What Causes ADD & ADHD?

Attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and (ADHD) are disorders that cause inattentiveness and/or hyperactivity. Either disorder can have a debilitating effect on one's life, causing poor performance in school or at work. There is much debate over the causes of ADD/ADHD and also many misconceptions about the disorders.

Misconceptions

• Many people believe medicinal treatment for ADD/ADHD is simply a substitute for proper parenting. This is simply not true. While it is true that some children without ADD/ADHD are diagnosed with the disorder, many children do have it and require treatment. There is usually no difference in parenting methods when it comes to children with ADD/ADHD versus those without it. While it is true that parenting can have an effect on the outcome of ADD/ADHD, parents are not the cause of it. Another misconception about ADD/ADHD is that children who have it are not very intelligent. This is also untrue. Many children who have ADD/ADHD are quite gifted intellectually but have trouble paying attention or staying calm.

Genetics

• ADD/ADHD tends to run in families. The connection between inheritance and ADD/ADHD has been observed through twin studies and adoption studies. In a twin study, for example, if one identical twin has ADD/ADHD, the other is highly likely to have it as well because the twins share the same DNA. Even in nonidentical twins and siblings who are not twins, if one sibling has ADD/ADHD, the other is more likely to have it. In adoption studies, children with ADD/ADHD are found to be much more like their biological parents than their adoptive parents due to shared genes. This would suggest that shared genes are the cause of similar behavior between the biological parents and their children.

Diet

• In the 1970s the idea that ADD/ADHD could be connected to food sensitivities first surfaced. Since then, however, a number of studies have been conducted that fail to support this notion. Despite this, people still believe there is a connection between certain types of food and ADD/ADHD. A common misconception is that sugar causes hyperactivity, even though studies have failed to reveal a connection between the two. One reason this idea persists is that parents typically draw their own conclusions from observing their children. However, in the case of sugar, for example, a parent cannot be sure that sugar is the cause of a child's hyperactive behavior, as there may be other factors contributing to the behavior that the parent has failed to account for.

Toxic Substances

• It has been discovered that children whose mothers smoke tobacco or drink alcohol during pregnancy are more likely to develop learning disabilities than other children. Exposure to lead in the first three years of life is also associated with hyperactivity. Exposure to lead, alcohol or nicotine in pregnancy or early development does not provide causes for all cases of ADD/ADHD, however. Clearly, in most cases, there is more at work than the presence or absence of a toxic substance.

TV

• It is popularly believed that children who watch TV are more likely to have ADD/ADHD. There is no consistent evidence, however, that supports this idea. In other words, children with ADD/ADHD do not have the disorder because they watch more TV than other children. Some children who watch a lot of TV have ADD/ADHD whereas other children watching the same amount do not. Although TV can have negative effects on children, it is not the cause of ADD/ADHD.