How to Recover From a Friendship Breakup
You have to admit that being dumped hurts. It hurts that the friendship is over and it hurts to feel rejected. Every time you hear your phone ring or ping with a text message, you find yourself hoping that it’s your friend reaching out to make amends. Breaking up is hard to do at any…
Read MoreJoin the “Three Micro-Connections a Day” Challenge
Being “social” can be hard for those of us with ADHD, regardless of our age. We often feel like ghosts, lonely and left out. Trying to be social can feel like an epic quest as we cloak ourselves in armor and draft battle plans to defend against the “just in case” instances that might come…
Read MoreMaintaining Friendships
Social Guidance for Adults with ADHD Maintaining friendships can be a struggle for those with ADHD, but positive relationships are important. Without them, we can feel isolated and alone. With them, we feel connected and valued. How can ADHD negatively affect social relationships? Recently, the headline on a news site listed the five best ways…
Read MoreWhen Your Teen Lacks Self-Confidence
You overhear YOUR TEEN’S FRIEND TREAT HER BADLY, yet when you inquire about the friendship, she retaliates against you. You are her cheerleader, advocate, and role model, yet she rarely listens to you, even after she admits her dismay. Often, as parents, we witness our teenager being treated badly, choosing the wrong friends, or trying so…
Read MoreADHD and Social Connectedness
How is ADHD related to social connectedness among youth? What factors may protect against the consequences of low social connectedness among individuals with ADHD? This month’s research brief focuses on these two overarching questions. The first study found that youth with ADHD were more likely to have lower levels of different types of social supports…
Read MoreFriendship Problems? How Parents Can Help
“Your son is getting better at turning in his homework,” said Spencer’s fourth grade teacher. “However, the other students don’t want to sit at his table. I notice that at recess he is often alone, and I worry about him socially.” Spencer’s parents reflect on this statement. Indeed, they have noticed that invitations to birthday…
Read MoreThe Imagine Neighborhood, Where Children (and Adults) Learn About Feelings
Joyce Cooper-Kahn, PhD, interviews Scotty Iseri and Sherri Widen, PhD Imagination and pretend play have long been considered a foundation for the development of behavioral and emotional regulation—see, for example, the work of psychologists Dorothy and Jerome Singer. Both the process of imagining and the specific rehearsal of situations that are part of pretend play…
Read MoreThe Best Aphrodisiac
THE ADHD RELATIONSHIP SEX SURVEY I CREATED—and somehow got 3,000 people to take—had a section that asked about the types of treatments that respondents had tried, how much effort they had put into it, and how effective they felt the treatment has been. There has certainly been a lot of research already looking at this,…
Read MoreAttention Magazine October 2019
How Can Couples with ADHD Keep a Strong Relationship?
Carol Ann Robbins, PhD A licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD across the lifespan, Carol Ann Robbins, PhD, is the clinical director of the Annapolis ADHD Center. She also works at the Chesapeake ADHD Center of Maryland. Dr. Robbins has served as coordinator of the Anne Arundel County Maryland…
Read MoreHelp! My Child Only Has Virtual Friends
From Cajoling to Collaboration–Learn How to Help Your Child Develop True Friendships IF YOU HAVE KIDS WHO ENGAGE WITH OTHERS on any social media or gaming platform, you’ve said it before: “Those people are not real! They are not your friends. You don’t even really know who they are! Why do you spend so much…
Read MoreHow ADHD Sometimes Improves
PART TWO FOR DECADES IT WAS ASSUMED THAT THE DISORDER CURRENTLY KNOWN AS ADHD always started in early childhood and always was outgrown sometime during adolescence. We now know that ADHD sometimes doesn’t show up until adolescence or beyond. We also know that for most, ADHD continues to cause impairments and sometimes gets worse during adolescence…
Read More