2148237_low CROP

June 2010

You are currently browsing the monthly archive for June 2010.

School Daze, School Daze, Report Cards and All

June 28, 2010 in ADHD Diagnosis Issues, The Basics | 18 comments

Do you have your grade-school report cards handy?  These artifacts can be useful when it comes to being evaluated for Adult ADHD because the diagnosis requires evidence of symptoms in childhood. Case in point: the childhood reports (below)  for San Diego-based psychotherapist and ADHD specialist Lew Mills, who has graciously agreed to share them here.

Such records aren’t mandatory, however, so when I hear from readers whose physicians demand such, I suspect these clinicians simply don’t want to (or don’t know how to) conduct a proper evaluation. In other words, it might be a stalling tactic. A wearing-you-down obstacle to diagnosis. Read the rest of this entry »

Share|

Tags: , , ,

“Everything You Want Releases Dopamine…”

June 24, 2010 in ADHD medication, Brain Storming, Questions about Adult ADHD, The Basics | 3 comments

“….And you want it because it releases dopamine,” explains the short video below.

“Things are important and valuable only if they activate your dopamine…..

“Being unfocused and easily distracted means you’re low on dopamine.”

Bottom line: If you don’t have “enough” dopamine, or your dopamine is activated only by over-the-top pleasures (or anticipation of pleasures)? Caution ahead.

Share|

Where to Find “Is It You, Me, or Adult A.D.D.?”

June 21, 2010 in The Basics, View from the Roller Coaster, Welcome | 24 comments

Is It You, Me, or Adult A.D.D.? is available in three formats:

  1. paperback
  2. e-book (Kindle and Nook)
  3. audio (12 audio CDs, 2Mp3 CDs, or audio download)

1. Paperback – Available at bookstores, including :

2. Digital book:

 

3. Audio book:

Library patrons can search this library catalog to find the closest library that carries Is It You, Me, or Adult A.D.D.? (Just enter your ZIP code.) If your library doesn’t carry the book yet, please request that they order it. You’ll also be helping others who are on a tight budget.

  1. Here’s a handy flyer that contains all the information your  librarian will need, including Library Journal’s stamp of approval (“…a unique compendium of information on the topic for lay readers.”)
  2. Print it out or just send in the URL via your library’s online request form.

Thank you!

Share|

ADHD, Geeks, Sleep, and “The Quantified Self”

June 18, 2010 in ADHD and Health, science of ADHD | 10 comments

Know some geeks who can’t sleep?  Please share this post with them. It might help.

Our monthly Adult ADHD Salon in Palo Alto ran late Wednesday night, as usual. (Call me a nerd, but this group is the social highlight of my month; we have fascinating conversations and it’s always great to cheer progress reports.)  So, I was a little fuzzy-headed the next morning when I read this story in our local paper: “The Quantified Self: Taking quantum leap in self-examination.”

It caught my attention, because one immense challenge with ADHD is self-monitoring. This can be a real liability when you are trying to figure out how you landed in certain circumstances, how you come across to others,  or even what you ate for breakfast and if you’re following through on a routine you’ve set for yourself.

Leave it to Silicon Valley’s geeks then (including the ones who might have ADHD but don’t know it) to come up with an entire self-monitoring movement where, as the story explains: Read the rest of this entry »

Share|

Tags: , , , , ,

ADHD, Alzheimer’s, and the “Paisa Mutation”

June 15, 2010 in ADHD in the News, Brain Storming, science of ADHD | 8 comments

For generations, the “foolishness” has suddenly struck middle-age members of an extended family in Colombia’s Antioquia region.  It starts with mild forgetfulness but soon reduces its victims to infantile incapacitation.

People here have long attributed La Bobera to a host of superstitions: a mythic priest’s revenge or touching a mysterious tree. Scientists now know it is a genetic mutation, concentrated by the intermarriage that’s not unusual in this rather isolated area. The malady is a type of early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease.

It’s called the “Paisa Mutation” because this clan of 5,000 are called Paisas. They are descended primarily from a group of 16th Century Spanish immigrants. By studying this mutation, researchers hope to learn more about other forms of Alzheimer’s and its treatment. Pam Belluck shares the dramatic details on the disease and its discovery, along with hopes for treatment, in a recent story in The New York Times.

This isn’t the first time genetic discovery has taken place in the Paisa population. In fact, researchers studying this unique group of people have learned much about ADHD from them, too. For example, a genetic link between ADHD and conduct disorder/oppositional defiance disorder was discovered by studying selected Paisa families (multi-generational). Read the rest of this entry »

Share|

Tags: , , , ,