A total of 15 to 19 million Chinese children suffer from
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), accounting for
about 5 percent of mainland's school-age children, statistics of a
recent survey revealed. ADHD has become a serious problem
concerning public health, said Wang Yufeng, an expert on children's
mental health and also a director of the Mental Health Research
Institute of Peking University
ADHD is the most common mental behavioral imbalance among
children. About 65 percent of the sufferers retain symptoms until
adulthood. ADHD victims are five to ten-times more vulnerable to
becoming criminals, alcoholics and drug addicts, said Wang at a
meeting addressing newest research on ADHD in Beijing on August
2.
Wang and her team conducted a survey covering 812 sufferers aged
from six to 18 in Beijing, Shanghai and Changsha. According to the
survey, parents of sufferers display the most anxiety regarding
their children's poor school performances, the negative effect such
behavior has on family life and finally, when they watch their
children display "naive, inappropriate behaviors." Most parents
also worry that the disease may have a long-term influence on their
children's development.
Although great attention has been attached to the disease and
its sufferers, much remains to be done. Most parents surveyed are
unsatisfied with clinical diagnoses and treatments. A large number
of sufferers don't experience any relief from core symptoms as they
grow older. Some even develop other behavioral or mental disorders,
such as affective disorder and Tourette's syndrome.
"Some parents and teachers regard attention deficit as an
ordinary characteristic during a child's growing phases," said
Wang. "Others are unwilling to admit that their children are
suffering from a mental disease."
Wang called for parents to keep a right attitude towards the
disease and take their children to doctors for timely treatment if
necessary.
(China.org.cn by Huang Shan, August 5, 2007)