Desperate for attention disorder
Attention Seeking Behavior in Adults: Causes, Other Symptoms, More
For adults, attention-seeking behavior is a conscious or unconscious attempt to become the center of attention, sometimes to gain validation or admiration.
Attention-seeking behavior can include saying or doing something with the goal of getting the attention of a person or a group of people.
Examples of this behavior include:
- fishing for compliments by pointing out achievements and seeking validation
- being controversial to provoke a reaction
- exaggerating and embellishing stories to gain praise or sympathy
- pretending to be unable to do something so someone will teach, help, or watch the attempt to do it
Attention-seeking behavior may be driven by:
- jealousy
- low self-esteem
- loneliness
Sometimes attention-seeking behavior is the result of cluster B personality disorders, such as:
- histrionic personality disorder
- borderline personality disorder
- narcissistic personality disorder
Jealousy
Jealousy may come about when someone feels threatened by another person currently getting all the attention.
This, in turn, can lead to attention-seeking behavior to change the focus.
Self-esteem
Self-esteem is a broad term covering a variety of complex mental states involving how you view yourself.
When some people believe that they’re being overlooked, bringing back the lost attention is may feel like the only way to restore their balance.
The attention that they get from this behavior may help provide them with the feeling of reassurance that they are worthy.
Loneliness
According to the Health Resources and Services Administration, 1 in 5 Americans say they feel lonely or socially isolated.
Loneliness can result in an urge to seek attention, even in people who don’t normally exhibit attention-seeking behavior.
Histrionic personality disorder
According to the National Library of Medicine, histrionic personality disorder is characterized by feeling underappreciated when not the center of attention.
For someone to receive a diagnosis of histrionic personality disorder, they need to meet at least 5 of the following criteria:
- uncomfortable when not the center of attention
- provocative or seductive behavior
- shallow and shifting emotions
- using appearance to draw attention
- vague or impressionistic speech
- exaggerated or dramatic emotions
- is suggestible
- treating relationships as more intimate than they are
Borderline personality disorder
Borderline personality disorder is a continuing pattern of instability in self-image, interpersonal relationships, emotion, and impulsivity.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, for someone to receive a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, they need to display at least 5 of the following criteria:
- frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment
- a pattern of intense and unstable interpersonal relationships with extremes between devaluation and idealization
- a decidedly or persistently unstable self-image or sense of self
- engaging in potentially self-damaging, impulsive behavior
- recurring self-harm or suicidal behavior, including threats or gestures
- emotionally instability in daily reactions, such as through irritability, anxiety, or intense sadness
- chronic feelings of emptiness
- inappropriately intense anger that’s often difficult to control
- transient, stress-related paranoia or disassociation
Narcissistic personality disorder
Those with narcissistic personality disorder typically have a need for admiration with a lack of empathy.
According to the American Psychiatric Association, for someone to receive a diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder, they need to display at least 5 of the following criteria:
- a grandiose sense of self-importance
- a preoccupation with fantasies of power, unlimited success, brilliance, ideal love, beauty
- a belief in their own uniqueness, especially that they should only associate with, and will only be understood by, high-status institutions and high-status people
- demand for excessive admiration
- a sense of entitlement and unreasonable expectation of favorable treatment or automatic compliance with their expectations
- taking advantage of others to achieve their own ends
- unwillingness to identify with or recognize the needs and feelings of others
- envy of others and belief that others are envious of them
- haughty, arrogant attitudes or behaviors
If you notice this behavior is constantly recurring, it’s probably best for the person display the behavior to visit an experienced mental health professional.
If left unchecked, attention-seeking behavior can often become manipulative or otherwise harmful.
Attention-seeking behavior may stem from jealousy, low self-esteem, loneliness, or as a result of a personality disorder.
If you notice this behavior in you or someone else, a mental health professional can provide diagnosis and treatment options.
Attention Seeking Behavior in Adults: Causes, Other Symptoms, More
For adults, attention-seeking behavior is a conscious or unconscious attempt to become the center of attention, sometimes to gain validation or admiration.
Attention-seeking behavior can include saying or doing something with the goal of getting the attention of a person or a group of people.
Examples of this behavior include:
- fishing for compliments by pointing out achievements and seeking validation
- being controversial to provoke a reaction
- exaggerating and embellishing stories to gain praise or sympathy
- pretending to be unable to do something so someone will teach, help, or watch the attempt to do it
Attention-seeking behavior may be driven by:
- jealousy
- low self-esteem
- loneliness
Sometimes attention-seeking behavior is the result of cluster B personality disorders, such as:
- histrionic personality disorder
- borderline personality disorder
- narcissistic personality disorder
Jealousy
Jealousy may come about when someone feels threatened by another person currently getting all the attention.
