Attention Issues
Issues with attention can manifest as experiencing difficulty staying on task, focusing, and managing one's time among many other things. The following questions about attention issues can help you determine when it’s time to seek a professional diagnosis.
Do you or a loved one…
- Have difficulties paying attention or concentrating?
- Avoid starting new important tasks?
- Sometimes begin a task but never end up completing it?
- Find it difficult to tune into the conversation you are having when there are others happening around you?
- Have the impulse to jump or interject into a conversation as soon as a thought strikes you?
- Make careless mistakes because a task is boring, repetitive, or difficult?
- Ever feel restless or find yourself fidgeting?
- Have a hard time retaining information?
- Need to take breaks regularly?
- Sometimes forget something you were just told?
- Struggle concentrating when speaking with others?
- Frequently misplace items or have difficulty finding them?
- Easily become distracted by other motion or movement in the room?
- Find yourself typically distracted?
- Have difficulties managing your time?
- Find yourself drifting off even when you are trying to pay attention?
If you answered yes to two or more of these questions about these symptoms and issues with attention, consider scheduling a neuropsychological evaluation. Call us at (847) 469-7537 to learn more.
Attention difficulties can occur at any age, and most people experience occasional instances of inattention throughout their lifetime that are not an immediate cause for concern. There are some instances, however, where a person’s inattentive tendencies are more problematic, pervasive, and impact everyday living. Some of these problems with attention include a difficulty concentrating, becoming increasingly forgetful, a difficulty with sustaining attention, misplacing items, and a tendency to display task avoidance. These problems can occur for several reasons to include stress, fatigue, inadequate nutrition, substance abuse, emotional distress, and medication side effects. However, pervasive and problematic attention problems can also indicate an underlying neurodevelopmental condition, such as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD; commonly referred to as ADD).
Neuropsychology, and a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation, will help explain and determine if an underlying condition, or perhaps multiple underlying conditions, exists. In some circumstances, the attention difficulties may be better explained by other conditions such as a mood disorder (e.g., anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder) or a memory disorder (e.g., mild cognitive impairment, dementia). Understanding the patient’s strengths and weaknesses can help identify the reason for inattention and aid in creating a customized treatment plan to improve or manage the patient’s cognitive complaints. Early diagnosis and treatment can make a big difference in outcome. Our fellowship-trained doctors will be able to pinpoint the underlying cause for these issues.
Check out these pages to learn more:
ADD - Adults,
ADD - Pediatrics,
ADHD - Adults,
ADHD - Pediatrics,
Anxiety,
Behavioral Difficulties,
Concussion,
Depression,
Dyslexia,
Epilepsy,
Genetic Syndromes,
Learning Disorders,
Multiple Sclerosis (MS),
Neurological Disorders,
Stroke,
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and
Vascular Diseases
