A mental disorder is an impairment of the mind disrupting normal thinking, feeling, mood, behavior, or social interactions, and accompanied by significant distress or dysfunction. The causes of mental disorders are very complex and vary depending on the particular disorder and the individual. Although the causes of most mental disorders are not fully understood, researchers have identified a variety of biological, psychological, and environmental factors that can contribute to the development or progression of mental disorders. Most mental disorders result in a combination of several different factors rather than just a single factor.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by executive dysfunction occasioning symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity and emotional dysregulation that are excessive and pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inappropriate.
Developmental disorders comprise a group of psychiatric conditions originating in childhood that involve serious impairment in different areas. There are several ways of using this term. The most narrow concept is used in the category "Specific Disorders of Psychological Development" in the ICD-10. These disorders comprise developmental language disorder, learning disorders, motor disorders, and autism spectrum disorders. In broader definitions ADHD is included, and the term used is neurodevelopmental disorders. Yet others include antisocial behavior and schizophrenia that begins in childhood and continues through life. However, these two latter conditions are not as stable as the other developmental disorders, and there is not the same evidence of a shared genetic liability.
Atomoxetine, sold under the brand name Strattera, is a medication used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and, to a lesser extent, cognitive disengagement syndrome. It may be used alone or along with psychostimulants. It is also used as a cognitive and executive functioning enhancer to improve self-motivation, persistence, attention, inhibition, and working memory. Use of atomoxetine is only recommended for those who are at least six years old. It is taken orally. Atomoxetine is a selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor and is believed to work by increasing norepinephrine and dopamine levels in the brain. The effectiveness of atomoxetine is comparable to the commonly prescribed stimulant medication methylphenidate.
Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is the persistence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults. It is a neurodevelopmental disorder, meaning symptoms must have been present in childhood except for when ADHD occurs after a traumatic brain injury. Specifically, multiple symptoms must be present before the age of 12, according to DSM-5 diagnostic criteria. The cutoff age of 12 is a change from the previous requirement of symptom onset, which was before the age of 7 in the DSM-IV. This was done to add flexibility in the diagnosis of adults. ADHD was previously thought to be a childhood disorder that improved with age, but recent research has disproved this. Approximately two-thirds of childhood cases of ADHD continue into adulthood, with varying degrees of symptom severity that change over time, and continue to affect individuals with symptoms ranging from minor inconveniences to impairments in daily functioning.
DAMP—deficits in attention, motor control, and perception—is a psychiatric concept conceived by Christopher Gillberg. DAMP is defined by the presence of five properties: Problems of attention, gross and fine motor skills, perceptual deficits, and speech-language impairments. While routinely diagnosed in Scandinavian countries, the diagnosis has been rejected in the rest of the world. Minor cases of DAMP are roughly defined as a combination of developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and a pervading attention deficit.
Cognitive disengagement syndrome (CDS) is an attention syndrome characterised by prominent dreaminess, mental fogginess, hypoactivity, sluggishness, slow reaction time, staring frequently, inconsistent alertness, and a slow working speed. To scientists in the field, it has reached the threshold of evidence and recognition as a distinct syndrome.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder predominantly inattentive, is one of the three presentations of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In 1987–1994, there were no subtypes and thus it was not distinguished from hyperactive ADHD in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-III-R).
Despite the scientifically well-established nature of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), its diagnosis, and its treatment, each of these has been controversial since the 1970s. The controversies involve clinicians, teachers, policymakers, parents, and the media. Positions range from the view that ADHD is within the normal range of behavior to the hypothesis that ADHD is a genetic condition. Other areas of controversy include the use of stimulant medications in children, the method of diagnosis, and the possibility of overdiagnosis. In 2009, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, while acknowledging the controversy, stated that the current treatments and methods of diagnosis are based on the dominant view of the academic literature.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder management options are evidence-based practices with established treatment efficacy for ADHD.
The dorsal attention network (DAN), also known anatomically as the dorsal frontoparietal network (D-FPN), is a large-scale brain network of the human brain that is primarily composed of the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and frontal eye fields (FEF). It is named and most known for its role in voluntary orienting of visuospatial attention.
Hyperactivity has long been part of the human condition, although hyperactive behaviour has not always been seen as problematic.
Terje Sagvolden was a Norwegian behavioral neuroscientist, a professor at the Universities of Oslo and Tromsø, and adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Attentional control, colloquially referred to as concentration, refers to an individual's capacity to choose what they pay attention to and what they ignore. It is also known as endogenous attention or executive attention. In lay terms, attentional control can be described as an individual's ability to concentrate. Primarily mediated by the frontal areas of the brain including the anterior cingulate cortex, attentional control and attentional shifting are thought to be closely related to other executive functions such as working memory.
Katya Rubia is a professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre and Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, both part of the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London.
Julia Rucklidge is a Canadian-born clinical psychologist who is the director of the Mental Health and Nutrition Research Group at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Her research has centered on mental health and nutrition.
Joaquim Radua is a Spanish psychiatrist and developer of methods for meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies. He has been named as one of the most cited researchers in Psychiatry / Psychology.
Edmund James Stephen Sonuga-Barke,, is a developmental psychologist and academic. He has held professorships at King's College London and the University of Southampton (1997–2017).
Lucina Q. Uddin is an American cognitive neuroscientist who is a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research investigates the relationship between brain connectivity and cognition in typical and atypical development using network neuroscience approaches.
Jan K. Buitelaar is a Dutch medical doctor, psychiatrist, author, and academic. He is a professor of psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry at Radboud University Medical Centre and former Head of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Karakter Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
