Tuesday, October 11, 2011

ADHD Awareness Week Presents Valuable Education Opportunity

The number of people diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has risen dramatically in the United States over the last decade and has to be considered a serious public-health issue, says the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The disorder is, however, beset by considerable misunderstanding among the public about how to treat it and what may cause it. Thus ADHD Awareness Week, which runs from October 16 to 22 this year, becomes an ever-more-important opportunity for psychiatrists, mental health professionals, educators, and parents to educate people about the fact that ADHD is real, diagnosing it is complex, it is nobody's fault, and multifaceted treatments are available that have demonstrated success in combatting many of the disorder's troubling symptoms.

You can read extensive coverage of developments in understanding and treating ADHD in Psychiatric News at http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/46/12/19.full and http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/46/15/24.2.full. Also, read a psychiatrist's account of dealing with her own children's ADHD at http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/46/2/8.1.full.

(Image: Suzanne Tucker/Shutterstock.com)

Disclaimer

The content of Psychiatric News does not necessarily reflect the views of APA or the editors. Unless so stated, neither Psychiatric News nor APA guarantees, warrants, or endorses information or advertising in this newspaper. Clinical opinions are not peer reviewed and thus should be independently verified.