There are many conditions which may create difficulty in attention; anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorders, physical pain, and endocrine problems, such as hypothyroidism, are but a few. Therefore, it is extremely important that your child or yourself be evaluated by a well trained psychologist who can distinguish between true attention deficit disorder and problems in attention due to many other causes. Failure to make this distinction has resulted in tragic consequences for thousands who have not secured the treatment they required and instead have been given treatment which was completely inappropriate and ineffective.

In the early part of the twentieth century attention deficit disorder was thought to be caused by diffuse organic brain damage. In recent years this has been called into question. Recent theories suggest the cause to be related to problems in brain metabolism and appropriate regulation of neurotransmitters. Several studies suggest a strong genetic loading and underarousal of the brain's frontal lobes.

Attention Deficit Disorder can take many different forms. Some people are hyperactive, some are not. Some people are more inattentive and others are more impulsive. Others are a combination of both. The following are some of the tell-tale signs of Attention Deficit Disorder. No one person has all of these signs but all have a combination of many of them:

1. Forgetting things you have to do.
2. Losing items on a regular basis.
3. Difficulty in motivation to begin or to finish a task.
4. Difficulties in following conversations.
5. Finding it difficult to follow a schedule.
6. Easily Bored.
7. Restless after a few minutes of inactivity.
8. A strong desire for risky or fast paced activities.
9. Blurting-out without thinking.
10. Interrupting others in conversation before they are finished.
11. Becoming easily angered.
12. Low tolerance for frustration.
13. Instability and unpredictability in mood states.
14. Avoidance of new situations.

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