Medication and Diet OMG! Why ADD ADHD is so Misunderstood

by: Bryan Hutchinson

It’s a sad reality.

Most people don’t understand ADHD. And, quite frankly, many do not want to.

Unfortunately, too many are intolerant or ignorant. ADHD is an excuse, they say. Some go further than that, as you will soon read, and blame ADHD on pharmaceutical companies who, as you know, created ADHD so they can sell their over-priced medications. They have that power, apparently.

Those reasons and more are why ADD ADHD is so misunderstood . It truly is amazing what some people believe or want to believe, isn’t it?

Today I want to call your attention to an article published by Jaqui Karr.

“Destroying Children with the Cloak of ADHD: Parents Need to Pay Attention”

Karr states unequivocally:

The problems AND answers lie in food. Sadly the pharmaceutical companies will do everything in their power to get the “experts” and medical community to say otherwise. Even sadder is that for the mainstream, whatever the guy in the white lab coat says must be true.

Although she does not outright state it, I get the impression that she’s trying to imply that pharmaceutical companies have made up the disorder. At best, Karr is suggesting that we are fooled by the pharmaceutical companies.

Karr is wrong about ADHD. Worse than wrong, she comes across as blaming parents (and adults with ADHD) for the issues they are suffering from caused by the “made-up” disorder. To give her the benefit of the doubt, she might not mean to and it’s likely she does believe that food alone is the cause and the cure.

Celiac Disease is not ADHD.

Karr suffers from Celiac Disease and the treatment is to absolutely avoid Gluten. Removing Gluten from her diet predictably improved her health. Now she’s on a mission. Overall, in my opinion, a good mission to help people improve their diets, but to attack ADHD and attacking pharmaceutical companies and then attacking parents for their poor diet choices for their children that’s just not a good way to go about it.

To be fair, she has some very good points about Gluten and she could have included the possibility of food allergies and one of the worst culprits, milk. I’ve written about Gluten and how avoiding it does help (but beware of withdrawal)! Yes, for some of us, it does. It’s no secret.

Remember the myth about excess sugar causing ADHD? Many still believe that even though research has disproved it time and time again. Karr goes for broke by also blaming “massive sugar spikes”. This is the perfect myth to latch onto because it was such a widespread belief years ago. Then she blames soda.

Legitimacy!

If Karr truly wants to be helpful and give us dieting suggestions then she needs to first research ADHD and not simply blame the most common food myths.

For decades people with ADHD, and parents of children with ADHD, have been fighting thebattle of legitimacy.

Good parents, parents who truly do care about their children have had to contend with the perception that they are not good parents or they don’t feed their kids right or they don’t discipline them effectively and so many other hurtful myths.

Karr did not help them any with her article.

How about this:

ADHD is real.

Myths and ignorance do not change that.

Seriously, even I enjoy a good conspiracy theory, but to imply that pharmaceutical companies have the power to create a disorder to sell drugs and in the process convince governments and health organizations throughout the world is, well, let’s use plain English here: Ridiculous.

I mean, c’mon, really?

Someone call the FDA, now!

And while you are at it call Congress and the American Psychiatric Association. They’ve all been suckered. Darn that guy in the white lab coat. He really had us going.

ADHD is not curable.

To help set the record straight I will be interviewing Doctor Charles Parker who wrote the book on ADHD medications, literally. He is the author of ADHD Medication Rules. What Karr may find surprising is that Dr. Parker discusses on his blog diet modifications and how removing Gluten and Milk from the diet improves ADHD symptoms for some people, but does not cure ADHD!

Karr is wrong to indicate that ADHD is not real and worse, she missed an opportunity to discuss and share her valuable experience and expertise on nutrition with the ADHD community.

~Bryan

Come help us celebrate River Med Pharmacy's Grand Opening.

We'll be there from 10am to 1pm.

Come by and register to WIN a FREE bottle of A.D.D. Peace of Mind. Remember to bring the kids to have fun in the bounce house. See you Saturday!

