Kids with ADHD often skip their medications

Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder frequently don’t take their medication.  Actually, they’re on their medications only 60% of the time.  Typically, kids take it on time for the first few months and then, it tapers off.  It takes 5 to 6 years for treatment to be consistent.  There are two factors involved here:  Parents could have undiagnosed and untreated ADHD themselves.  They don’t anticipate the need for an appointment and to make it happen due to planning deficits.  Being economically disadvantaged makes it very difficult to keep up with appointments and pay for medications.  Doctors should have a follow-up system with parents if the medications are not being refilled.  Parents should be asked, outrightly, about their plans to refill the prescriptions.  If not, help them to get the medication to their children.  The kids shouldn’t have to suffer.

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The tribe is getting bigger and more complicated

Seriously, we need a chart.  What do you call your step-mother’s daughter’s boyfriend’s 15-year-old son?  Nearly one-third of American households have at least one stepparent or bonus parent, as I like to say.  Boom!  One marriage can seriously expand the tribe.  The rise in divorce and remarriage is the driver behind the 66% increase in family size.  The divorce rate has doubled for older Americans in the past 20 years.  Almost 30% of people over 50 have been married more than once.  As a result, we’re not sure about the nature of our relationships and responsibilities to each other.  What are the rules for gift giving?  As boomer bonus parents age, who takes care of them?  Bonus kids could end up with more elderly to take care of and bonus parents may have more kids to lean on.  It’s critical to determine the rules as life moves along.

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Auggie's 15 year old has been stealing from him and his mother.  Auggie and his wife have camera footage of him stealing cash and jewelry out of their bedroom.  What should they do to handle this?

Auggie's question answered (continued)

Processed foods available, Fall N Leaves cookie dough, Little Debbie ice cream / Janice's husband can't dance, but her wedding is coming up and he doesn't want to go to dance classes.  What can she do to get her husband to learn?

Jacklyn wants to clean her house.  What's the simplest, easiest, quickest way to approach throwing out and cleaning stuff?

Remembering 9/11 / Dr. Claudia's brother passed away and was exposed to agent orange in the Vietnam War.

Jim met a girl before lockdown in March, continued to see her over Zoom, now seeing her in person and is finding he's lost interest in her. Jim wants to know why.  Is this normal? 

Moving through the social injustice movement productively.

Planning outdoor activities for your kids during "school from home", so they have something to look forward to, helping their mental health. / Jason's in laws and parents are competing with each other over who gets to spend more time with his kids.  How should he handle this?

Why are we so so so tired?

Don’t bother asking someone, “How are you?” because if they tell you the truth, they’ll say they’re tired.  We don’t get enough sleep, and we sure don’t get enough deep sleep.  Deep sleep is the slow-wave stage that you need in order to feel refreshed when you wake up.  It’s not like rapid eye movement sleep where you’re dreaming and moving around a lot.  If we don’t get that deep sleep, we’ll feel even more exhausted despite getting 8 hours.  Deep sleep restores our energy, increases blood supply to our muscles, allows our cells to regenerate, strengthens our immune system, repairs tissue and bones and enhances our growth.  The metabolism of sugars during deep sleep increases and improves our short- and long-term memory and overall learning.  We not only feel stronger and more capable, we actually are.  We’re more efficient, confident and social.  We’re less moody.  Get in bed!

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Your hangover symptoms and what they mean

You get drunk and feel just awful.  You feel worse once you fully experience all that being drunk has to offer such as diarrhea.  Yeah, booze speeds up digestion.  And that puffiness?  You get so dehydrated that your body tries to retain water and you get bloated, especially your eyes.  Is that your ex you just called?  Liquor lowers your inhibitions and unleashes feelings.  You have little-to-no judgment.  You don’t monitor what you’re doing, so you make those really big and embarrassing mistakes.  I’m so drunk, why can’t I sleep?  It’s because alcohol messes with your rapid eye movement sleep.  As the booze wears off, you’re gonna wake up often and earlier.  If you drank to drunkenness, drink water, get in bed, and if you’re lucky, have someone to babysit your stupid self.  Keep drinking water the next day to flush the toxins out.  And, don’t do it again!

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Georgia's husband had her car painted for her birthday while she was away on a trip, without telling her.  He had the best intentions and thought she would love it, but Georgia hates it and doesn't know what to do or how to handle this with her husband. How does she handle this with her husband for the best possible result?

Jim's wife asks him for advice and his opinion on a subject or problem, but then always asks her parents and other friends after he's given her advice.  Jim wonders if she just doesn't care for his helpful advice, or if this is normal? How should he handle this?

Naomi's friend's personality and judgment is changing, he's going through dimentia.  She would like to still spend time with him and his wife, but he's prone to outbursts now.  How should Naomi handle this?

Karen's husband takes time off work all the time to go do things he enjoys, but she never takes time off, she's constantly doing all the house work and shuttling kids and dealing with the family.  She's now upset about this.  How does she address this with her husband?

The mental health issues resulting from the Covid pandemic and lockdown - effects on women

Amanda's son in 5th grade, doing zoom/online classes, school won't allow kids wear pajamas.  Amanda is upset and thinks son should be able to wear whatever he wants.  Is Amanda right?

Jerry is 70 and planning his funeral ahead of time.  He asked his brother and sister to speak words at his funeral if he goes before they do, but both told him no, because he has never been involved with their lives.  How should he handle this and how has this happened?

Meredith's in laws upset that she's not giving their son a middle name.  Does Meredith have the right to be upset over this?  Do the in-laws have a right to be upset?

Does your personality put you more at risk for dementia?

Some personalities are more at risk for certain diseases.  Now, research says that two personality traits can impact your chances of developing dementia.  If you have the neurotic personality style, your risk of dementia is increased by 6%.  The person with a “neurotic personality” has negative emotions such as depression, anger or anxiety and is emotionally unstable, overall.  They have a low tolerance for stress.  If you have an “openness to experience” type of personality, you have a 6% decreased chance of dementia.  This kind of personality appreciates art, emotion, adventures, is curious, imaginative and is open to a variety of experiences.  They’re more creative and aware of their feelings.  They can also be seen as unpredictable and risky.  Which of the Big 5 personality types are you?  Learn more so you can enhance your life.

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What makes dogs so special?

The relationship between dogs and humans is one of the most powerful partnerships between species in history.  We’ve lived side-by-side and have depended on each other for at least 16,000 years.  What’s responsible for the love affair between humans and dogs?  In part, it can be explained by oxytocin which cements emotional bonds.  Both dogs and humans have oxytocin.  Dogs also have a genetic mutation that drives their strong need for close and warm personal relationships.  People with this same genetic mutation are very outgoing, but have intellectual disabilities.  Dogs will choose us over food.  Consider this need for love when you’re training your dog.  Your dog wants to learn and to please you.  Give them positive reinforcement and don’t leave them alone all day.  Forget the fancy toys.  They just need to be with us.  Dogs are love.

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