Title |
ADD/ADHD and impaired executive function in clinical practice
|
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Published in |
Current Psychiatry Reports, October 2008
|
DOI | 10.1007/s11920-008-0065-7 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Thomas E. Brown |
Abstract |
The disorder currently known as attention-deficit disorder (ADD) or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is now recognized by most clinicians as a legitimate and widely prevalent disorder among children and adults. Yet there is still widespread misunderstanding as to the disorder's nature. Many clinicians mistakenly continue to think of this as a behavior disorder characterized by hyperactivity in children and excessive restlessness or impulsivity in adults. In fact, ADD/ADHD is essentially a cognitive disorder, a developmental impairment of executive functions (EFs), the self-management system of the brain. Although EFs are complex, their impairment constitutes a syndrome that can be recognized readily in clinical practice; impaired EF involves a pattern of chronic difficulties in executing a wide variety of daily tasks. Once recognized, this disorder can be effectively treated in most cases. In this article, I describe the nature of EF impairments in ADD/ADHD and how the syndrome can be recognized and effectively treated in clinical practice. (Note: The term ADHD is used in the balance of this article to refer to both inattentive and combined subtypes.). |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 3 | 1% |
Ireland | 1 | <1% |
Israel | 1 | <1% |
Portugal | 1 | <1% |
Puerto Rico | 1 | <1% |
Canada | 1 | <1% |
Spain | 1 | <1% |
Poland | 1 | <1% |
Unknown | 233 | 96% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Master | 50 | 21% |
Student > Bachelor | 28 | 12% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 27 | 11% |
Researcher | 17 | 7% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 16 | 7% |
Other | 43 | 18% |
Unknown | 62 | 26% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Psychology | 76 | 31% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 31 | 13% |
Nursing and Health Professions | 13 | 5% |
Social Sciences | 13 | 5% |
Neuroscience | 13 | 5% |
Other | 31 | 13% |
Unknown | 66 | 27% |