Click the link for directions:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/14002+Palm+Beach+Blvd,+Fort+Myers,+FL+33905/@26.7085164,-81.7288029,244m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x88db6fa5874ddeeb:0x12950ed8d6851e82!8m2!3d26.7083631!4d-81.7281994

Tips for Supporting Adult Children with ADHD

Submitted by Melissa Orlov

ADHD is highly heritable, which means you may well have children with ADHD.  As they age, how to support them becomes less clear, as parents need to let go of the organizing support they provided their ADHD child when younger, and embrace something new.  Here are tips for parents of adult children who wish to keep their relationships strong.

This post was inspired by a reader who wrote me earlier this year about her children – both of whom were diagnosed with ADHD as adults. She noted, with some regret, the “cost of high expectations” she and her partner had had for their children.  “…there was a price to pay in the way they were raised...high academic expectations, expectations for college, etc. And for my son it was tough going through 4yrs in a business school with a lot of super charged, high testosterone type A's - many who have now gone on to super charged careers.

So they now tell me they have anxiety. Who can blame them? Add my own very perceivable angst in fretting over their academic performance until I found out about the ADD, and you can see where it all came from.”  

Aside from learning more about ADHD, what can you do to support your adult children with ADHD?

First, don't beat yourself up.  If this woman had known about her children’s ADHD, it’s unlikely she would have spent so much time pushing them through their school struggles.  But she didn’t know.  Her best bet now is to acknowledge she would have done it differently – embracing the ‘otherness’ of her kids – and then move on to what’s relevant today.

Acknowledge that anxiety and ADHD often go hand-in-hand – and that may not be comfortable, but it is ‘okay.’  Anxiety is a common co-existing condition for those with ADHD, for just the reason that this woman mentions - there is an increased likelihood of struggling and/or making mistakes when you have ADHD relative to the 'norm' of being efficient and having things come more easily.  This struggle leads those with (diagnosed or undiagnosed) ADHD to wonder if they will embarrass themselves or fail in a way that will lead others to judge them.  This is a reasonable question, as during childhood, this is exactly what happens to most kids with ADHD - teachers, parents, friends all judge behaviors that stray from the 'norm.'  Further, those with ADHD often get blindsided.  They are going along in their own way (and often in their own mind) and don't realize that disaster looms.  Have this happen enough, and you can get pretty skittish and/or anxious (and depressed.)

Those who love adult children with ADHD can experience anxiety, as well, as they observe the struggles their adult kids go through.  Watching a child choose a mate who may not treat them so well, struggle through college, or have trouble putting together an effective job search is painful.  You want to help, but know that at the core you cannot lead as you may have in the past, when your child was younger.

As a parent, your best course of action is to focus on accepting and loving your child for whom he or she is.  That means taking off the 'expectations' blinders, and setting aside some of the traditional paths you may have dreamed your child would follow.  Your child may be very bright, but the ADHD symptoms provide a roadblock to always demonstrating that intelligence at the time, or in the way, that others can best see.  If you, as the parent, are judgmental about the successes or struggles your child faces, then that child has no safe haven to go to where s/he is accepted solely because s/he 'is.'  Everyone needs that, simply to be mentally happy.  (And by judgmental, I mean either 'judging' or simply 'expressing disappointment' rather than being overtly supportive and eager for them to follow their path.)

This does not mean parents should lower their standards.  Expecting that a bright child finish college is different from hoping that s/he will finish in four years, or won't get any bad grades.  Requesting that your child be gainfully employed doesn't mean she has to be a banker or a lawyer, tied to doing many repetitive tasks that don’t fit well with ADHD.  Perhaps she will be an environmental pioneer of some sort and work mostly outside, instead.

I also don't mean you should abandon input, particularly if you see your child heading towards being unsafe (for example, moving towards alcohol or drugs to respond to anxiety or depression.)  I'm simply urging you to think as broadly and supportively as you can, and take a deep breath when tempted to 'push' your adult child with ADHD in a direction with which he will struggle.  You don't have to support hare-brained schemes, certainly, but you don't have to 'push' a child towards 'the norm,' either.

