helps people productively think outside the box , or whether people with the disorder are generally too disorganized to benefit from their unusual ideas .)
Some experts , including Hinshaw , think the name ADHD is not that accurate . He sees the condition as more of an inability to control attention , especially in changing situations , rather than as a deficit per se .
There ’ s no doubt about the dark side , however , for both girls and boys . A recent study by Russell A . Barkley and Mariellen Fischer compared 131 young adults with ADHD to 71 control cases , using a life insurance actuarial model to predict estimated life expectancy . The results , published in July 2019 in the Journal of Attention , show that those with the most severe form of ADHD could see life expectancies reduced by as much as 12.7 years . In explaining that finding , Barkley , a child psychologist and researcher at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center , points to studies showing that children with ADHD are less careful and conscientious , more likely to follow unhealthy diets and be overweight , and more prone to suicide . Other studies have also found some increased risk of early death .
Beyond the many misperceptions about girls with ADHD , another popular myth is that ADHD is limited to children . Hinshaw , Barkley and other researchers have shown that at least half of those diagnosed in childhood continue to have symptoms of ADHD as adults . Indeed , in recent years , Hinshaw has found , women have been seeking diagnoses in nearly equal numbers as men , often after they notice signs of the strongly hereditary disorder in their children .
While watching these trends , Hinshaw and other researchers have been calling on teachers and parents to get better at identifying girls who are struggling and to develop interventions that strengthen academic performance , build self-esteem and help girls avoid risky behaviors .
Trouble in the classroom
Despite a widespread assumption that ADHD is a late twentieth century phenomenon , it was more than two centuries ago that the Scottish physician Albert Crichton described an “ unnatural or morbid sensibility of the nerves ,” causing extraordinary distraction . Writing in 1798 , Crichton proposed that what he called “ the disease of attention ” could be due to heredity or accident . As compulsory education spread throughout Europe and the United States , children who had trouble paying attention in an institutional setting were at an increasing disadvantage , notes Hinshaw .
The expansion of public schools meant that “ every kid had to go to school ,” Hinshaw says . “ And guess what ? A remarkably consistent percentage of kids in Europe and the United States have particular problems focusing , sitting still and learning to read .”
With early education now mandatory in much of the world , the estimated prevalence of ADHD ranges from 5 to 7 percent in most countries , Hinshaw says . Diagnosis rates vary more widely . The United States , in which one in nine children are diagnosed , has one of the world ’ s highest rates , a subject of major controversy .
Over the years , the disorder has had many different names , including “ hyperkinetic impulse disorder ” and “ minimal brain dysfunction .” It wasn ’ t until 1980 that “ attention deficit disorder ” ( ADD ) — the first name to highlight distraction — was listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ( DSM ), the hanARok relied on by mental health professionals throughout much of the world . Seven years later , a new DSM edition changed the name to “ attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder ,” or ADHD .
ADHD is a spectrum disorder , encompassing people with mild deficits as well as those with
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