ADHD Medications And Children With Anxiety

ADHD Medications And Children With Anxiety
For those who are not clear, ADHD is an abbreviation for
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, a behavioral
disorder that is now affecting nearly 10% of the school-age
chidren. In our day to day life, you may hear a lot of
people associate ADHD medications with children with
anxiety. From a more professional point of view, however,
there is no direct relation between the two. They are only
associated for the simple fact that both relate to ADHD. If
a child is suffering ADHD, he will have extremely hard time
in paying attention and focusing, which will ultimately
lead to failure in achieving goals.

Despite its seemingly obvious symptoms, diagnosis of ADHD
is not as easy as many would believe. This is because about
two thirds of the children with ADHD also suffer other
medical conditions the same time, and the common coexisting
conditions include anxiety disorder, ODD (Oppositional
Defiant Disorder) and CD (Conduct Disorder), mood disorder,
and learning disabilities. Now, it is not hard to
understand the association between ADHD and anxiety - they
often go side by side!

In fact, about 25% of the ADHD sufferers also have anxiety
disorders. There are both mental and physical symptoms,
such as restlessness, fatigue, difficulty in concentration,
irritability, insomnia, excessive worry, fear, heart
racing, sweating, stomach pains, and diarrhea. Others may
even develop OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) and
Tourette syndrome, as well as motor or vocal tics
(movements or sounds that are repeated over and over).

In diagnosing ADHD with anxiety conditions, doctors usually
will inquire into the complete medical history of the
child, use their own observation, and conduct an interview
with parents. At the moment, ADHD cannot be completely
cured but can be effectively managed through a combination
of medications and behavior therapies. The anxiety
condition is also highly treatable with professional
counseling coupled with medications. In both situations,
early treatment may help prevent further development of
mental problems, including suicide attempts.

There are several types of ADHD medications, such as
stimulants, non-stimulants and anti-depressants. All of
them have established effectiveness, but none is totally
free in side-effects although there is currently no
evidence of any long-term ones. The same can be said for
medications for children's anxiety, but of course the two
medications cannot be used interchangeably.

Behavior therapy is another effective means to treat both
ADHD and children's anxiety. With that method, the doctors
endeavor to adjust the behavior of affected children by
making right changes to their home and school environment,
improving their organisational skill, and setting up an
appropriate reward and punish system.

Without a doubt, the parents' involvement is an essential
in implementing the behavior therapy. Being the closest
ones to the affected children, parents can help their kids
by creating a routine, help organise, limit distractions,
establish goal, rewards and confidence. As such, parent
training is often an indispensable part of the treatment
program.

Despite the importance of the role by parents of the
affected children, some people are still attributing the
cause of children's mental problem to poor parenting. This,
of course, is a complete myth. Today, the stresses faced by
our teenagers are no less than adults, which include the
worries for schooling and concerns about socialisation.
Plus, teenagers' minds are experiencing constant learning
and changes. Having said these, there is no need to over
worry if you have a problem child. As said, ADHD can be
effectively managed with behavioral therapy and ADHD
medications, and children with anxiety can also be
successfully treated with the same combination of methods.

----------------------------------------------------
If you are serious about treating your anxiety, you may
like to check out the highly regarded Linden Method at:
http://www.treating-anxiety.net . Apart from its
effectiveness, you will be amazed at its simple and unusual
steps.