Here are some very tactical suggestions for dealing with anxiety and the challenges of adult ADHD:

• Explore mindfulness training - the ability to be more aware of the feelings that are inside you, and to choose whether or not to engage with them or simply observe them and let them pass, can be exceptionally helpful for both parents and those with ADHD.  As an example, when an event makes you anxious, mindfulness training can help you observe that you are starting to feel anxiety and then make the decisions to self-calm
• Encourage the ADHD person to fully optimize treatment for ADHD.  For more information on this, go to my online treatment guide - make sure to download the free chapters from Couple's Guide to Thriving with ADHD.
• Create time to be together to simply celebrate your child and show him/her that you are engaged with what they are doing and that you love them unconditionally
• Consider journaling to explore letting go of any long-held expectations you might have had about what your child should do professionally (for example "I've always thought you should be a doctor" even as that child struggles mightily in school.)
• Stay engaged, and in the most positive way possible.  Do fun things together, celebrate your child's talents, etc.  Life can be one tangle after another for those with ADHD and it is a real gift when parents just 'let loose' and enjoy the moment with them.
• Remind yourself regularly about all that is wonderful about your child (to stave off the urge to criticize, if you have it).  Some do this with gratitude journals, which I find a very effective tool for staying on the positive side when life is throwing you lemons.

ADHD and Marriage

Learn 5- Critical Steps to Overcome ADD & ADHD Once and For All

I was stuck just like you with harsh chemical medications with negative side effects until I discovered this revolutionary breakthrough All-Natural Supplement that quickly helped me improve my focus, memory, mood and attention while reducing my anxiety and insomnia. 

All in less than 30 days!

Dear Friend,

Do you or someone you love suffer from the often debilitating results of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)? If so then this special report will be the most exciting new information you’ll read today and will provide the hope you’re looking for.

You see, my name is Jeremy Barnett. I am not a doctor. I am not a therapist. I’m simply an ADHD sufferer who has made it my life’s work to find a way of controlling my symptoms to the extent that I can now function like ‘normal’ – without needing prescription pills or other invasive therapies.

 Do You Have Trouble Concentrating?

 Do You Have Trouble Sticking To Tasks?

 Would You Like To Try A 100% All-Natural Solution That Worked For Me?

If you want relief from poor mood, poor attention, lack of focus, poor memory and anxiety in 30 days or less, you need to read this report now! => 

Cut! Send in the body double, please

I recently learned that in the world of adult ADHD there is a focusing strategy called “body double.” Turns out some adult ADDers are more successful at staying on task if they have a companion.

An ADD husband, for example, can sometimes get through the monthly bills more easily if his wife sits at the kitchen table with him while she works on her own task. She doesn’t have to prompt or redirect, she just needs to be a physical presence. An ADHD mom can conquer routine household chores that otherwise feel overwhelming if she has a partner, perhaps another woman in her neighborhood who also needs to get chores done; they work as a team starting at one home and moving on to the other providing the structure of presence that helps the ADDer push through.

There’s something about having someone else at hand—a body double—that triggers the ability and commitment to focus and stay on task. ADHD coaches are known to recommend this coping strategy to the men and women who hire them, adults seeking some extra help in organizing and being more successful in their lives. I’m not sure why but as the parent of an ADHD child, I had never heard the term “body double” in this context until a fellow blogger commented on one of my posts about homework woes and suggested that my son might need one. 

It didn’t take long for me to realize that not only did Joe likely need a body double, but he has probably been employing the strategy ad hoc for much of his life. Just a few weeks ago he proclaimed with frustration his need to have someone with him “24/7” to get his school work done. I have puzzled for years over his ability to easily tackle homework in the school setting during after-school programs juxtaposed to his blatant inability to focus on that same work at home.

