ADHD in the News 2022-04-07

Why ADHD is often overlooked among children in communities of color

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — During Minority Health Month this April, community health leaders are raising awareness about ADHD in communities of color, which is often misdiagnosed or overlooked altogether. Rhashidah Perry-Jones, founding coordinator of the Philadelphia chapter of CHAAD, or Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, said there’s a lower rate of detection and treatment for children in communities of color, whether due to cultural stigmas of mental health or a general mistrust in the health care system.



Smoking during pregnancy may not cause ADHD in children after all

A new systematic review and meta-analysis published in the scientific journal Addiction and led by University of Bristol researchers shows that maternal prenatal smoking is associated with offspring attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) but is unlikely to be the cause of it.



The Gift of ADHD: Neurodivergence and the benefits of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

KEY POINTS: ADHD can be a challenging diagnosis and oftentimes medication is used to manage symptoms. Paradoxically, there are many benefits to ADHD symptomatology that are oftentimes overlooked. Several non-medication alternatives can also be effective in managing symptoms.



The One Word You Must Remove From Your Vocabulary When Parenting Kids With ADHD

What would it be like to remove the word "failure" from any description of your parenting and replace it with "efforting"? Failure is generally defined as a lack of success. There is a finality associated with the word that doesn’t really apply to the long-haul process of parenting. Parenting is a journey marked by highs and lows, joy and frustration, closeness and disconnection. Parenting a child or teen with ADHD, learning differences, anxiety, depression, addiction or other issues means redefining success. What you see on social media, television, or films may not make sense for your family and your particular situation.



Study reveals a genetic overlap between childhood and adult mental health disorders

Hereditary factors are partly responsible for childhood anxiety and depression that persists into adulthood, according to University of Queensland researchers. In the largest study of its kind in the world, the genetics of 64,641 children, aged between 3 and 18 years, were analyzed using longitudinal data from the Early Genetics and Lifeforce Epidemiology consortium.



Why Parents May Feel Obligated to Medicate Children for ADHD: Medicating kids used to be a tough sell. What changed?

KEY POINTS: The widespread medication of children has been criticized as an improper form of social control and intolerance of children's differences. ADHD and medications are no longer conceived in terms of bad behaviors or control but in relation to self and deficient self-management. The new conception did not arise from any new discovery but from a changed understanding of what it is to be “normal.” When the promise of medication for children is to realize a better, more successful version of themselves, it is hard for parents to argue.



ADHD and Anger: Is There a Connection?

If you live with ADHD, you may experience more intense emotions such as anger. But there are strategies that can help you cope with this feeling.



Treating Adult ADHD: Redefining Limitations and Recovering the Lost Self

While reflecting on an extensive career of treating adult ADHD, David W. Goodman, MD, recalls a patient experience wherein treatment with a long-acting stimulant medication not only produced an astonishing short-term resolution but also opened up entire horizons for his patient. Dr Goodman explains that this patient success story is a prototypical experience in adult ADHD. With the help of psychotherapy, a patient will uncover a truer self, one long eclipsed by the pathologic entity of ADHD.



5 More Answers to Common Questions About Procrastination: Do people with ADHD need a specialized approach?

This post is the second of two posts on answers to the questions I have been asked most frequently over the past almost 40 years of studying the causes and consequences of chronic procrastination.