Over the past two decades, parents and teachers across America have reported epidemic levels of children with trouble focusing, impulsive behavior and so much energy that they are bouncing off the walls. This condition is known as ADHD or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Over the years, many scientists have been spending billions of dollars in trying to find the cause of this disorder. But could the answer to their questions be found in the great lack of sleep children are getting these days? Could ADHD be a type of sleep disorder? Growing evidence is suggesting this.
A recent Washington Post article entitled, “Could some ADHD be a type of sleep disorder? That would fundamentally change how we treat it,” shared some data from the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Conference. They presented some information this past September about people’s circadian rhythms-the natural cycle of how they sleep and wake.
The study showed that subjects with ADHD had levels of the hormone melatonin that rose 1.5 hours later in the night than those without ADHD. Because of this, people with ADHD fell asleep later and got less sleep overall. This type of behavior is most prevalent amongst young children. “It looks more and more like ADHD and sleeplessness are two sides of the same physiological and mental coin,” said researcher Sandra Kooij of the Vrije Universiteit Medical Centre in Amsterdam.
Even previous studies suggested that about 75 percent of people with ADHD have sleep disturbances and that the less sleep they get the more severe the symptoms. However, not everyone agrees with the assessment of a lack of sleep being linked to ADHD.
William E. Pelham, longtime ADHD specialist who directs the Center for Children and Families at Florida International University, agrees that some children are misdiagnosed as having ADHD when they actually have a sleep problem. “Sleep is an issue for anything where you are trying to measure attention. “But I don’t believe it…accounts for the vast majority of ADHD in the United States,” he says.
There are a lot of factors, including lack of sleep, that could cause ADHD behavior. But what could help you control it so that you could live a normal life as possible? We will learn that in the next article.
