A new research study shows positive, long lasting results for children with ADHD, from a two-session sleep program. The program improves the children’s sleep, ADHD symptoms, quality of life, daily functioning and behavior, with benefits lasting at least 12 months. Because the intervention is brief, it is suitable for use by most families as well as a wide variety of clinicians.
Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is a frequent and persistent pattern of anger, irritability, arguing, defiance or vindictiveness toward parents and other authority figures by a child or teen. Parents should be aware that there are a number of persistent myths about ODD that can cause children with the condition to become stigmatized and make treatment more difficult.
Does having ADHD put you at higher risk of dying prematurely? Recent research suggests having ADHD can significantly shorten your life. Dr. Russell Barkley, an ADHD expert, has cast this as a serious public health issue that needs to be addressed through better education, evidence-based treatment interventions and lifetime monitoring. The importance and urgency of addressing ADHD as a public health concern have become higher as more children are diagnosed with ADHD.
Neurodiversity is the idea that neurological differences like autism and ADHD are the result of normal, natural variation in the human genome. Today, most organizations are familiar with the advantages they can achieve by fostering diversity in the backgrounds, disciplinary training, gender, culture, and other individual qualities of employees. As our understanding of the human brain expands, the wisdom of neurodiversity in all areas of human endeavor seems destined to become a recognized essential ingredient of innovation and achievement.
Going through grief or loss can mean experiencing symptoms like anger, sadness, emptiness and anxiety. For people with ADHD, however, grief and loss can be far more challenging. ADHD individuals tend to process and express emotions much more intensely. Grief and loss are part of life, but fortunately there are ways to handle it in healthy and constructive ways.
Science is providing us with greater insight into the neurological factors that govern ADHD. If you have ADHD and want to make sense of your behaviors, it is important to understand the neurological differences in the ADHD brain that underlie those behaviors. Since ADHD behaviors are frequently mislabeled and misjudged by society, there is some comfort in knowing that there are neurological explanations for sometimes incomprehensible behaviors.
A new genomic study of families whose members had ADHD showed they all had specific features in certain genes. The identification of such patterns may help improve the diagnosis of ADHD. Genetically based diagnosis of ADHD could provide earlier detection and treatment. This is especially critical now that 10% of children in the U.S. are being diagnosed with ADHD.
New research on how we pay attention to things in our environment could shed new light on ADHD. Brains normally shift the focus of attention about 4 times per second. This prevents us from focusing too much on something at the cost of putting ourselves in danger. The ADHD brain, on the other hand, can become more easily locked in a state of either hyperfocus or high distractability.
Preschool ADHD can have a substantial impact on the daily functioning of a child. It is generally predictive of executive function impairment through adolescence, despite treatment with medication. A recent collaborative study of 4 universities in the Netherlands and the U.K. has shown that training parents to do behavioral interventions at home can have a positive effect on a child’s ADHD symptoms and reduce stress within the family.
Researchers are now beginning to understand that ADHD manifests differently in adult men and women. ADHD in women is often difficult to spot. For this reason, many women unnecessarily suffer the feelings of overwhelm, exhaustion, depression and inadequacy that come with ADHD. There are signs which may indicate whether a woman has the condition, and steps she can take to get a diagnosis and treatment to improve the quality of life.