ADHD and online working and learning – the COVID-19 lockdown experience
A positive association between ADHD and internet addiction has been described in the literature. The worse the symptoms of ADHD, especially inattention, the greater the risk of internet addiction. It is also more common when co-morbidities such as obsessive compulsive disorder or autism spectrum disorder are present. The addiction is blamed on the increase in dopamine during engagement (a form of self-medication) and the fact that the games almost never end, but continue to a next level. The majority of current digital content is designed to be engagement prolonging, which makes it difficult to walk away from them.
The impact on the family if an ADHD family member is successfully treated for their ADHD
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) are the most common psychiatric diagnosis in childhood affecting 5-7% of children. In adulthood, the prevalence is 4%. If we follow up children diagnosed with ADHD and we include those adults with partial remission, 65% will still have symptoms related to the diagnosis affecting their functioning. Genetics has shown a very high heritability and a recent report by Faraone et al (2019) placed this consistently at 70-80%.
ADHD issues in the Covid-19 pandemic
The year 2020 will without doubt go down in history as the era of the Covid-19 pandemic. Initially public health authorities around the world quickly jumped into action to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, however, mainly from a physical and lifesaving point of view. As the weeks progressed the psychological consequences were noted and became topics for discussion and study. Medical literature over the last few months started reporting comments, editorials, and studies on the effect of the corona virus disease (COVID-19) on the mental health of the community. ADHD also received its fair share of comment.
1st Southern African Multidisciplinary ADHD Congress 1-6 September 2020
Attention deficit/hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most common psychiatric disorder in children – affecting 5% of the school-aged population. Sixty-five percent of patients’ symptoms persists into adulthood, with estimates of the prevalence of adult ADHD being 2.5-4.3%. ADHD is now recognised as a common neurodevelopmental disorder, present throughout life, with a chronic, costly and debilitating course – if untreated. A comprehensive diagnostic approach as well as access to multi-disciplinary and multi-modal intervention in preventing the long-term costs of ADHD are needed. In Southern Africa, access to care remains a challenge, and care delivery – in both the public and private sector – remains fragmented
Attempts allowed: 2
70% pass rate