Category: Family

ADHD And Substance Abuse

Some have worried that by giving stimulant medication to children and teens with ADHD, we increase their risk to abuse substances in adolescence and adulthood. However, there really is no research to support this, and in fact, long-term studies of those with ADHD show the exact opposite. Do Stimulants Increase Risk for Substance Abuse in […]

Read More

ADHD and Driving

There are still some professionals who doubt that ADHD is a “real” disorder, and cite poor parenting practices, for example, as an alternate explanation for the attentional and behavioral problems of ADHD children. However, many, many studies over the last 30 years have consistently shown that both teens and adults with ADHD show difficulties driving. […]

Read More

The MTA Study

The NIMH funded the Multimodal Treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (MTA) study. It was a study of several treatments for almost 500 children with ADHD, including medication only medication and therapy combined therapy and community support, without medication The study spanned many sites, and entailed collecting follow-up data for several years (read more). The […]

Read More

ADHD Treatment

The AACAP has offered several recommendations for treatment of ADHD (Pliszka, 2007): The treatment plan for the ADHD patient should be comprehensive and “well-thought-out”: This requires providers to recognize ADHD as a chronic disorder which presents different developmental challenges over time. Thus, exploration of the many treatments (including medical and behavioral) and combinations of treatments […]

Read More

Is There A Genetic Cause For ADHD?

Is There A Genetic Cause For ADHD? What we know is that ADHD is associated with problems in dopamine receptors, or the neurons in the brain that respond to the neurotransmitter dopamine. There are five kinds of dopamine receptors (that have been identified) in the brain, and five genes (that have been identified) that code […]

Read More

How Does ADHD Work? (Part II)

Model III – Deeper Brain Structure Dysfunction Another explanation for ADHD is a problem with the basal ganglia, and the corpus callosum just above the basal ganglia (Biederman et al, 2004). These are deeper brain structures, which serve as “switching stations” for information. In a typical brain, information passes through these structures, and a decision […]

Read More

How Does ADHD Work? (Part I)

There are three basic models to explain ADHD: Model I – Frontal/Pre-Frontal Lobe Dysfunction The frontal lobes, and especially the pre-frontal lobes, are involved in executive reasoning and inhibition of responses(Biederman et al, 2004). To explain, when you weigh possible solutions to a problem, evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of each possible solutions and finally […]

Read More

Diagnosis of ADHD

Is ADHD Real Estimates vary, but the rates of ADHD fall between 3 to 5% (APA) and 7 to 12% (CDC) of children, with 60-85% continuing to meet criteria in adolescence, and 60% continuing to meet criteria in adulthood. Some authors debate whether ADHD is a real disorder, or simply a problem resulting from poor […]

Read More

10 Tips to Reduce Stress

While you may not be able to solve the biggest stressors in your life, you can do something about many of the smaller stressors that “nickel and dime you to death.” Here are some proven stress reducers you can implement in daily life to help: Get up 15 minutes earlier each morning. That gives you […]

Read More

Letter to Dr. Laura

Dr. Laura I got this letter years ago from a friend, and had to post it here. However, given recent events in the news about Indiana and other states passing “religious freedom laws,” I think it takes on more meaning. For those who don’t know who Dr. Laura was, she dispensed advice in books, a […]

Read More