I get that he’s tired after school and wants a break, but presumably he was just as tired at 4:30 at his after school program as he was in my kitchen after I stopped working. I used to attribute it to the physical school setting somehow cueing his brain to cooperate, but couldn’t it just as easily be the presence of a compatriot at school? Having another student, or students, sitting at the homework table with him provided him a body double experience. He had peer support that enabled him to override his fatigue and distractibility. The body double supported and helped him maintain focus to be successful with homework in a way that I (his parent and an authority figure) haven’t been able to do.

 I have also struggled mightily over the years with Joe and sleeping. Without sleep medication, he can’t settle down and drift off despite his exhaustion. Before resorting to medication less than a year ago, there was one thing that helped Joe sleep: someone else in bed with him. Another’s presence next to him allowed him to rest. A therapist said Joe didn’t have the ability to self soothe; he needed someone else for that. At 11 years old, we’re finally making progress with Joe sleeping on his own through the night with the help of the medication, but I’m wondering if some of his struggle is a body double issue. 

We had a bad night a couple weeks ago when even on the medication Joe couldn’t wind down. About midnight I bent the new house rule in favor of some sleep for him on a school night and went to lie down with him. Within a couple of hours he was sleeping soundly. The next morning I asked him what goes on when he can’t sleep. Why does having someone with him help?

“I don’t know; I just feel better with you there—more settled inside—and I can sleep.”

 So am I my son’s body double? Do I need to find a homework buddy for him? I’ve been analyzing and reanalyzing our routines since learning about the body double concept and am increasingly aware that my presence (or someone’s) is needed for Joe to accomplish just about anything—his hyper-focused computer gaming being the primary exception. If adult ADDers are known to benefit, it stands to reason that children and teens with ADHD will perform better with a body double, too?

And if Joe gets one, can I have one? For the record, I’d like mine to be about 35 and in better shape than me.

Tammy Murphy

Tammy Murphy is a journalist on hiatus. She’s the mother of two—a 14-year-old daughter and a 12-year-old son whose ADHD and related symptoms were evident practically from the womb. Tammy is a native of Maryland and a recent Georgia transplant. She started blogging about her up-and-down experiences with Joe—and life in general—as much-needed therapy.

http://adhdmomma.com/2011/02/cut-send-in-body-double-please.html

How do you help a sensory-seeking child with ADHD?

My eight-year-old son, Luke, has Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) in addition to ADHD. Kids with SPD are either sensory avoiders or sensory seekers. Luke is most definitely a sensory seeker. He has bounced through life like Tigger since the age of three.

I am beginning to realize that sensory seeking behaviors — like jumping, fidgeting, chewing — can also be a symptom of ADHD though. ADHD, in simplest terms, is a deficit of sensory stimulation in the brain, the stimulation that keeps the brain focused. When Luke needs to remain focused and still, his bodily movements are ramped up and exaggerated, often inappropriate for the situation.

For instance, Luke has the assignment of reading two books and completing corresponding projects over the summer for school. In order to be sure he’s reading, he has been reading aloud to me. In order to be sure the books get finished in time, we are reading together at least three afternoons a week. Right away I noticed that Luke was wiggling and fidgeting like crazy the minute he began to read. It was so astonishing to me how much he had to move to read that I picked up my Blackberry and started filming it the second or third day. It isn’t a full representation because I didn’t want him to realize I was recording him, but you’ll see several movements for stimulation in this short video (I’ll warn you, this is not a quality video, again, I didn’t want him to know I was recording him).

In the video you’ll notice he is kicking his foot, picking his fingers, changing his position, pulling his legs in tight, rocking, fidgeting with another book, and more. I couldn’t figure out how he was following what he was reading (and he did loose his place quite often).When I noticed that this was going to occur every time he’s asked to sit and read, I thought about what I could do to give him sensory stimulation while reading so he didn’t have to fidget so much. First I tried the weighted neck roll his therapist made for him. He just fidgeted with it. I tried giving him deep pressure input through touch but he couldn’t be still enough for me to even try that. Chewing gum did not alleviate the situation either.This situation says two things to me: (1) no wonder he struggles so much in the classroom; and (2) his medication is not effective — the point of a stimulant is to provide this stimulation so he doesn’t have to wiggle and fidget so much.There is a large list of things you can do to help a sensory seeker, here’s one of my favorite versions for download from Asheville City Schools OT Department. Next I am going to try background music and maybe exercising a bit before sitting down to read.How do you help your fidgety child get the sensory stimulation they need to be attentive, especially during sit-down tasks like school work?

