels, which are associated with the development of ADHD, but the evidence is currently insufficient.

5. Family and psychosocial factors

Negative factors such as parental discord, family breakdown, improper parenting methods, bad parental personalities, mothers suffering from depression, fathers with impulsive, antisocial behavior or substance addiction, family financial difficulties, crowded housing, separation from parents, abuse in childhood, and improper educational methods in school may all serve as triggers for the onset of the disease or reasons for the persistence of symptoms.