Medical professionals believed for decades that children with Attention-Deficit Disorder would outgrow the disorder by adulthood, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
However, not until recently has it been discovered that ADD can continue into adulthood and does so in about 67 percent of children who are diagnosed with ADD, the NIMH said.
While several theories exist, no one actually knows the causes of ADD, but the diagnosis of ADD requires a strictly laid out evaluation process which looks at the symptoms of adult ADD. Once diagnosed, the range of options for treatment of adults is substantial.
CAUSES
"Based on everything I know, adult ADD is a continuation of childhood ADD into adulthood," Kent Bullis, director of the Amelia T. Wood Student Health Center, said.
Students need to have had childhood ADD to be diagnosed with adult ADD, Bullis said. Some people who have childhood ADD are able to learn to cope with the disorder by the time they reach adulthood, but people who have adult ADD are those who continue to experience the symptoms into adulthood, he said.
One study showed that children who spent four hours or more a day watching television prior to the age of three had a higher risk of developing ADD, Bullis said. Although studies have been conducted, nobody really knows what causes it.
ADD is heritable, Gina Zanardelli, a Ball State Counseling Center psychologist, said.
"If your mother or father had it, you have a greater chance of getting it," she said. Doctors do not know, however, if it is genetically inherited or environmentally inherited because of the family environment a person grows up in.
According to the NIMH, 25 percent of children who have a close relative with ADD will also be diagnosed.
The NIMH also suggests a possible correlation between ADD and cigarette and alcohol use during pregnancy.
According to the NIMH, these substances may be hazardous to the fetus's developing brain and may distort developing nerve cells. Heavy alcohol use during pregnancy has been linked to fetal alcohol syndrome, a condition that can lead to low birth weight, intellectual impairment, and certain physical defects, and many children born with fetal alcohol syndrome show much the same hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity that children with ADHD have.
DIAGNOSIS
Not until recently, when it began to be covered by the news media and actually diagnosed by doctors, had many people heard of adult ADD. Some people are skeptical of the seemingly high numbers of adults being diagnosed and think that adult ADD is simply a market ploy, Bullis said.
"The pharmaceutical companies have been looking for new markets for their drugs so they have been looking to raise awareness," he said. "The popular media has had a hand in it."
Bullis said the Internet has also helped people discover adult ADD because they can now research their own problems online, and they are noticing their symptoms correlating with adult ADD, he said.
"I would hesitate to say its being over-diagnosed," Bullis said. "With ADD, I think most physicians are very careful in diagnosing it."
While people may be questioning this new adult disorder, the experts have agreed that adult ADD is a real problem.
A panel of experts assembled by the NIMH met in 1998 and issued a consensus statement acknowledging the validity in the diagnosis of ADD as a disorder with broadly accepted symptoms and behavioral characteristics, according to the NIMH.
At Ball State, students can be tested for adult ADD at the Ball State School Psychology Clinic.
The clinic looks at the symptoms a person may have, such as concentration and organization problems, the tendency to procrastinate, the tendency to constantly interrupt others, restlessness and the inability to sit still for long periods of time.
The evaluation also asks numerous questions about a person's childhood to determine if ADD was present in the past.
Adult ADD is not typically diagnosed unless formal test results are in hand, Bullis said.
TREATMENT
Because nobody knows what causes ADD, no prevention exists, Bullis said. However, students do have several forms of treatment to choose from.
"Treatment is usually a combination of behavioral things and medication," he said. Medication is particularly helpful in adult cases of ADD.
"Depending on how severe your symptoms are, some people can cope with this by learning relaxation techniques," Bullis said.
Behavioral therapy also allows people with ADD to learn to cope with the disorder by learning organizational and scheduling techniques, which can be self-monitored, the NIMH said.
Support groups are also a good treatment, and Ball State's support group for students with ADD meets Thursdays at 4 p.m. in the Counseling Center.
ADD is a federally protected disability, and Ball State is required to make allowances for students with this disability.
Students may be given more time on tests or be allowed to take tests in a separate room from the rest of the class so there is a lower number of distractions, Larry Markle, assistant director of the Disabled Student Development office, said.
"These are the primary accommodations for students with ADD, but we really encourage students who use our services to get over to the Learning Center," he said.
Jacqueline Harris, coordinator of the Learning Center study strategies and writing desks, said that tutoring and coaching are helpful to students with ADD.
"For students with adult ADD, taking a test in a classroom can be disarming or distracting," she said.
The Learning Center's success with a student depends on the student's honesty with the tutor because the student and tutor work together to learn what works and what doesn't, Harris said.
"Not all ADD is the same for all people. The student has to be the one to describe it because it can manifest itself in different ways," she said. "It's an ongoing problem and struggle, but the more they understand it, the better their life will be and the more success they will have."
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