- Video: Reading of the manifesto for the National Day of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder.
- Video: We spoke with the president of the Marbella Association for ADHD or Delay in Maturation for National ADHD Day.
«A person with ADHD has characteristics of their own to their diagnosis that interfere with their day-to-day life: Difficulties concentrating, managing time and planning, finishing tasks and controlling impulses ”, this is how the reading of the manifesto that the president of the Social Association of ADHD and / or Maturation Delay of Marbella-San Pedro began. , ADAHIMAR, Vanesa Maeso, who has launched a message on National ADHD Day, to continue fighting to support people who suffer from it and to be able to obtain more resources to offer them a quality of life that in many cases is non-existent.
The Attention Deficit Disorder with or without Hyperactivity is a neurological disorder that becomes visible through behavior, with a strong genetic component, caused by an imbalance between two brain neurotransmitters: norepinephrine and dopamine, which directly affect the areas of the brain responsible for self-control and inhibition of inappropriate behavior. Almost 5% of the Spanish population suffers from it and it usually develops at an early age. “These aspects can be improved and managed well with a good multidisciplinary and early intervention,” said Maeso, who pointed out that they have spent years of words, promises, good intentions, “but the result is all kinds of obstacles.”
Hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention, with the behavioral alterations that characterize it and that manifest at an early age. People who suffer from it present a level of activity with constant movements and difficulty staying still, they have difficulty controlling their behaviors, emotions and thoughts, and also have an inability to pay attention and concentrate.
From the association, they consider that they continue at the same starting point without achieving anything: «Year after year, our children with ADHD are denied study aids and subsidies for students with a specific need for educational support managed by the Ministry of Education where other groups do have access. Why some yes and others no? This is called discrimination.
Likewise, from the association they have declared that we are facing a new mental health strategy for 2021-2026 that includes ADHD within conduct disorders, when it really is a neurodevelopmental disorder, and they describe the knowledge as “shameful” shown by the authorities regarding this disorder. “Every day, parents are faced with education professionals who believe they have the right to deny and question a medical diagnosis. Every day, our 18-year-old adolescents see their treatment withdrawn and discharged because ADHD is a child’s thing. Today with 17 I can take a medication and tomorrow with 18 not?“, Said the president, who has stated that many adults are questioned and misunderstood by their work environment, family and even by health professionals.
The president stressed that mental health also causes pain and has consequences throughout life: “All life is a struggle.” Through tears, Vanesa has related that all people who suffer from ADHD have a fighting spirit, imagination, great generators of inexhaustible ideas, «And with all this and for all people with ADHD, we will continue to fight and overcome obstacles. They are not going to stop us ».
The day to day of a person with ADHD
This disorder influences at all levels in the life of a person who suffers from it. This is what Vanesa also told us in an interview with the Costa del Sol Area in which emphasized that ADHD affects the daily and everyday life of these children, not only in education, but at home with family and friends: “It is very important to treat it.”
A disorder that has no cure and that, although it develops when they are young, persists over time. «It is very important to catch it on time from a young age because, although it has a very good prognosis with a good multimodal, pharmacological and therapeutic treatment, it lasts over time and adults have their difficulties too, ”Vanesa stressed.
A disorder that has other associated pathologies or disorders and that sometimes complicates its diagnosis in most cases. «Attention deficit, hyperactivity in some cases, impulsivity … It is the executive functions that have been affected. For this reason, it affects their life, because executive function is the part of the brain that takes all the information and sends the order, “said the president.
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The president wanted to state that “the rights of many children with ADHD are being trampled on,” focusing the speech of the manifesto on the scholarships of specific need for educational support that are given to different groups such as autism or dyslexia, and in the case of ADHD They only grant it if they have it or a serious conduct disorder, which would exclude many children with ADHD who need treatment from access to these scholarships, and many families cannot afford it without these aids.
«Not only that it helps them to normalize their life now, but that it helps them in their future, because your future depends on how your disorder is treated now in your childhood«, Added the president of ADAHIMAR, from where they offer guidance in Marbella and San Pedro, they carry out awareness campaigns, dissemination, support groups for parents, talks in centers and workshops.