August 27, 2010 04:00pm EST 

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) Treatment in Children: Fusing Pediatrics and Child Psychology

The treatment of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) in children has never been more prevalent; with an increase in pharmacological technology and developments, there exist a multitude of medications and treatments in order to alleviate a child's battles with focus, concentration, and behavior. In addition, developments and advances in child psychological studies have allowed for certain individual treatments of behavior disorders - such as ADD - the option to remain devoid of the administration of medication; this is commonly found in various disciplines of therapy ranging from hypnosis to cognitive therapy. However, the diagnostic process of ADD in children in remains a complex one.

On one hand, there exist various, clear-cut psychological and behavioral symptoms latent in a child suffering from ADD. On the other hand, the expansive symptomatic nature of such disorders are oftentimes categorized within extraneous psychological determinations in the scope of the overarching genre; behavioral disorder that are analogously symptomatic to ADD include Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), and various forms of anxiety and depression. There exists a vast array of psychiatric studies that have labeled psychological symptoms such as anxiety and depression as byproducts of more severe behavioral and cognitive disorders as a result of obsessive thinking and rumination in lieu of autonomous symptomatic anomalies.

A Pediatrician familiar with their respective patients' behaviors and personalities will be able to identify a behavioral disorder through a discussion with the parents of a child, as well as with the child directly. A large part of pediatricians have found that the most effective treatment of ADD in children includes behavioral therapy; this was found to be the case in both medicated and non-medicated children. Furthermore, studies released both by the American Academy of Pediatrics, as well as the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry reveal that the coalescence of pediatric acumen with psychological and psychiatric expertise serves as the penultimate barometer in the accurate ascertainment of behavioral disorders latent in children. The decision to medicate a child can be a difficult one, yet the conjoining of therapy and pediatrics allows for an avenue in the assistance of parents and caretakers to make such a decision.