chandigarh attention deficit hyperactivity disorder adhd is a common childhood problem with typical features of hyperactivity impulsive behaviour and problems with attention these children often run climb and jump excessively and in situations where they are expected not to do so often do not sit still leave their seat in the classroom appear impatient cannot wait for their turn often get into trouble with others and into dangerous situations due to their impulsive behaviour these children have difficulty in sustaining attention make careless mistakes lose their things often and are very easily distracted due to these problems they have difficulties not only in their studies but also in their social and peer relations they often face rejection and criticism from all quarters often parents and teachers fail to recognise these symptoms and think that the child is behaving so deliberately and hence punish or criticise the child on the other hand adhd is a disorder where the sufferer definitely benefits with treatmentwith the aim of enhancing the diagnostic and management skills of the psychiatrists a one and a half day workshop was organized by the department of psychiatry the inaugural function was attended by the dean former directors deans retired and serving faculty of the institute there were more than hundred delegates from delhi lucknow jaipur and punjab and neighbouring areasthe organizing chairman was professor ajitavasthi and dr ruchita shah was the organizing secretary along with dr akhilesh sharmathe morning session on the first day dealt with nosology and epidemiology of adhd clinical features and differential diagnosis was elaborated upon by professor satish chandra girimaji an eminent child psychiatrist from nimhans bangalore who was invited as a guest faculty there were hands on workshops to inculcate skill building capacity in managing children with adhd the first one was on assessment and evaluation of adhdduring the afternoon session dr pritiarun professor psychiatry gmch chandigarh discussed about the course and outcome of adhd followed by medical evaluation of children with adhd by dr jitendra sahu a pediatric neurologist the relationship between adhd and substance abuse was taken up by dr subodh bnthe focus of the second day was on management with the focus on short term and long term management plan of adhd very thought provoking and practical talk were given by professor adarsh kohli on nonpharmacological management of children with adhd various behavioural management strategies and issues with parental counselling were discussed followed by a question and answer session the session concluded with a handson workshop on comprehensive management of adhd and the valedictory function the participants gave a very positive feedback and found the two day academic program to be useful practical and informative and were enthusiastic about applying the newly acquired knowledge and skills to their clinical practice it is expected that such an activity will finally benefit the patients and their families