Dr G's ADHD Chat

Of all the substances of abuse, alcohol causes the most difficulties for ADHDers. Because it’s easily available, people tend to think it’s not dangerous. Given the ADHDear’s predilection for impulsive, thrill-seeking behavior and poor impulse control, they are more likely to drink earlier in life, drink more per drinking occasion, and have more difficulties stopping.

ADHDers have a propensity for substance abuse, given their impulsivity and impatience. Additionally, they are generally looking for a way to feel better, especially if they haven’t been treated with stimulant medication. Despite many parents’ concerns about stimulant medication leading to substance abuse, it’s the ADHDers that aren’t receiving stimulant medication that are more prone to substance abuse.

Many ADHD families have one spouse with and one spouse without ADHD. Frequently the spouse without ADHD—the responsible, reliable and consistent one—starts to feel like they’ve got an extra child because of the ADHD spouse’s executive function problems. The therapist or coach in this situation will frequently have to remind this spouse of the reasons the ADHD spouse was chosen—usually fun-loving, creative, good sense of humor and high energy are among the characteristics that attracted them.

Most ADHD executives and entrepreneurs utilize a coach to help them compensate for the executive functioning problems they have that interfere with their productivity. Coaching - with its goal of maximizing human performance - is ideal for this task. Coaching is also ideal for students, particularly college students. Coaching is also helpful for executives who don’t have ADHD.

In a traditional family in the past, the Mother had the bulk of the responsibilities for parenting the children. Dad was there to teach batting, throwing and fielding, plus some domestic maintenance. Nowadays, the parenting responsibilities are more shared and Dad's role is more important for both boys and girls. Children learn appropriate behavior more from observing their parents than from any lecture  or formal instruction. If Dad is the parent with ADHD, it is even more important that he model appropriate behavior.

While punishment is generally ineffective with ADHD, there are those parents who take it to extremes and want to protect their ADHDer from any negative events in his/her life. This is long term disastrous. Your ADHDer is going to have to deal with a society and an educational system that is not designed for his/her brain. Therefore succeeding is going to require the kind of persistence and resilience that comes from succeeding in spite of obstacles like ADHD. They need to know that they can succeed on their own even if it's difficult. They don't develop this mindset by being rescued from consequences by well-meaning parents.

ADHD looks like a behavior problem, but is a neurotransmitter problem that is genetic. Due to the lowered levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine, punishment has no effect on ADHD, but praise is especially effective because it increases dopamine production. ADHDers will make great behavioral changes when praised, so praise is the most powerful tool for parenting ADHD children.

Science has gone from not knowing if ADHD is real, to defining what causes it as a genetic factor that causes chronic low levels of essential neurotransmitters, mainly dopamine. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that allow brain neurons to communicate.

With so many myths about ADHD still believed by many people, there are major consequences for ADHDers. ADHD children frequently develop anxiety and depression and low self-esteem. If the parenting style is too strict, there is the chance of developing an oppositional personality stance.

We had a previous episode about myths concerning ADHD. This episode goes into even more myths and briefly discusses how, though seemingly harmless, these myths cause a lot of difficulties for ADHD families.