Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a complex and common mood disorder. While many people receive a diagnosis during childhood, others make it to college and adulthood without knowing they have ADHD. When left undiagnosed or untreated, this condition can cause problems at school, work, and at home. Unfortunately, limited mental health education, lack of access to mental health care here in Arkansas, and stigmas keep many people from the ADHD treatment they need to live a fuller life. It’s important to remember that ADHD is treatable with professional help. Today there are many traditional and alternative approaches to providing comprehensive ADHD treatment to children, adolescents, and adults.
If you or someone you love is looking for ADHD assessment and treatment in Jonesboro, Arkansas, our team can help. Alleviant Health Centers of Jonesboro provides patients with integrative mental health treatment for holistic treatment of ADHD and other mental health disorders. Call us now at 870.657.0337 to schedule an assessment and learn more about our programs.
What Is ADHD?
ADHD was once known as attention deficit disorder (ADD). This mood disorder was characterized by difficulty concentrating, hyperactivity, and other symptoms. In the 1990s, ADD was reclassified as ADHD to include hyperactive behaviors like fidgeting, tapping, squirming, and rambling. Studies during this time focused on how ADHD affects learning.
Side effects of ADHD can include:
- Mood swings
- Low frustration tolerance
- Low stress tolerance
- Trouble staying on task
- Poor time management skills
- Frequent daydreaming
- Making spur-of-the-moment decisions without considering consequences
- Squirming or other repetitive movements
- Interrupting others when talking
- Difficulty focusing
- Poor grades or work performance
- Missing deadlines
There is no one cause of ADHD. Studies show it can be inherited or developed from environmental factors and stress and fall into two categories: hyperactivity and difficulty focusing. Both types of ADHD can make it hard for the person struggling with ADHD and those around them to focus. Someone struggling with ADHD may lack motivation, become forgetful, need to-do lists, and devote their time to different passions while neglecting work, school, or home life.
How Does ADHD Affect the Brain?
ADHD affects memory and learning skills in both children and adults. Someone struggling with ADHD may have a different brain structure than someone without it. They will have trouble with neurotransmitters communicating information to other parts of the brain, especially the frontal lobe, which handles the perception of time, planning, language, attention, impulse control, and social skills. This structural difference causes someone struggling with ADHD to have problems with memory, cognition, and staying on task to complete a project before moving on to something else. They may also have trouble prioritizing. A student struggling with procrastination, however, may not have ADHD without other symptoms present.
Treatment can help patients struggling with ADHD better understand the world around them and their own experiences, including learning how ADHD affects memory. Treatment can also help loved ones understand how to support someone struggling with ADHD.
Holistic and Integrative ADHD Treatment in Arkansas
Treating ADHD is often best approached with holistic, integrative healthcare like other mental health disorders. Learning how ADHD affects the brain can help manage the condition and focus on the advantages of professional treatment. Benefits of ADHD treatment can include:
- Increased states of calm
- Tools for calming the nervous system
- Better productivity
- Increased focus
- A greater understanding of self
- Compassion and empathy for others
- Other tools for self-regulating
At Alleviant Health Centers of Jonesboro, we provide a different approach to mental health and ADHD treatment, focusing on treating the patient as a whole rather than their ADHD symptoms. This holistic, integrative approach to psychiatry can help someone struggling with ADHD thrive with or without medication management.
Begin Treatment for ADHD at Alleviant Jonesboro
Reach our compassionate staff today at 870.657.0337 to learn more about our ADHD treatment program options and schedule your assessment now.