Since legal problems are not uncommon for people with ADHD, here's an ADHD fact sheet for lawyers and others in the legal profession.

Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neuropsychiatric disorder relevant to the legal profession. It is due to brain dysfunction and can cause a number of potentially serious handicaps and is a major Public health problem. Some subgroups of people with ADHD are at increased risk of criminality, substance abuse, accidents, motor vehicle accidents, suicide, educational, behavioural and other psychiatric difficulties. It has a very significant financial cost to society. As awareness of the facts and reality of the condition rapidly develops, legal practitioners are increasingly being confronted with its implications.

The probable basis of ADHD is difficulty with rule governed behaviour and lack of behavioural inhibition. Those with associated early onset Conduct Disorder (CD), are at much greater risk of persistent criminal activity and substance abuse. Studies suggest that a significant number - possibly 30 per cent of those convicted of serious and recurrent offences - may have untreated ADHD and Conduct Disorder. Such people may therefore comprise a significant percentage of the total prison population, particularly in young offender institutions.

ADHD is:

• Internationally recognized
• Variable in presentation
• Biological, and genetic
• More common than generally realized
• Predisposes those with the disorder to educational, psychiatric and social problems.

Identification of ADHD

ADHD is a common but complex medical condition, affecting children and adults, characterized by excessive inattentiveness, impulsiveness, and/or hyperactivity' that significantly interferes with everyday life, and for which there is no other reason. The condition manifests itself in many ways - some children may he only inattentive, others may ~he persistently hyperactive, for some, hyperactivity may lessen with persistently hyperactive, The wide range of possible presentations can be confusing. There are also Many complications that may mask or overshadow the underlying core symptoms and worsen with time.

Research shows that ADHD is a genetic, inherited condition that can he effectively managed. Evidence of brain dysfunction has been found in cerebral imaging studies.! If untreated the disorder can significantly interfere with educational and social development and predispose to psychiatric and other difficulties.

Psychoanalytical approaches support a societal belief that poor parental discipline causes most children's behaviour problems. Such approaches generally ignore a biological basis to difficulties in self control, concentration, and hyperactivity that is present in some individuals. Widespread ignorance exists about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and the need for, and aim of, medication as a component of treatment.-, Trite and simplistic explanations for the symptoms of the disorder are perpetuated which encourage the view that merely naughty children are being diagnosed to absolve parental responsibility.

British child-care professionals have traditionally used the more restrictive World Health Organization' International Classification of Diseases (ICD 10) term "hyperkinesis", which means severe, persistent hyperactivity. Many people wrongly believe that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is the less severe form of hyperkinesis. In fact, hyperactivity is just one possible feature of the disorder and often the least of the child's problems'.

Core ADHD Symptoms

• Inattentiveness
• and/or impulsiveness
• and/or hyperactivity
• CommonSymptom Patterns
• Hyperactivity only
• Impulsive/diminished hyperactivity
• Predominantly inattentive ADHD
• ADHD core symptoms masked by comorbidity

ADHD Complications

ADHD is very variable in its presentation. It is important to understand that ADHD is often found together with a number of other conditions, the symptoms of which often overlap.11 If a child has ADHD, he or she is more likely to have other co-existing or complicating conditions, such as excessive oppositionality and conduct disorder, anxiety and depression, learning difficulties, obsessions, co-ordination and speech and language difficulties. At least 60-70 per cent of those diagnosed with ADHD also have one or more co-existing conditions, and the later the diagnosis, the more likely these are to occur. Many children, who have been suspended or expelled, or are in schools for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties, have ADHD with many co-existing problems.

These conditions frequently mask or camouflage the underlying ADHD and can make recognition and accurate diagnosis more difficult. There has been increasing acknowledgement of the concept of co morbidity - or co-existence of conditions and its treatment - over the past 7-10 years.