This session will provide an update on the development of the US Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of ADHD in Adulthood. Overseen by APSARD and a Steering Committee chaired by Thomas Spencer, MD, and Frances Levin, MD, three subcommittees have been working for approximately the past two years on the development of guidelines for 1) Screening and Diagnosis; 2) Medication and other Medical Treatments; and 3) Psychosocial and Other Non-Medical Interventions. A Delphi process involving successive rounds of writing, discussion, and voting followed by Steering Committee review (Stage 1), is being followed by two rounds of external review that are in progress. CHADD is partnering with APSARD as the guidelines development moves through these stages to include the perspectives of individuals with lived experience and to make plans for dissemination. This session will provide an update on the status of, and procedures for, external review and incorporation of feedback, and anticipated timing of release.

They’re marketed as a natural alternative to prescription drugs and are popular on social media, but do they work?

Key points: Recent CDC data show that 6% of U.S. adults qualified for an ADHD diagnosis in the previous year. Data published in both 2005 and 2024 place adult ADHD as the #2 adult psychiatric diagnosis in the U.S. Despite these rates of adult ADHD, few clinicians are trained in its assessment or treatment. We need more adult ADHD training in clinical psychiatry, clinical psychology, and related programs.

Summary: Researchers have identified a surprising brain pattern that may help explain why people with ADHD often struggle to stay focused. Even while awake, their brains can slip into brief episodes of “sleep-like” activity during demanding tasks. These moments are linked to more mistakes, slower reaction times, and lapses in attention.

The clock is ticking, and many patients don’t yet realize there could be trouble getting their meds.

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder often struggle to automatically track where other people are looking. A recent study published in the Journal of Attention Disorders revealed that this difficulty stems from challenges in processing whole faces, rather than an inability to notice simple eye movements. These results help explain the social difficulties sometimes experienced by children with the disorder and point toward potential support strategies in classrooms.

Key point: Mothers of children with ADHD experienced greater widespread pain, fatigue, and psychiatric symptom burden.

Scientists have shed light on some reasons why young people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – known as ADHD – are prone to anxiety and depression.

[Excerpt] Because ADHD involves impulsivity and often occurs alongside emotional difficulties, researchers have suspected a link between ADHD and self-injury. However, previous studies have tended to be small, unrepresentative, and inconsistent, making it hard to draw clear conclusions.

Young adults with ADHD who are less confident in social situations may be more likely to use alcohol as a coping mechanism, which puts them at higher risk for problem drinking. This was one of the findings of a study exploring the role of social functioning in drinking behaviors of young adults with ADHD. The findings, published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, suggest that helping youth with ADHD learn healthy coping skills may prevent them from developing problems with alcohol use.

Key point: Suicidal behavior risk peaked in the 60 days before starting ADHD medications and declined significantly after medications were initiated.

For decades, one of the greatest challenges to treating neurological disorders like attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is that its symptoms often resemble those of several other conditions. Overlapping disorders are extremely common when it comes to neurological diagnoses.

Hyperarousal plays an important role in mental disorders. It influences the severity of insomnia, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and ADHD. Yet it is striking that researchers do not always mean exactly the same thing when they use the term "hyperarousal." Researchers at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience therefore investigated whether different forms of hyperarousal exist.