This, in turn, can lead to attention-seeking behavior to change the focus.
Self-esteem
Self-esteem is a broad term covering a variety of complex mental states involving how you view yourself.
When some people believe that they’re being overlooked, bringing back the lost attention is may feel like the only way to restore their balance.
The attention that they get from this behavior may help provide them with the feeling of reassurance that they are worthy.
Loneliness
According to the Health Resources and Services Administration, 1 in 5 Americans say they feel lonely or socially isolated.
Loneliness can result in an urge to seek attention, even in people who don’t normally exhibit attention-seeking behavior.
Histrionic personality disorder
According to the National Library of Medicine, histrionic personality disorder is characterized by feeling underappreciated when not the center of attention.
For someone to receive a diagnosis of histrionic personality disorder, they need to meet at least 5 of the following criteria:
- uncomfortable when not the center of attention
- provocative or seductive behavior
- shallow and shifting emotions
- using appearance to draw attention
- vague or impressionistic speech
- exaggerated or dramatic emotions
- is suggestible
- treating relationships as more intimate than they are
Borderline personality disorder
Borderline personality disorder is a continuing pattern of instability in self-image, interpersonal relationships, emotion, and impulsivity.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, for someone to receive a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, they need to display at least 5 of the following criteria:
- frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment
- a pattern of intense and unstable interpersonal relationships with extremes between devaluation and idealization
- a decidedly or persistently unstable self-image or sense of self
- engaging in potentially self-damaging, impulsive behavior
- recurring self-harm or suicidal behavior, including threats or gestures
- emotionally instability in daily reactions, such as through irritability, anxiety, or intense sadness
- chronic feelings of emptiness
- inappropriately intense anger that’s often difficult to control
- transient, stress-related paranoia or disassociation
Narcissistic personality disorder
Those with narcissistic personality disorder typically have a need for admiration with a lack of empathy.
According to the American Psychiatric Association, for someone to receive a diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder, they need to display at least 5 of the following criteria:
- a grandiose sense of self-importance
- a preoccupation with fantasies of power, unlimited success, brilliance, ideal love, beauty
- a belief in their own uniqueness, especially that they should only associate with, and will only be understood by, high-status institutions and high-status people
- demand for excessive admiration
- a sense of entitlement and unreasonable expectation of favorable treatment or automatic compliance with their expectations
- taking advantage of others to achieve their own ends
- unwillingness to identify with or recognize the needs and feelings of others
- envy of others and belief that others are envious of them
- haughty, arrogant attitudes or behaviors
If you notice this behavior is constantly recurring, it’s probably best for the person display the behavior to visit an experienced mental health professional.
If left unchecked, attention-seeking behavior can often become manipulative or otherwise harmful.
Attention-seeking behavior may stem from jealousy, low self-esteem, loneliness, or as a result of a personality disorder.
If you notice this behavior in you or someone else, a mental health professional can provide diagnosis and treatment options.
All at once. What is Attention Deficit Disorder - Daria Varlamova - Psychology - Site Materials - Snob
In Russia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) exists as an official diagnosis only for children. In the United States until the 1970s, it was believed that attention deficit disorder resolves itself with age - but, according to recent data, in about 50% of children suffering from the disorder, the symptoms of the disease continue to appear years later (as a result, "adult" ADHD recognized by 18 European countries).
What are the signs of ADHD? There are three types of this disorder.
- More attention deficit.
A person with this type of disorder resembles the hero Marshak from Basseinaya Street: he is absent-minded and forgetful, it is difficult for him to keep his attention on anything for a long time, and he does not listen to what he is told. Such people quite often seem dumber than they are - even with a high IQ, it is difficult for them to both organize themselves and follow instructions. They quickly get tired of mental work, procrastinate and make stupid mistakes because they cannot focus on details. - More hyperactivity. This is a "man-motor": it is physically difficult for him to remain still and behave calmly. Such people constantly sway in a chair, dangle their legs and run out to smoke every 20 minutes, they distract not only themselves, but also those around them. An excess of energy can also cause irritability or make it difficult to relax.
- All at once - has symptoms from both categories. In any of the variants, the manifestations of ADHD relate to different areas of activity and seriously interfere with life - a person experiences problems with concentration both at home and at work, and, for example, in line for tickets to a concert.