Penny Williams

Award-Winning Blogger. Freelance Writer. Author. Warrior Mom.
A self-described “veteran” parent of a son with ADHD, Penny Williams is the author of the Amazon best-seller about her parenthood in the trenches, Boy Without Instructions: Surviving the Learning Curve of Parenting a Child with ADHD. She is also the creator of the award-winning website, {a mom’s view of ADHD}, a frequent contributor on parenting a child with ADHD for ADDitude Magazine and other parenting and special needs publications, and co-founder of the annual Happy Mama Conference & Retreat, a weekend away for moms of kids with neurobehavioral disorders. Look for her second book, What to Expect When You’re Not Expecting ADHD, in late 2014. Follow Penny at http://BoyWithoutInstructions.com.

Being the Queen of Spades and Parenting a Child with ADHD

One of our family’s favorite card games is Hearts. I learned this game from my dad when I was a little girl. After every holiday dinner, generations of family members would gather around the kitchen table to play several rounds of Hearts. My dad was always the scorekeeper, and he’d carefully tally up the points for all of the players. The object of the card game was to get as few points as possible. Hearts counted as 1 penalty point. The Queen of spades counted as 13 points, and you did not want to be stuck with this card or have someone give it to you during a play. The entire game hinged on your ability to avoid hearts and the Queen of spades. There was one exception to this rule though. If you could manage to get all 13 penalty heart points and the points from the Queen of spades, you would would win the game. It takes exceptional skill to win the game this way, and if you manage to achieve the win this way you Shot the Moon. You would get zero points, and all of the other players would get 26 penalty points.

I was thinking of the game of Hearts today as I watched my son and his friend playing with their Yu-Gi-Oh!  trading cards. Although it’s a different game than the one I played as a child, I kept thinking about the Queen of spades. Why was I so consumed by her image? What made me think of my old nemesis as I watched my son and his friend playing a very different card game?

Finally, it dawned on me. My 10-year-old son and his friend were playing cards, and they both have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). My son, Connor, was diagnosed with ADHD when he was in 2nd grade at the age of 8. At the time, I felt like I had already been dealt a bad hand of cards full of penalty hearts — he developed type 1 diabetes when he was 5 years old, which is the autoimmune form of diabetes sometimes referred to as juvenile diabetes. My younger son had been diagnosed at age 2 with developmental delays and sensory processing disorder. Connor faced discrimination at school, and we received assistance from a volunteer attorney to help get him the equal rights of his peers in the educational setting. In addition, my husband and I continued to care for our own chronic conditions. If there was a penalty heart to collect, I had managed to find them all. It seemed like our hands were full of the very worst cards. Or so I thought.

I forgot about the Queen of spades. She’s a tricky card, and she often appears just when you think all of the penalty points have been played. Some experienced players of Hearts memorize which cards have been played and anticipate her arrival. I knew I had a stack of penalty hearts, but I did not anticipate getting the Queen. I thought I was safe leading with a low heart, but instead I collected even more penalty hearts and also the dreaded Queen of Spades. It was crushing to find out that Connor had yet another diagnosis to add to our already huge pile of medical issues. It felt like the end of the game – too much. I wanted to quit and lay down all my cards. Give up.

But I didn’t. I continued to play the game, and it suddenly dawned on me that having all the penalty heart points and the Queen of Spades meant one very rare thing. Something that I had never been able to accomplish before in all of my years of practice playing Hearts. I Shot the Moon and won the game!

Getting that Queen of spades seemed like the worst possible card to be dealt. Yet, she was the one thing that saved me. The added diagnosis of ADHD seemed cruel and unfair. Why me? Why couldn’t someone else get the Queen? How could I recover?

