The diagnosis of ADHD can accompany other problems
Written by:Obviously, here the concept of comorbidity intervenes, that is, the disorders associated with ADHD .
In Medicine the fact that a part of the organism suffers a dysfunction facilitates that this same area suffers others.
ADHD is a comorbid disorder, it is therefore decisive to know the comorbidity since each comorbid disorder may require a different treatment.
The most frequent associated disorders have already been studied by J. Biederman in 1991, publishing his research in the American Journal of Psychiatry. In this work, the following processes were given comorbid relevance:
- Negativist-defiant disorder.
- Dissocial behavior disorder.
- Emotional disorders
- Affective disorders.
- Learning disorders.
Already in our century, the National Institute of Mental Health correlated the works published by RA Barkley in the J.Am. Acad. Child Adolescent Psychiatry in the year 1998 offering some relevant data: "More than 50% of children or adolescents with ADHD have at least one comorbid disorder." (Barkley RA 2005). It also concludes that between 40-60% of the ADHD population presents a defiant negative disorder and 20-40% a conduct disorder, that is, patients at high risk of presenting substance abuse, violence and delinquency behaviors, as well as the presence of a greater number of pregnancies in ADHD adolescents.
One of the most conclusive works on ADHD was the Milwaukee research of the Barkley group, which includes the follow-up of a population of 123 ADHD patients with a control group of 60 healthy patients from 6 to 21 years of age. In the beginning, a selective criterion of exclusion was demanded: behavioral problems.
In the conclusions of the study, among other variables, the comorbidity at 14 and 21 years of ADHD patients with the conduct disorder is analyzed and compared with the one presented by the control group.. Reality confirms the theory, observing a higher incidence of robberies, destruction of property, cruelty to people and animals, and arson in the ADHD comorbid population with conduct disorder.. (Barkley RA 2005).
