Seizure is nothing but a brief disturbance in the brain functioning. This happens when there are some abnormalities found in the brain’s electrical activity. In general, seizure gives brief disorder in regular consciousness of the brain. In Seizure, a person cuts off from the environment around and stuck in the same position for a second or two. Once the seizure phase is over the person recovers quickly and carries on with the same job he or she was doing before the seizure. They usually have no memory of the seizure and behave as normal as nothing has happened in between. The seizure which is more prevalent in children is known as petit mal seizure.
Petit Mal Seizure And Alternative Diagnosis
The symptoms you may see with petit mal seizure are:
- Staring at something like daydreaming
- Uncontrolled eye movements
- Anxiety
- Moment in legs and both arms
But, it is most likely that petit mal seizure is alternatively diagnosed for the diseases such as:
- Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
What Is ADD?
ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) is a behavioral problem that signals mental disturbance or disorder in the patient. Common behavioral changes occur with ADD are; concentration difficulty, sudden attention disorder, impulsive behavior and hyperactivity and socio-personal problems such as low self esteem and poor performance in studies. The behavioral study of ADD in modern times describes it as ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) which is a well thought-out description of the disease.
Misdiagnosis Of Add Multiple Behavioral Disorders
ADD is misdiagnosed various times and it a well-known controversy in the medical surroundings. Some times hyperactivity of the children (normally over active child) is over misdiagnosed with ADD. In human it is a common tendency to seek consultation every time they experience other than the normal. The common tendency of doctors with hyperactivity symptoms is to prescribe ‘Ritalin’ considering them symptoms of ADD and ADHD. ADD and ADHD are alternatively diagnosed for behavioral disorder, food intolerance on a regular basis and normal over activity of the child. It is not only that ADD is only over diagnosed for some behavioral disorders but cases are huge where it is under-diagnosed.
Diagnosing children with their behavioral disorder (hyperactivity and inactivity) is a crucial task as no specific test available for that. Each one of us is different so is our behaviors, beliefs and emotions. With such behavioral diversity misdiagnosis of ADD and ADHD is apparent.
ADD And Petit Mal Seizure
Various times ADD is misdiagnosed with petit mal seizure in children and are prescribed with anti-seizure medication. When years of treatment do not come productive and child’s EEG yet shows abnormalities, neurologists have to think otherwise. Most of the time, long experiment over child’s medication and treatment finally conclude with ADHD medication. However, it is possible that the child was affected with both, the petit mal seizure and ADD. Or, perhaps the child is completely misdiagnosed. The controversy over the misdiagnosis of ADD is long and we can do nothing but to hold a hope for improvement in medical science.