“When should I worry about ADD?”
My son is 4 years old. He can't seem to pay attention for more than a few seconds. Should I be concerned about ADD? How young is too young for him to be evaluated?
1 Answer
Timothy Jeider
Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist
When to worry is a case by case discussion, but a general rule to go by is if three is functional impairment somewhere in your child's life. I have had parents bring in 2 years old kids for evaluation. If you take your child for an evaluation, use your parent intuition on wither or not the physician takes a thorough history that evaluates multiple aspects of your child's life. Many times at age 4, medications are not the immediate answer. Also, symptoms that look like ADHD may be in fact related to something that is not actually ADHD. So I can not stress the importance of a detailed evaluation, preferably by a Board Certified Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist.
