I chose to complete the Psychology 1000 Mental Disorder project on attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder because at age 5 I was diagnosed with predominantly attention deficit hyperactivity disorder inattentive which caused me academic difficulties all the way through elementary school and into high school. I was given an Individual Education Plan for math in elementary school that was supposed to help me succeed, but it hardly did because to this day I still can't study college-level math. Around age 5, I was prescribed Ritalin methylphenidate to help me concentrate in school, but it gave me stomach ulcers and I lost a lot of weight due to stomach pain after taking the pill. Although according to Timely Data Resources Inc. they say that children “are at increased risk of being overweight and the extent to which treatment with stimulant medications alters this association.” But due to the personal side effects of the treatment I became extremely underweight which led my doctor to prescribe methylphenidate Concerta which is similar to Ritalin but is an extended release tablet that helped me do better in school. I only had to take one pill a day unlike Ritalin where I had to take one pill at breakfast and then another at lunch. I also gained all my weight back while taking Concerta because the ulcers and stomach pain went away. Since I was originally prescribed Ritalin, my doctor wanted to keep me on the same type of medication and according to WebMD.com "methylphenidate is a mild stimulant that is thought to work by changing the amount of certain natural substances in the brain." Fast forward to the present, I feel like I'm almost over the disorder because I no longer have to take the medication to be able to concentrate...... middle of paper...... 21, 2014, from http :// www.webmd.com/drugs/drug-19857Concerta%2Boral.aspx drugid=19857&drugname=Concerta+oral&source=1Cherry, K. (n.d.). Perspectives in modern psychology. Retrieved April 21, 2014, from http://psychology.about.com/od/psychology101/a/perspectives.htm 314.0 attention deficit disorder (ADD); attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). (2011). (). Chapter: Timely Data Resources, Inc. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.ivcc.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/863560352?accountid=39160Döpfner, M., Breuer, D ., Walter, D., & Rothenberger, A. (2011). An observational study of once-daily modified-release methylphenidate in ADHD: the effect of prior treatment on ADHD symptoms, other externalizing symptoms, and quality of life outcomes. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 20277-288. doi:10.1007/s00787-011-0205-1