Dr G's ADHD Chat

Sometimes it seems like life is going to be difficult for ADHDers, no matter Wharton we, as parents do. But ADHDers are not brain damaged or stupid or crazy. They are however,different and have different brains from their eurotypical friends. It’s importrent to recognize that ADHDers have a lot of talents and abilities and they tend to be more successful if they are in situations in which they can use these talents and abilities.

One of the biggest areas of conflict in the treatment of ADHD is the use of medications.Research indicates that the fastest, most efficient mode of treatment is medication. Parents are somewhat reluctant to pursue this course of treatment fearing that medication is a gateway drug. Again, the research suggests that ADHDers who are not in medication treatment are more likely to abuse drugs than those who are.

I named my book Strategic Parenting because being an ADHD parent requires that you be intentional and have a strategic focus, or you will get surprised and buried by all the things that you didn’t foresee and plan for. Parenting a neurotypical child is easier because you can take a tactical focus, that is, you can wait until a situation occurs before you have to react.

Raising an ADHD child can be stressful in a variety of ways. School is frequently an extremely emotional experience as your child is put in an environment that was not designed for his type of mind.He also has general difficulties dealing with frustration leading to temper tantrums. There are also problems caused by his/her difficulties with random memory. Parents wil tend to flock to either of two extremes—the extremely strict or the extremely lax.

The role of the ADHD parent is way more complicated than that of the parent of a neurotypical child. In addition to the developmental issues of a neurotypical child, you have the issues caused by the problems created by a system that was not designed for an ADHD brain. In a system that values being able to sit quietly, pay attention for extended periods and wait for instructions, the ADHD brain is uniquely unsuited for this type of environment. The ADHD parent has to be ready to deal with the frustration, anger and sadness this incompatibility causes.

The holidays- Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah- can destroy the routines that maintain at least a partial equilibrium and balance in ADHD homes. The changes in diet, guests or being the guests, the disrupted sleep schedules and the travel can all disrupt routines. It is most important to keep all the routines as close to normal as possible. Sleep is absolutely the most important routine to maintain. This is followed closely by exercise which helps increase dopamine levels. It also tends to make it less likely that the holidays will completely taken up by computer games. Next is trying to keep sugar consumption down.

Kin the last episode, we covered dealing with temper tantrums and early identification. Now we’ll discuss prevention. First you have to remember that we’re dealing with a neurological condition thought to be caused by low dopamine and norepinephrine. In this situation your ADHDer is uncomfortable and edgy and likely to tantrum. There are however, things you can do to make a full-blown tantrum less likely.

Of all the symptoms and behaviors that ADHD children display, the one that concerns most parents the most is the temper tantrum. Indeed when my ADHDers was young his temper tantrums were so extreme that I, as a junior clinical psychologist thought I was seeing early signs of bipolar disorder. Turns out that was not the case and my young man eventually grew out of them. Additionally I got better at predicting them and taking preventative action. In this episode we’ll discuss signs and symptoms of impel doing temper tantrums and early intervention.

ADHD parents tend to worry about everything else but themselves. They worry about their son’s tempered tantrums, their daughter’s bad grades, why the teachers don’t seem to understand ADHD and why none of them are following their child’s 504 plan, but they rarely think about the effect all this worry and stress is having on their health. In this show, Dr G will discuss the basics of stress management for ADHD parents.

ADHD parents and ADHDers know the struggle for growth, respect and advancement is sometimes long and hard. It is necessary for both parents and ADHDers to be resilient and patient, knowing that it is worth the effort, the energy and the emotional challenge to get to a successful result. One can’t back off or back down.