“Too much freedom is spoiling him.” “He should stand still.” “She must sit upright.” These comments are frequently heard in Arab-American households. Throughout the Arab culture, there is an emphasis on the upbringing of a polite child who respects elders and obeys orders. But at the same time, there is great tolerance for children to…

Jake is a happy third grader who has ADHD. He takes a stimulant medication that helps him focus, and both his parents and his teacher have noticed an improvement in his behavior, academics, and relationship with classmates. However, the pharmacy just informed Jake’s parents that his medication is on backorder, and they are not sure…

ADAM GAZZALEY, MD, PhD, is a professor in the departments of neurology, physiology, and psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, as well as the executive director and founder of Neuroscape, an academic research center at UCSF. Gazzaley is also the cofounder and board member at Akili Interactive, a digital medicine company. We interviewed…

IF YOU ARE THE NON-ADHD PARTNER in an ADHD-affected relationship (one has it-the other doesn’t), you are likely to experience more than usual amounts of frustration and annoyance because of your ADHD partner’s behaviors. You are not alone. In fact, the relationship failure rate is twice as high for individuals with ADHD. The ADHD-affected relationship…

DO YOU AGREE TO DO THINGS and feel resentful later? Can salespeople persuade you to go over budget? Do you “go along to get along” all too often? This happens to everyone occasionally. For adults with ADHD, saying no can be a challenge. Executive function issues and nonlinear thinking make it hard to weigh pros…

FOR MANY YOUNG ADULTS, college graduation marks the start of real adult life with balancing a job, living in an apartment or group house instead of a dorm (or navigating living at home as an adult), planning out meals, paying bills, and having other responsibilities as well. For those who went straight from college to…

EXPERTS estimate that up to thirty percent of children with ADHD experience a co-occurring anxiety disorder. Unfortunately, not all highly anxious children will agree to participate in treatment, no matter how effective the treatment might be in reducing their suffering. And even when they do agree to participate, not all of these otherwise effective treatments…

This research update focuses on the impact of treatment intensity on outcomes among teens and the genetics of sex differences in the prevalence of ADHD. Does treatment intensity matter? In this study, researchers compared the effectiveness of a high-intensity versus a low-intensity skills-based summer intervention in a sample of 325 adolescents with ADHD. The study…

SLOWLY BUT SURELY, the old stigma attached to ADHD and other neurodevelopmental differences is fading into history. Although full disclosure can still be thorny, the diagnosis of ADHD should not be treated as some shameful family secret. You need not feel defensive or conflicted about your child’s need for medication. This does not mean that…

IN TODAY’S WORLD, where bad news travels the globe in seconds online, people seem more anxious than ever. For adults and children with ADHD, when worries interfere with daily living, they increase your distractedness or impulsivity and make things seem worse than they are. By changing your relationship to worry and avoiding the pitfalls of…