The only way out was to recognize that all things that happen in life are not black and white. There are good and bad things about every life situation. Yin and Yang.  Right and left. Upside down and right side up. Like the Queen of Spades. Take a look at her image. She’s full of contradictions. Regal, yet a bit sad and tired looking. Holding a powerful scepter in her right hand and a wilted flower in the other. A pale, unadorned face with intricate clothing in vibrant colors. Split into two halves by a solid black line. Flipped and reversed. The spade is actually a heart shape when it’s flipped upside down. She’s a woman full of intrigue. You don’t know whether to hold her in contempt or reverence. She’s complex.

I was searching for images of the Queen of spades. The best picture I could find was on Wikipedia. Imagine my surprise when I found this description underneath her photo on Wikipedia. The interpretation of the Queen of Spades is listed as follows: “The Queen of spades is considered to be a sign of intelligence. It is representative of judgment that is practical, logical, and intellectual. It represents a woman who is creative and makes her plans ahead of time.” Sound familiar? She sounds a lot like me. A version of me that I didn’t know existed until I was faced with adversity. I found my inner Queen through the diagnoses of my children. Have you found yours?

Amy Coffey

I have a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Iowa State University, and I am a certified K-6 teacher in the state of North Carolina. I spend a lot of my free time volunteering for organizations that are close to my heart. My boys are ages 8 and 10. My older son has ADHD and type 1 diabetes. I enjoy talking photographs, hiking and gardening. Those interests led to the start of my Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/Hickowreaths.

20 Things Not to Say to a Mom of an ADD/ADHD Kid

       by Word of Mom Blogger on April 02, 2014

Even before my son was diagnosed with ADD, I saw how people looked at, and treated, other children who have ADD or ADHD. I have three nephews who have ADHD. I've heard the whispers about them, and I've heard similar comments made about other ADHD children. I've seen the kids in my children's classes who struggle to conform to what is expected of them. I've seen the kids who want to play sports, but when it comes right down to it they can't do what the coach, or the instructor, is asking of them.

READ: Spotting Signs of ADHD in Toddlers

As adults, we can all look to find some empathy in ourselves for a child who is struggling in some way, even if it's a struggle we can't understand. And we can all work with our children to help them understand another child who's struggling, too.

I asked my friends who I knew had ADHD children for the types of comments they had heard, and then I decided to open it up in a post to my Facebook friends. So many people chimed in I was almost overwhelmed—and some of what I heard left my jaw hanging open.

These are real comments that were made to real mothers, who love their children:

1. I guess it's easier to just medicate than to parent!
2. Why don't you just/I would totally just beat his...
3. Wow, I've never had those issues with my child.
4. Yeah, my kid used to do that, but then I just eliminated sugar/dairy/carbs/snacks from his diet and he returned to being a perfect little angel.
5. Wow, I'm so glad my child knows better than to act that way.
6. I don't know how you do it…
7. Wow, he's quite a handful isn't he?
8. You just need to be more consistent/provide structure/get on the ball.
9. Just give me a week with him, I'll straighten him up.
10. I would never have gotten away with that when I was a kid!
11. Are you sure he isn't just faking it?
12. Have you considered alternatives to medicating?
13. Have you tried medicating him?
14. When he stayed at our house for the weekend we didn't bother with his meds, and he did great without them!
15. You do know your child has ADHD, right?
16. ADHD is nothing but an excuse for bad parenting…
17. I am glad he's not my child.
18. You would never know he wasn't normal at first…
19. Since he does well in school there's no reason to treat his ADHD.
20. Hang in there, it gets easier!

And one more that really gets me, personally: "They didn't have things like ADHD when I was a kid." I always want to say, Guess what? They actually did, they just hadn't named it, or figured out how to help kids who suffered from it then!

