Behind ADHD can be chronic sleep deprivation

Doctors warn against ADHD misdiagnoses

03/13/2015

ADHD could often be misdiagnosed. This was the result of a Danish review study that suggests that sleep disorders cause symptoms similar to ADHD. A confusion comes to the child psychiatrist Allan Hvolby therefore more often. Before a drug such as Ritalin is used, parents should therefore first clarify whether nightly problems during sleep cause the symptoms.

ADHD could often be misdiagnosed
No more classroom without ADHD child. It seems that attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is now a fashion diagnosis. Undoubtedly, there are children who suffer from mental disorder. But that the diagnosis is actually always justified, Hvolby questioned with his survey study. Because the symptoms of ADHD are often confused with the symptoms of a sleep disorder, explains the child psychiatrist „focus“. The study also found that children with ADHD often have a restless sleep.

„The symptoms often look the same at first glance“, reports Stephan Rüller from the sleep laboratory of the Medical Clinic of the Research Center Borstel to the news magazine. Therefore, especially boys have difficulty concentrating and sit still for a moment. Other children - often girls - do not follow the class because they are mentally absent and dream to themselves.

Breathing Disorder sleep problems can cause ADHD-like symptoms
The cause of the lack of sleep is often a nocturnal respiratory disorder in which close the respiratory tract in sleep and the person begins to snore. Due to the shortness of breath, the sleeping person wakes up several times during the night, so that he no longer finds rest in his sleep. Doctors refer to this breathing disorder as sleep apnea. According to the news magazine, studies suggest that up to 80 percent of children who snore and have mild ADHD symptoms could be relieved of their symptoms by targeted therapy of the respiratory disorder.

Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome (UARS) can also cause ADHD-like symptoms. In the process, the respiratory tract of the affected person narrows at night, so that he has to spend a lot of energy to fill the lungs with air. „It's like breathing through a straw“, so Rüller. „At the latest, when the drug Ritalin is used, you should have a UARS clarify.“ (Ag)