Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder. It affects how people think and act.
People with ADHD may have trouble sitting still, being quiet, or sleeping. They may be rather impulsive. They usually have problems focusing and remembering what is said or done around them. ADHD is called a neurological developmental disorder because it affects how people's nervous systems develop.[1][2]
Experts think that, throughout the world, about one in twenty children (5%) have ADHD. Some countries have more people with ADHD than others, and not everyone uses the same tests. Psychologists have found more people with ADHD in North America than in Africa and the Middle East.[3] In the United States, about one in every fourteen children has ADHD (7%), including one in every ten boys (10%) and one in every twenty-five girls (4%).[4] This could be because more boys get ADHD, or because fewer girls take ADHD tests.[5][6]
ADHD is most diagnosed in children and especially in boys.[7] However, it is not uncommon for teenagers or adults to be diagnosed with ADHD. ADHD has no cure which means it is permanent. However, people with ADHD can treat it which means to help them get better. The difference between a cure and treatment is a cure entirely removes a problem, while the treatment does not remove the problem but help make the symptoms go away as if you don't have ADHD.[8]