READ: Treating ADHD in Children

If there's a child in your life who has ADD or ADHD, or any other learning disability, it's so important to try to walk in their shoes. Think about how you feel when you are overwhelmed or overstimulated. Have you ever had just one (or two) too many cups of coffee in the morning, and find that you just cannot focus well enough to complete a task? Have you ever skipped lunch, and then around mid-afternoon your blood sugar drops and you can't remember what you were doing? Have you ever been in the most boring meeting or lecture ever, and you cannot force your mind to focus on what the lecturer is saying? I don't know for sure that this is exactly what my ADD child feels like, but if that's even one tenth of what my child, or any child, feels like...then I can empathize. Why can't we all do that with everyone we meet?

I believe, wholeheartedly, that there is no such thing as a perfect mother, or a perfect child, but we have each been given the perfect child for us to raise.

3 More Things to Read:

• Early Signs of ADHD
• Could My 4 Year-Old Really Have ADHD?
• 7 Ways to Raise a Compassionate Child

Angela Keck is a work-from-home mother of two kids. She works as an online community and social media expert and blogging is a natural connection of her two passions. She loves writing about parenting, empowering mothers, and just about anything else that sparks her fancy. You can find her all over social media, especially Twitter and Instagram, and of course on her blog WriterMomBlog.com.

Parenting with ADHD

                                                        Stephanie Lormand

Today I’m writing for Momsrising in support of National Women’s Healthcare Week. Why do women need their own healthcare week you might ask? Head shaking—because if mom gets sick who will remember that you only like your macaroni and cheese with rotini pasta? Or that the reason you refuse to wear those perfectly nice pants is a matter of pride (those buttons are hard!) rather than outright defiance.

Women. Y’all need us healthy. But what is a woman/mom to do when her illness cannot be cured? I’m a lateish 30s, stay-at-home mom with ADHD. I wasn’t diagnosed until my mid-twenties, long after college, long after I had successfully managed a department of people at a retail store and shortly after I started working in a detail-specific job research job.

ADHD gets overlooked in girls—for many reasons—but typically because they aren’t causing class disruptions.

Squeaky wheel and all that.

I hear parents talking about their frustrations with their ADHD kids all the time. The afternoon moodiness, the mealtime battles, the school work struggles.

I try to quietly speak up for the kids, to the parents that don’t understand why little Jimmy goes from calm to a weeping, raging mess around bedtime.

Because I understand what it’s like when your meds abruptly wear off.

I’m a mom, a stay-at-home mom, with ADHD. The mom runs the house, verifies sandwich crust removal, fills out permission slips, and makes sure that kids have wacky socks for spirit week.

I’ve got five fingers clinging to a leaking lifeboat plugged together with volunteer hours, housework, errands, and appointments. Three fingers desperately stretch out to grasp at the rotting rope of finding a new pediatrician, finding (and filling out) the two different sets of medical authorization forms, and scheduling an appointment with my own med manager before my prescription runs out.

And my oldest wore plain white socks on wacky sock day.

Doing the math: that leaves two fingers for actually parenting my children, being available in my relationship with their father, and anything else just for me.

I hear the internet mumbling already, “many women do all of that and work, too! What in the world?”

I know;  I get it and that only serves to feed my own inadequacies. Sure, I shrug those inadequacies off like the details of, well, anything. Most of the time; self-deprecation is a healthy yang to a person that considers hubris a compliment (yup, that’s me).

But deep down inside? Between you and me? It is frustrating beyond comprehensible belief to be stuck forever wanting to just have two days where all of your thoughts, beget your actions, beget your completed lists.

It seems impossible to Lean In without Falling Over.

Take a quick google image search for “funny ADHD sayings” and commence to giggling. It’s funny, right?

Now let’s imagine those same funny sayings, but change it to… oh, let’s use autism. Does it seem a little less amusing to liken my brain issue to something so simple as a shiny squirrel?

Hey, I make those jokes too, and my brain created a viable argument for the association between healthcare reform and waffles while I was searching for the Women with ADHD link.

The harm lies not in laughing at a seemingly unrelated set of objects, but in the typically-brained (because y’all are no longer “the norm” in society) ignoring the possibility of a logical relationship.

I can go from a missed, feeding tick on my son’s back to TCE in the groundwater of Wake Forest, NC. Ask my husband, he listened to it happen.