If you are often unfocused, but this does not prevent you from coping with everyday tasks (here we do not mean tasks like “read the entire Ulysses”, it is rather about not forgetting important business meetings, not losing every month in metro personal documents or be able to prepare for the session), it is worth remembering the saying of psychiatrists: "No complaints - no diagnosis." According to various estimates, 7-10% of children and 4-6% of adults in the world suffer from the disorder.
A Convenient Diagnosis
ADHD remains one of the most bizarre and controversial psychiatric diagnoses - Wikipedia's article on the history of the discussion about the disorder reads like an action novel. Most likely, the controversy would be much less acute if it were not for the specifics of the treatment: nature decreed that stimulants such as Ritalin and Adderall (a derivative of amphetamine) help best with attention deficit disorder. In addition to the main therapeutic effects, these substances give such interesting "side effects" as cheerfulness, high spirits, excess energy and frantic performance.
All this did not pass by the attention of the general population - both mothers of families became interested in substances (there is even a series about taking stimulants for other purposes in Desperate Housewives) and Ivy League university students experiencing huge study loads. As a result, ADHD turned out to be a very convenient diagnosis for a number of brave citizens who decided to increase their personal effectiveness through the use of chemistry, and there is still a veil of "drug dealer front" around the diagnosis.
Nevertheless, according to many respected doctors, Attention Deficit Disorder really exists - including recognition by the World Health Organization. In addition, it has quite noticeable neurobiological manifestations - people with ADHD have a thinner cerebral cortex, more precisely those parts of it that are responsible for attention and cognitive control. So for lack of a better option, the diagnosis continues to be used.
Evolutionary advantage
The second line of debate around ADHD is whether it should be considered a disorder at all, and not a normal variation of brain function? American psychotherapist and entrepreneur Tom Hartman created the "hunter and farmer" theory, according to which patients with ADHD retained the genes of primitive people responsible for behavior useful for hunters - quick reaction, impulsiveness, receptivity, the ability to quickly switch attention from one object to another, and especially the ability to to hyperfocus (immersion in the solution of one problem to the detriment of all others).
All in all, these people are just a bit of an age mismatch: they could very well be the tribal champions in hunting down prey in the woods, but instead have to sort through paperwork in the office. Perseverance, calmness and organization are now valued much more than spontaneity and the ability to quickly switch attention from one to another - although this largely depends on the profession.
Psychiatrist Dale Archer takes a similar position: ADHD does not need to be treated - it just needs to be slightly corrected and used for its intended purpose. “Such people make excellent researchers, businessmen, sportsmen and specialists in creative professions,” the professor wrote in one of his books. Such theories are backed up by periodic coming-outs from successful entrepreneurs, including multibillionaire Richard Branson, IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad, and three-airline founder (Morris Air, JetBlue Airways and Azul Brazilian Airlines) David Neelman. Scientists believe that the genetic factor does play a big role in the occurrence of the disease: according to Archer, studies of twins show that in more than 70% of cases, the syndrome found in one will also be in the other.
And if the child was diagnosed with such a diagnosis, the likelihood that one of the parents has attention deficit disorder is 15-40%.
How an adult can live with ADHD in Russia
As I have already said, a person who has come out of puberty is not diagnosed in our country. Those who suspect that they have this disease, purely for themselves, can pass a small test developed by psychiatrists with the assistance of the World Health Organization. It has only six questions:
- How often do you have trouble finishing the details after completing the most difficult part of a task?
- How often do you find it difficult to sort things out when you are given a task that requires organization?
- How often do you forget appointments or commitments?
- When you are given a task that requires a lot of mental effort, how often do you try to delay or avoid the task altogether?
- How often do you fidget or move your arms or legs when you have to sit still for long periods of time?
- How often do you feel too active and restless, as if you have a motor inside you?
Each question is asked to choose one of five possible answers: 1) very rarely; 2) rarely; 3) sometimes; 4) often; 5) very often.
For each answer from "sometimes" to "very often" in the first three questions, and "often" or "very often" in the others, give yourself one point. If you scored four or more points, it looks like you really have attention deficit disorder. However, this test does not replace an examination by a psychiatrist.
Ritalin and Adderall are banned in Russia, so in any case, there would not be so many options for drug treatment: the main use is a drug called Strattera, which is not a psychostimulant, and nootropics (funny symmetry - Phenotropil, beloved by many in Russia in America considered as illegal as our Ritalin). But, fortunately, in many cases, improvement can be achieved without medication - as with other disorders, such as depression and bipolar disorder, cognitive-behavioral therapy is effective here. Some people find self-medication with caffeine helpful, which is theoretically logical since it works in much the same way as stimulants, only milder. True, its effect has not been clinically proven - scientists get conflicting results.
