Symptoms of impaired activity and attention

Symptoms of activity and attention disorders vary in different age groups (preschool children, schoolchildren, teenagers, adults). There is evidence that 25-30% of children retain the main manifestations of the syndrome as adults.

Preschool children differ from their peers by their high motor activity already in the first years of life. They are in constant motion, run, jump, try to climb where they can, grab everything that appears in front of their eyes with their hands, without thinking, break and throw objects. They are driven by tireless curiosity and "fearlessness", because of which they often find themselves in dangerous situations - they can fall into holes, get an electric shock, fall from a tree, get burns, etc. They cannot wait. The desire must be fulfilled here and now. When held back, refused, reprimanded, children throw tantrums or experience fits of anger, often accompanied by verbal and physical aggression.

School-age children retain the main characteristics of preschool children. They cannot sit quietly at the school desk, they spin, fidget, talk, laugh when it is inappropriate, give remarks from their seats, stand up, walk around the classroom, disrupting lessons, disorganizing the educational process. In their free time, they cannot wait their turn in games, play by the rules, prefer noisy, destructive games, which causes conflicts with peers who do not accept them in games, drive them away, which causes reciprocal aggression and anger. At this age, attention disorders become more noticeable. Children constantly drop, lose, forget their things. During classes, due to inattention, they make a large number of mistakes, do not have time to finish the class assignment, write down the homework. At home, they cannot rationally organize the process of doing homework, need organizational help from adults. When faced with difficulties, they give violent affective reactions. Overall, they give the impression of being immature, childish and inappropriate for their age.

In adolescence, having undergone a certain age-related transformation, the symptoms persist in 50-80% of children. Hyperactivity is replaced by a feeling of inner anxiety with restlessness, fussiness, and a desire to change activities. Attention deficit and impulsiveness persist to a sufficient extent. Many teenagers are reckless, disregard the rules of social behavior, safety standards, and are involved in extreme forms of behavior, which leads to injuries and accidents. Learning requires a lot of emotional stress from them, which they cannot withstand for a long time. They study unevenly even with good abilities. They put off all important things for later and do them at the last moment somehow. Many teenagers have low self-esteem, mood instability, and a tendency to use alcohol and drugs. Teenagers are often involved in antisocial groups.

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