Emotion Regulation in Teens with ADHD
Everyone EXPERIENCES A MIXTURE of positive and negative emotions daily. For some people, these emotions—particularly negative emotions like anger, frustration, sadness, and guilt—can be overwhelming. Emotion regulation is a term generally used to describe a person’s ability to manage and respond to an emotional experience in an adaptive way. Emotion regulation is essential for social and…
Read MoreAre You a Hotline Hothead?
How to Call Customer Service You have a customer service issue that you need to resolve by calling the company’s 800 number. This has been difficult for you in the past, as you struggle to regulate your emotions. Your friends and family may refer to you as “reactive” or possibly even a “hothead.” You are…
Read MoreBeyond Fight, Flight, or Freeze—the Fib
When did you first tell a lie? You were likely very young (maybe two or three years old), afraid or ashamed of a situation, and used language to protect yourself. What if some fibbing is not a character flaw? What if fibs are a self-preservation response, an outcome of challenges with inhibition, emotional regulation, working…
Read MoreWhy Can’t I Do This? How Emotional Intelligence and Self-Regulation Pay Off for Adults with ADHD
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME you experienced a set of emotions so intense that they overtook your mind, resulting in a lack of normal functioning? Perhaps you blanked in a job interview, shut down during an exam, or spent days wiped out after the emotional explosion with your kids or your spouse. Perhaps it’s been…
Read MoreHow Do Prenatal Factors Impact ADHD?
This research update focuses on one overarching question: How do prenatal factors impact ADHD? The first study we discuss examined the impact of birthweight on ADHD in a meta-analysis. The second study examined the impact of maternal stress and psychosocial adversity on ADHD in a prospective cohort study. Birth weight and ADHD The first study…
Read MoreFrenzied, Frazzled, and Overwhelmed: The Interaction of Hormones and ADHD in Women in Midlife
MANY WOMEN STRUGGLE at midlife with undiagnosed and untreated ADHD complicated by hormonal changes, which often span two decades. They typically report feeling overwhelmed, inadequate, misunderstood, and distressed at a time in their lives when they often have the greatest demands on their time and energy. Their problems can be exacerbated by the denial of…
Read MoreStay Cool Through the Yule
PARTIES! RELATIVES! PRESENTS! NO SCHOOL! WEATHER CHANGES! NEW PLANS! VISITORS! TRADITIONS! SOCIAL GATHERINGS! REMEMBER LAST HOLIDAY SEASON, when you vowed Never again!? When the pressure of the season and so many things to do really got to you? Well, those days are back… the holidays are upon us. Most families have begun to feel the…
Read MoreThe ReThinkStress Program
NO DOUBT, STRESS CAN HAVE NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES on our health, our productivity, and our emotional well-being. But, according to Stanford psychologist Alia Crum, PhD, research also shows that stress can potentially have positive effects in these areas as well—if, that is, we can change our mindset about the very nature of stress. Our stress mindset,…
Read MoreCreate Calm: It Really Matters!
MANY ASPECTS OF ADHD can affect behavior and performance, and the traits will affect each child differently. Always remember what it must feel like for these children every day—think of the chaos in their brains. I like the image of different colors of paint swirling together—beautiful, but chaotic at the same time. Our ability to…
Read MoreADHD and Family Stress
THIS RESEARCH UPDATE focuses on the impact of ADHD on parenting and family stress. The reviewed studies also examined whether reductions in parenting stress follow ADHD treatment. How are early ADHD symptoms associated with family stress? Prior studies have documented higher levels of stress among parents and families of children with ADHD. This study sought…
Read MoreProject FOCUS: Helping Military Family Members Grow Stronger
UCLA’s PROJECT FOCUS (Families OverComing Under Stress) is a trauma-informed, skills-based prevention model designed to build upon the resilient qualities of military family members, many of whom endure enormous stress as a result of their service to our country. Considering the added stresses associated with attention or learning challenges for children growing up in military…
Read MoreSpontaneous or Impulsive? How to Know, What to Do
MOST OF US CRINGE WHEN WE HEAR THE WORD IMPULSIVITY, as it brings to mind what our impulsive decisions or behaviors have resulted in. Impulsivity can cause accidents, inefficiency, poor performance reviews at work, and adversely affect treasured relationships. What is impulsivity and how does it differ from spontaneity? Most of us like being spontaneous,…
Read More