But a good effect of regular physical activity has been proven - it increases the ability to concentrate and plan.
Finally, there are many techniques for self-organization and efficiency. You can use a ready-made algorithm like David Allen's Getting Things Done or customize your system of reminders, organizers, and calendars. And try to use the positive aspects of your neurobiological features - curiosity, multitasking and the ability to quickly process information.
Daria Varlamova:
drama queen. What is Histrionic Personality Disorder
People with a hysterical disorder live all the time as if on a stage and pay great attention to external effects.
Daria Varlamova:
Echo of pain. What is PTSD
How to live with the feeling that the world is not safe
ADHD: a diagnosis in doubt
Photo from annakennedyonline.
com In fact, if other forms of developmental disorders, such as autism, have a fairly pronounced specificity, which becomes more pronounced as the child grows up, then ADHD can do not cause much concern to parents until the child begins to study at school. And even then, adults often refuse to see anything more than restlessness, and hope that in another year or two, he will “outgrow” children's problems.
On the other hand, awareness of the syndrome causes some parents to suspect a disorder in their son or daughter at the slightest sign of inattention or increased activity, to become anxious and, in turn, increase anxiety in the child.
ADHD is also the subject of fierce debate among medical experts and psychologists. Since the 70s of the last century, some experts have diagnosed children with this disease, others claim that it is not a disease, that ADHD was “invented, but not proven”, and its manifestations are not abnormal, they can be explained by the influence of the environment or a personality trait the person to whom the "disorder" is attributed.
The well-known American journalist and former psychotherapist Tom Hartman, whose son was diagnosed with ADHD, even came up with an interesting hypothesis called the “hunter and farmer theory”. According to Hartman, since man during the first millennia of his history was a nomadic hunter or gatherer, hyperactivity and impulsivity, as well as focused attention on one object and neglect of other details, were favorable adaptive qualities from an evolutionary point of view.
Then, with the development of agriculture, this standard gradually changed, humanity as a whole adapted to a sedentary lifestyle and routine production of food and other material goods, requiring long-term and distributed attention. People with ADHD, on the other hand, retained some of the traits of hunters. Hartman proposed to consider "hyperfocus" (the ability to pay particularly intense attention to an object of interest while paying little attention to everything else) as a gift or advantage of people with the syndrome, and a number of other characteristics, such as disregard for social norms, poor organizational skills, reduced ability to plan, violations of the sense of time, impulsiveness and impatience - as features associated with the type of personality of the hunter.
Interestingly, the American anthropologist Ben Campbell studied the nomadic people of Ariaal in Kenya and found that their representatives are very characteristic of hyperactivity and impulsivity, which do not interfere at all, but, on the contrary, help to better adapt to their lifestyle.
The diagnosis is also criticized based on the fact that there are no solid biological markers of the disorder, and there is no unambiguous treatment leading to recovery.
Supporters of the allocation of ADHD as an independent diagnosis are based on the presence of a certain set of symptoms, which, with a certain degree of severity, lead to partial maladaptation of the patient, while maladjustment indicates the presence of a disorder.
To date, the victory remains with the latter: in the international classifier of diseases ICD-10, there is such a diagnosis. According to a systematic study of the literature conducted in 2007, the prevalence of ADHD in the world was 5.
29%. Girls are diagnosed with ADHD on average 3-4 times less often than boys.
Russian data are striking in their colossal scatter: according to various estimates, from 2% to 47% of the child population of our country suffer from this disorder, and this indicates that, unfortunately, competent epidemiological studies have not been conducted in our country. There is reason to believe that the most likely prevalence in the Russian Federation is approximately at the same level as in other developed countries.
It is characterized by a triad of signs: impaired attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity.
Impaired attention is manifested in the fact that the child is unable to focus on details, is constantly distracted, makes mistakes in school assignments, betraying negligence rather than lack of logic and ability to think operations in accordance with age. The preschooler has difficulty maintaining attention during the game. Often one gets the impression that he does not listen to the speech addressed to him.
Sometimes it may seem that the child does not understand the instructions, the task, because he is not able to carry it out from beginning to end, but in fact the problem is not in the weakness of thinking, but in the impossibility for him to concentrate for any long time.
