Given the ADHD impulsivity and the difficulties with employment, careers and relationships over 40 to 50 years, it is not surprising that middle-aged alcoholics with ADHD are common. In this episode I will explain some of the difficulties this group of ADHDers have including disillusionment that they haven’t achieved more in life.

ADHD teens are more impulsive and adventure seeking than their peers. They are also more prone to experiment with different substances. The most common of these is alcohol. It is easy to acquire because it’s available everywhere including the home. Treatment for alcohol in teenagers is a bit specialized and even more specialized for ADHD teens with alcohol problems. I’ll cover some of the most effective treatments and some of the approaches parents should take.

ADHDers have a higher rate of alcoholism than neurotypicals. Why should this be true? I’ll cover some of the reasons and some speculations about why this is so. I’ll also discuss some of the treatments available.

Does having ADHD make one more prone to alcohol abuse? Is the rate of abuse higher for ADHDers than neurotypicals? I’ll cover these issues and more. I used to do drug and alcohol evaluations, so I have worked with substance abuse of all kinds. Alcohol of all the substances of abuse is the one that’s hardest to avoid. It is literally available everywhere and is embedded in many people’s culture and religion. I’ll cover these issues and more that make alcohol a major problem for ADHDers.

We have covered the significant differences between females and males in the last 4 episodes. In this episode I will summarize what the research has shown about females and ADHD.

Another difference in females with ADHD is that masking is more prevalent. Masking is just a different way of saying that the ADHDer is trying to act like she doesn’t have ADHD. This involves denying any symptoms of ADHD or minimizing those she can’t deny.

Female emotional dysregulation is different from male emotional dysregulation. Males typically have stronger reactions and are more likely to react with anger. Female emotional dysregulation is usually less extreme and less easy to observe and identify. This is likely at least partially the reason that females are much less likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than males. I’ll present on the different issues regarding female emotional dysregulation and its impact on diagnosis and treatment.

As If having ADHD wasn’t problem enough, Women have to go through further difficulties secondary to their menstrual cycles. The fluctuations in estrogen during the menstrual cycle cause further difficulties with the regulation of dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with ADHD. I’ll discuss this issue further in this podcast.

Like many areas of medicine most of the research has been done on men. In fact for some time it was thought that women didn’t have ADHD. This was both because overall research on ADHD was in its preliminary stages and it was not known that there were multiple ADHD subtypes.When it was recognized that the more recognizable hyperactive type was not the only type and that there was a much quieter and harder to recognize ADHD, inattentive type. This is the type of ADHD most commonly seen in females. With improved evaluation procedures more and more females were being diagnosed with ADHD. It is likely that the actual incidence is essentially the same for both males and females. I’ll discuss what is known about females and ADHD in the next few episodes.

After spending 6 hours in an environment that was not designed for the way their brain works, your ADHDer comes crashing through your front door. What mood will your ADHDer present you with. How much homework do they have? Do they have everything they need to complete said homework. Did they have an okay day? Any behavior problems? This is a potentially dangerous time for you as a parent. Your major protection is to have established routines for what homework is done. Where it’s done. What about snacks? I’ll cover some of the major points in this episode.