Inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity are signs of ADHD. To know if your child suffers from inattention you can see if he or she has hard time listening to others or attending to details and if they are easily distracted and forgetful.
Joanna Garcia, Psychotherapist with Baptist Health Care and Counseling, says all of that happens in the prefrontal cortex and one example is procrastination, that is putting an assignment off to the last minute.
“Why does this happen? People with ADHD have poor time horizons, so that’s where you see running late, poor time management and not being able to organize things,” she highlights. ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactvity Disorder) is a mental health condition diagnosed in childhood. Martin Lopez, Psychotherapist with Baptist Health Care and Counseling, says it cannot be diagnosed in adults.
He explains it is a set of impairments related to memory being able to focus and causes you to have some serious issues in your life.
‘Boys who are more prevalent to presenting with the hyperactive type are more likely to be diagnosed in elementary school and girls often present with the inattentive type’, points out Joanna Garcia, also Psychotherapist at the same institution. Joanna Garcia, Psychotherapist with Care and Counseling at Baptist Health South Florida, explains with collecting there is a very specific sentimental value, a memory, for example, a piece of jewelry that your grandmother gave to you.
She also says collecting is a hobby, like collecting stamps; but hoarding is an active looking for things, it is just adding and adding things. The one-year rule, there is a place for everything, and redefining the junk drawer are the three simple steps to decluttering. Joanna Garcia, Psychotherapist with Care and Counseling at Baptist Health South Florida, says when you look at those hoarder’s rooms, there is a lot of stuff and it becomes overwhelming thinking, how I am going to tackle this. “Having a one-year rule is, in essence, breaking it down. Preemptively decluttering before it becomes excessive.”
Graciela Jimenez, Psychotherapist with Care and Counseling at Baptist Health South Florida, recommends making sure everything has a place for itself and that will help you maintain a little bit of organization. Joanna Garcia, Psychotherapist with Care and Counseling at Baptist Health South Florida, says hoarding is recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) as a mental health disorder, and there is often a genetic predisposition. She points out other causes can be neglecting childhood, and dramatic events growing up.
Graciela Jimenez, Psychotherapist with Care and Counseling at Baptist Health South Florida, says there is a little bit of perfectionism. “The person thinks ‘I need to keep this item and know that it is accessible to me'”. Joanna Garcia, Psychotherapist with Care and Counseling at Baptist Health South Florida, explains keeping things with the excuse of needing in the future is not a symptom of hoarding if the object is seasonal, like a generator, for example.
Graciela Jimenez, Psychotherapist with Care and Counseling at Baptist Health South Florida, says if there are items that might have a thick layer of dust, that you may not have looked at in three years or four years, like old laptop, they could be an indication that hoarding might be happening. We can think ADHD and ADD are different things but an expert clarifies it for us.
Martin Lopez, Psychotherapist with Baptist Health Care and Counseling, explains it’s all ADHD, but some individuals have it with inattentiveness, some others have it with hyperactivity and some individuals have it with both.
He also says if you have ADHD with a specific inattentiveness, you still have some of the hyperactivity, but it’s just not as prevalent, and viceversa. There are some ADHD risk factors, such as genes, smoking, alcohol use or drug use during pregnancy.
Martin Lopez, Psychotherapist with Baptist Health Care and Counseling, says there is a genetic component, so if one of your parents happens to have ADHD you are more likely to have it.
Exposure to environmental toxins during pregnancy and low birth weight are also risk factors of ADHD. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), in 2016, 6.1 million children from ages 2-17 were diagnosed with ADHD.
Martin Lopez, Psychotherapist with Baptist Health Care and Counseling, says with children he would usually try behavioral therapy first before going with stimulants.
“The issue with stimulants is that they don’t help you to develop the skills you are going to need to work on”, he points out. Lopez also highlights about 60-70% of individuals are helped by the extra medications.