The child may desperately resist doing tasks that require prolonged mental exertion, whether it is a math problem or putting things in order in the room, but this is not a matter of negativity or protest behavior: it is actually very difficult for him and therefore requires more willpower than which is in line with his age.
By the way: ADHD is not only in children, but an adult is usually able to overcome difficulties with concentration, so others may not notice his problems.
Inattention leads to the fact that the child often loses things (toys, school supplies, mittens, removable shoes), forgets a diary, notebooks, textbooks at home.
Hyperactivity manifests itself in the inability of the child to quiet, calm activities.
Sitting at a lesson or at home while doing homework, he constantly spins, gets up even in situations where he is supposed to stay still, and shows aimless motor activity. Often he tries to climb somewhere, puts himself at risk, not being able to correctly assess the consequences of his actions.
Some of the hyperactive children are distinguished by the fact that they never remain silent, their verbal flow is very difficult to stop, and this becomes especially noticeable at school, where the class-lesson system requires the student to speak only at the request of the teacher.
The third criterion of the syndrome is impulsivity . The child answers the question without thinking, often without even listening to it. It is difficult for him to stand in line. He often interferes in conversations or games, pesters others with conversations. He commits risky acts under the influence of a sudden impulse, not having time to think about the dangerous consequences, more often than others he gets injured and damages his or someone else's property.
It should be noted that the syndrome can occur with predominant attention disorders without hyperactivity and impulsivity, and vice versa, hyperactivity and impulsivity can be the leading symptoms with mild attention impairment. But in one form or another, it always creates difficulties with the child's adaptation to school life, both in terms of academic performance and in terms of relationships with classmates.
The diagnosis of ADHD can be made starting in late preschool or early school age, as this requires an assessment of the child's behavior in at least two settings (eg, home and school), as well as marked learning and social impairments.
Despite the fact that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a recognized diagnosis, specialists, parents, teachers in many countries point out the problem of subjectivity in the diagnosis, and in connection with this - overdiagnosis, or, conversely, underdiagnosis of ADHD. Both are dangerous: drug treatment of a healthy, but somewhat restless child will only bring harm, but a child with a real disorder who does not receive adequate help (not necessarily medication) also suffers.
It is not uncommon to hear parents complain about teachers: not being able to establish discipline in the classroom, keep the children's attention with a vivid presentation of educational material, motivate them to work independently, teachers demand that the parents of an underachieving student take measures, up to a medical examination and appropriate treatment.
Here is an interesting statistic for 2005: 82% of educators in the US believe that ADHD is overdiagnosed, while only 3% believe it is underdiagnosed; but in China only 19% of teachers considered diagnosing ADHD excessive, but 57% believe that many children have ADHD undiagnosed.
American teachers have turned out to be on the side of the children and are in no hurry to explain their school problems as medical, while Chinese teachers are the opposite. It is difficult to say whether the fact is that in the United States there really is overdiagnosis, while in China the problem is the opposite, or everything is explained by the specific attitude of teachers in the two countries towards their wards.
One way or another, it would be very interesting to look at the results of such a survey in Russian kindergartens and schools.
Like any developmental disorder, ADHD has a biological basis, but what it consists of, what variants of physical ill health lead to the syndrome, is still not completely clear. The exception is the residual form of ADHD, when the disorder occurs as a result of a physical injury to the brain.
It is believed that ADHD in a child can be caused by complications during pregnancy in the mother or childbirth, as well as diseases such as asthma, recurring pneumonia, kidney disease, allergies, therefore, when making a diagnosis of ADHD, a comprehensive medical examination and treatment should be carried out identified disorders, which can lead to a reduction in symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
There is evidence of a genetic predisposition to ADHD, but so far there is no clear understanding of which gene mutations are responsible for the syndrome.
More recently, scientists have singled out impaired sensory impulse processing (SPP) as an independent disorder. A child (or adult) may have excellent vision, but the visual signal is not processed properly by the brain, and he will not always automatically take a step to the side if he sees that a large object is moving towards him.
The child may be clumsy and poorly coordinated because sensory inputs to the brain from the vestibular and tactile systems, muscles and joints (which are also deeply sensitive) are not correctly processed by the central nervous system, which in turn generates inadequate motor answer.
Normally, our brain forms a holistic view of what is in the field of our perception, integrating the signals coming from all sensory analyzers simultaneously. If this does not happen, then even an adult has to strain his attention more, and he gets tired faster. A child with sensory problems, on the other hand, requires an extraordinary effort to concentrate and complete a task, and this may be the reason for his inability to concentrate for a long time.
