The Cost of ADHD – Treatment a Must for Emotional, Physical and Financial Health
According to recent studies, ADHD is one of the most costly health conditions in the U.S. – topped only by alcohol abuse and clearly ahead of drug abuse in terms of cost.
Annually, alcohol abuse costs American families $86 billion in lost household income. The annual cost for ADHD is $77 billion and the annual cost for drug abuse is $58 billion.
Hard costs, like out-of-pocket medical treatment, are only one aspect of lost income. ADHD high school graduates and college graduates make considerably less money annually than their non-ADHD counterparts.
Research indicates that it doesn’t matter if the person with ADHD has the same level of education as someone who does not have ADHD, the person with ADHD will make less money than the person without ADHD. The numbers are between $4500.00 and $10,000.00 annually. People with ADHD suffer from symptoms like inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity – which are not always conducive to the work environment.
Although about half the children with ADHD learn to adequately manage their symptoms into adulthood, the other half continue to struggle as they transition from school to work. If ADHD goes untreated into adulthood, the symptoms can affect their financial health by making it harder to hold down a job, making it harder to obtain the education needed to land high-paying jobs and it can cause more lost work days.
Many psychiatrists that treat adults with ADHD ask their clients to bring in their employee evaluations, most of the evaluations brought in read like a textbook case. The ADHD adult will talk out of turn, have difficulty following through with instructions, show lack of focus, have difficulty finishing projects and complain of being disorganized.
Symptoms like these make it very hard for an adult with ADHD to maintain a successful work environment. More often than not, these are the employees that get passed up for a promotion or are under-employed according to their abilities.
Not only does the adult with ADHD have more problems at work, without successful treatment the ADHD adult typically also has:
_ Higher Divorce rates.
_ Lower levels of satisfaction with all aspects of their lives.
_ Less likely to have a positive self- image or be optimistic.
_ More likely to abuse drugs or alcohol.
_ More driving accidents.
Most experts agree that if ADHD is detected and treated at a young age, the ADHD adult will be less likely to struggle with work and their everyday duties.
The key is in finding successful and healthful treatment for the ADHD adult.
About the Author
Jeannine Virtue is a freelance writer who focuses on health related issues. For information about effective and healthy treatments for Attention Deficit Disorder in adults and children, visit the Attention Deficit Disorder Help Center at http://www.add-adhd-help-center.com
ADHD – Does Nutrition Play a Factor?
Relatively unknown just two decades ago (although discussion of the disorder has occurred in medical circles for over half a century) Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder awareness is critical in the lives of those who make a career out of working with children. Teachers, child psychologists, counsellors, and others are all given at least some exposure to the symptoms and solutions of the disorder.
The people most affected by ADHD, of course, are the children with the disorder and their parents. An ADHD diagnosis is the first step towards the general improvement of many areas in the lives of someone with this condition, and many people wonder just what role diet plays as far as ADHD.
Before we get into some specific areas, it is important to note that scientific research has never positively linked any diet to the direct causes or symptoms of ADHD. Most of the work in this area remains theoretical.
Diet of the pregnant mother
The first area where nutrition may come into play as far as the development of ADHD is when the fetus is in the womb. The probable links to ADHD development here include the usual suspects such as caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, and other types of drugs.
Diet after weaning
The symptoms of ADHD tend to show up during the preschool years, and they can be aggravated by certain type of diets. Many children are ingesting too much sugar and caffeine in their diets today in the form of “easy” and junk food, and of course these ingredients will cause a reaction of hyperactivity in children without the disorder. The reaction is far greater in children with ADHD.
The Feingold Program is a diet which has not been positively proven to alleviate ADHD symptoms by science, but has been upheld both by doctors and parents who work with ADHD afflicted children. This diet essentially takes out any unnatural food products in a nutrition regime, including artificial coloring and sweeteners, flavours, and preservatives.
ADHD is largely a disorder whose origins are not fully known. The nutrition of the ADHD positive child is important, but has not yet proven to be linked to the actual development of the condition. Still, watching the nutrition a child with ADHD takes in may mean that the symptoms of the disorder are not as acute.
About the Author
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