Imagine sitting in math class trying to focus, but you just can’t; your mind keeps drifting to other subjects, like what you are having for lunch, and your brain keeps getting off topic. This is called ADHD, also known as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. This makes it extremely difficult for a person to focus on one specific thing at a time.About two thirds of people have ADHD, with the addition of one or more coexisting conditions.
A Green Hope High School student shared how ADHD affects her social life and personal life. “ADHD has affected me personally because in school, sometimes I find it extremely hard to focus on one specific thing at a time. I tend to talk a lot and talk over others sometimes because of my ADHD, which can frustrate and annoy people.”
A parent of a Green Hope student also shared about her own child’s experiences with ADHD, stating that, “As a younger child, she was very hyperactive and had trouble sitting still as well as concentrating. As she’s gotten older, the main challenges are with focus and attention, and certain executive functions like planning, organizing and initiating tasks. Schoolwork often feels overwhelming for her. She doesn’t know where to start and has trouble mapping out a plan.” The parent also shares how the student copes with things she finds challenging, stating that counseling has helped her child navigate ADHD and develop coping mechanisms, while also teaching her how to advocate for herself and her needs while at school.
This can affect students in school. If individuals have undiagnosed ADHD and are not medicated, then they are most likely unable to focus in school. This can look like getting off-topic frequently, speaking over others and interrupting conversations often. For example, students with ADHD can easily be in English class talking about their assigned coursework, and then switch topics to something about how they are going to post on Instagram at the end of the week or what they are doing for summer break.
ADHD also impacts how social individuals are, as most people with ADHD enjoy talking, always having topics to talk about. Other disabilities like OCD and depression can also affect students, as OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) can cause ticks. These ticks can be very distracting for the student and other people in their surrounding environment. OCD can also cause people to have negative thoughts and think, “If I don’t do this, something bad will happen to me.” Depression causes you to feel sad, sometimes for unknown reasons. This can affect a student because people with depression tend to withdraw from social activities, feel extremely sad and can easily get mad or frustrated at people and have random outbursts.
ADHD and these mental disabilities continue to follow people as they grow up. As humans get older, the mental disabilities they are diagnosed with usually become easier to deal with and control. This is because people have lived with it for so long that they have more control over their actions.
ADHD and other mental health disabilities affect students negatively and positively. Individuals who are diagnosed with ADHD experience various side effects, such as losing interest in a topic and switching to focusing on an entirely different one. Those who have ADHD are also more outgoing, very social and engage with their peers a lot. Unlike people with ADHD, individuals who have OCD are very organized, neat and clean. They often overestimate the chance of a negative event occurring due to a minor mistake, which results in them feeling obligated to prevent situations through irresistible actions.
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder are prominent learning disorders that greatly challenge one’s ability to learn and perform basic human behaviors. Large numbers of people undermine and disregard the difficulties that these individuals experience with having such disabilities, mainly because they don’t understand the difference between the two learning disorders. The problem with people not understanding the difference between obsessive-compulsive disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder is that the people who have one don’t have the same traits and personalities. It is important to understand these disorders to assist yourself and others around you.
