- Hussam Fazoula
- BBC News Arabic
5 hours ago
Life with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
“I always feel like I’m living with someone I don’t choose, I talk when I don’t want to talk, I interrupt others, I get active while I need to calm down, I want to tell others that’s not me, it’s ADHD.”
At the age of thirty, Ali Youssef discovered that he has a different brain structure than most people, as he was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, and discovered that his brain activity at times is dozens of times higher than normal rates.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is widely diagnosed around the world among all ages, although it is best diagnosed from childhood. Statistics estimate that its rates may reach 6% of people.
Many people diagnosed with ADHD describe their sense of disorder as having a tireless mind, even when they are tired and exhausted, their brain working very quickly and nonstop regarding all the things they deal with daily, no matter how important or useful they think.
“Imagine your brain being so loud that you can hardly hear other people or notice much of what is going on around you,” says Hussain (not his real name), who has been diagnosed with the disorder since childhood.
What is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)?؟
Dr. Nahla Kandil, a child and family psychologist, describes these symptoms by saying:
“Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is not a disease, but a disorder of brain hormones, a disorder in the way parts of the brain communicate information, and a disorder of processing.”
There are three types of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: ADHD, ADHD, and ADHD.
Dr. Nahla Qandil, Child and Family Psychologist
In addition to these symptoms, people diagnosed with the disorder experience other symptoms in their daily lives, such as:
Insomnia and activity at night
Interrupting others and talking too much
Difficulty arranging ideas and dialogues
Weakness in short-term memory, which leads to forgetting things, names, numbers and places
Lack of patience and inability to finish tasks before starting others
Inability to perform routine chores
Living with these symptoms sometimes leads to a change in mood, and a lack of confidence in personal abilities
The hardest part of the experience for Ali was poor short-term memory and distraction. “I feel like I’ve never been really present at any point in my life,” he says.
“I was often told it was laziness and I didn’t have enough passion or motivation to finish what I had to do, but I had something inside of me telling me it wasn’t laziness,” says Tariq Suleiman.
Bassant Saad went through a similar experience. She says she stopped “self-flagellation” when she learned that she was diagnosed with ADHD. In her interview with the BBC, she says, “It was not a choice not to focus on my lessons, and this idea comforted me a lot.”
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is classified in the American School of Psychology under what is known as learning disabilities with other similar diagnoses such as dyslexia and dyspraxia.
But many experts argue that the real problem lies in educational systems designed specifically for the neurotypical brain.
“Most of the traditional educational systems do not take into account the people of different brain structures, as there must be a diverse educational system that suits the different abilities of students,” said Carol John, a specialist in learning disabilities at the University of London.
Ali recalls his study experience and says that as long as he was crying at school, he might not sit still for hours listening to one lesson following another. He preferred walking and activities.
Basant says that the Egyptian drama series “Khali Balak Min Zizi” contributed to raising awareness regarding the disorder, and that was the time when she learned regarding her diagnosis.
picture released, Pasant Saad
“It was not a choice not to focus on my lessons, and this thought gave me great comfort,” Bassant says
How is the brain of people diagnosed with ADHD different?
The brain of a person diagnosed with ADHD differs greatly from the normal brain. EEG results for people diagnosed with ADHD indicate a deficiency in a neurotransmitter called norepinephrine, which is closely related to dopamine, a neurotransmitter responsible for reward and sense of pleasure in the human brain. .
There is also a difference in neural activity in four places in the brain of a person diagnosed with the disorder from the normal brain: the frontal cortex, which is the part responsible for attention, regulation and management, the limbic system, which is the part related to feelings, the basal nuclei, which is the part responsible for psychological dialogue and information, and finally the system The reticular activation, which is the part that influences activity and impulsivity.
The causes of ADHD are unknown, but scientists believe that familial genes and premature birth may be one of these causes. Where the diagnosis of cases starts from 3 years, and sometimes symptoms improve with age.
Is there a cure for ADHD?
The short answer is no. Although there are different drugs for people diagnosed with ADHD, these drugs only temporarily reduce symptoms.
And regarding the possibility of recovery from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, says d. Nahla Kandil: “There is no cure for ADHD. If a condition is diagnosed with hyperactivity, the hyperactivity does not end. But what can happen are certain interventions that make the person able to control his behavior, his behavior and his daily performance, and thus we feel that the symptoms are starting to decrease.”
The solution, in the opinion of the Egyptian doctor, is to adapt the lifestyle to the disorder, as each case is treated according to its specificity and the difficulties that the person faces.
Tariq says: “If I had two options, to be in a psychological state full of tension, anxiety and nervousness in order to be more productive, or to be less productive and move slower and feel more relaxed and calm, I would choose the second one.”
picture released, Tariq Suliman
Tariq says: “If I had two options, to be in a psychological state full of tension, anxiety and nervousness in order to be more productive, or to be less productive and move slower and feel more relaxed and calm, I would choose the second one.”
“As they say, diagnosis is half the cure,” Ali says. “Just understanding how my brain works has helped me a lot in living with the disorder.”
And what is known as cognitive behavioral therapy in Europe has proven to be effective in enabling people diagnosed with ADHD to deal with the symptoms of the disorder. It is a speech therapy in which a person learns how to solve his problems by changing the way he thinks and acts.
People diagnosed with ADHD are advised to exercise, and to rely on office and technological tools to organize time and work, such as using personal calendars, audio readers and colored pens, as linking things with colors or providing them with something that motivates a feeling helps to remember them or focus on them.
People diagnosed with ADHD are creative
Diagnosers with ADHD are also advised to occupy creative jobs, as ADHD diagnoses are often characterized by creative personalities, creativity, and unconventional thinking.
People diagnosed with ADHD also have the ability to hyperfocus, if they pay attention to what they are doing. They are also characterized by a high level of intelligence and the ability to act in times of stress and times of disaster. It is worth noting that one of the most famous people diagnosed with ADHD is the physicist Albert Einstein, who developed the theory of relativity.