To all of my ADHD moms—and I know you’re out there—for every forgotten wacky sock, for every misplaced form, your kids know you as the mom that will impulsively drop everything to go on a (mis)adventure. And that’s good parenting stuff right there.

Stephanie Lormand is a SAHM of two far too intelligent sons. She loves to write and take pictures, if only to preserve a moment's worth of thought. Read more from Stephanie at scattermom.com

ADD vs ADHD: What is the difference between ADD and ADHD and do you have ADD or ADHD?

Published on Mar 8, 2016

Today David talks about ADD vs ADHD: 

What is the difference between ADD and ADHD and do you have ADD or ADHD? (if either)

Keep Moving Forward

ADHD in Women

ShamelesslyShayna

Published on Jan 6, 2015

ADHD in women is something that isn't talked about very much, so allow me to get into it a little bit!

New ADHD and Anxiety video! --- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiJt5...

Follow me on Twitter: ShamelessShayna

My website! --- www.zoeticcherryblossom.com

Disturbed Friends

ADHD and Friendships: How to Play the Social Game!

Jessica McCabe

How to ADHD

Published on Aug 9, 2016

The way ADHD brains develop can put us out of step with our childhood peers, leaving us feeling awkward, left out and with social anxiety that can follow us into adulthood. Here, I talk about my own experiences with that, and offer simple solutions.

**note -- I want to add that one of the Brains pointed out that peers and the internet aren't always the best source of information, which is true. Cultures vary, biases like racism and sexism exist, and also, well-meaning advice that might work for one person won't necessarily be appropriate for another.

My hope is that we can sift through all the information available to us and check in with ourselves as to whether or not it feels right.

In any case, personally, if I'd known what to expect on a sleepover, how to be a good "host," or what appropriate etiquette is for a first date, I think I would have felt a lot more prepared to deal with the social situations I found myself in.

****LINKS!****
http://bit.ly/2bbAhRp Podcast mentioned in the video —great info about playdates and more!
http://bit.ly/2bc9ckg Help Your Child with ADHD Make Friends
http://bit.ly/2aHW5kX Helping girls with ADHD make friends
http://bit.ly/2b5KiSE Friendship challenges for adults
http://bit.ly/2b3FKew ADHD brains mature a few years late

And this is just for fun — one of the brains pointed out that reddit has an “outside” forum that treats the outside world like it’s actually a game. It’s AMAZING: http://bit.ly/2aX7RdQ

Help me make more videos! http://patreon.com/howtoadhd

"The Show Must Be Go," "Professor Umlaut"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...

“Game Over” sound effect by spazzo_1493, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.

“Game coin” by Adam Weeden, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.

ADHD Comics

What Causes ADHD? - A Disease Called Childhood - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Practical Psychology

Published on May 30, 2016

Are you looking for the causes of ADHD, also known as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder? This video is a review of "A Disease Called Childhood: Why ADHD Became an American Epidemic" written by Dr. Marilyn Wedge. The author tells the story about how the pharmaceutical industry makes it easier and easier through different revisions of the DSM to become diagnosed with ADHD. Many children display the common symptoms, and some can be followed through to adult ADHD. Many parents put their children through rigorous ADHD tests to find out why their child is acting out, only wanting something to 'cure' their child. In this video, you will learn the answers to the following questions:

What is ADHD?
What causes ADHD?
What can I do to help someone with ADHD?
Why do some countries have higher rates of ADHD?

After reading this book, my view of the pharmaceutical company completely changed and I would recommend this book to anyone who may have been diagnosed with this mental illness or is looking to study psychiatry or child psychology. I hope you guys enjoyed the new background music, I think I'm going to keep it!

BEFORE WATCHING THIS VIDEO, PLEASE READ THIS THREAD:

https://www.reddit.com/r/psychology/c...

All of the information in this review was received by the author, who has been known for giving shady information and a biased opinion in her books.

Animated Book Review Playlist: http://bit.ly/Psychbooks

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/practical_p...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/practical_psych
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/practicalpsych