ADS and family

Synonyms in a broader sense

Hyperkinetic Syndrome (HKS), Psychoorganic Syndrome (POS), Attention Deficit Disorder, Attention Deficit Syndrome, Fidgety Phil Syndrome, Hyperactivity Syndrome, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, ADHD, Fidgety Phil, Behavioral Disorder with Attention and Concentration Disorder, minimal brain syndrome, Attention – Deficit – Hyperactivity – Disorder (ADHD), Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). The presentation of typical ADHD symptoms already shows that the behaviour and the resulting consequences can be a heavy burden for parents and the whole family. On the other hand, parents and other family members can also offer the ADD child specific help.

ADS children need a therapy tailored to their needs, which can consist of various components. Never should a diagnosis of ADHD lead to “finally finding the cause” of many problems, never should you accept behaviour “just like that”. Especially if an attention deficit has been diagnosed, you should intensively deal with the different forms of therapy and specifically – together with the attending physician – work out an individual, multimodal therapy concept.

Multimodal does not have to be equated with “very many” therapies. Multimodal rather demands a good, individual fit. However, an individual, multimodal therapy always means: the support of the family must be available!

If a drug therapy is necessary, the support lies, for example, in ensuring that drugs are taken in time and continuously. If psychotherapeutic or curative educational forms of therapy are considered, fundamental, newly learned contents must be discussed again and again with the therapist in charge. As a rule, newly learnt content requires implementation, practice and consolidation at home. Here it also becomes clear that not only the child, but also its parents must have a relationship of trust with the attending doctor, psychologist, therapist, etc. Only if trust is the basis, the implementation can work.

Familial accumulation

As already described under Causes of ADHD, a familial clustering can be observed in some families. According to the discussion: “Who came first: the hen or the egg? “, two controversial opinions were formed.

Some people blame education for the problem, while others only accepted the genetic point of view as an explanatory model. Problems caused by wrong upbringing or wrong upbringing due to the problems? Today we know that in the case of clearly diagnosed ADHD, education cannot be recognised as the only cause.

Nevertheless, education plays an important role in the case of ADHD, and in the case of therapy, even a major role. As a psychotherapeutic form of treatment, family therapy is included in the ADS therapy. It implies the involvement of the whole family of an ADHD child and ensures in a certain way the appropriate handling of the syndrome also in the domestic environment.

Family therapy can also be advisable if the accompanying symptoms of ADHD place too much strain on the family. The aim of family therapy is to pick up on established patterns of behaviour and, if necessary, to redesign them so that an improvement in inter-family relations, i.e. an improvement in relations between the family members, can be achieved. The changes in behaviour and relationship patterns, which are aimed at in the context of family therapy, have a positive effect on the patient’s overall well-being.

Here it is not a matter of treating the actual causes, but rather of treating the accompanying symptoms in the sense of a holistic therapy in order to give the patient the greatest possible chance to step out of the vicious circle. The improvement of intra-family, interpersonal relationships should bring calm, structure and clarity into the overall situation and thus into everyday life. This structure is important for children who suffer from an attention deficit, because only by being structured they get the chance to process and work on everything piece by piece and one after the other. Stimulus satiation and excessive stress are completely out of place.