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August 2010

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Adult ADHD Event, Seattle, Sept. 12 Filling Fast!

August 31, 2010 in Conferences and Events, Gina Out and About | No comments

Update — The upcoming Seattle Adult ADHD workshop I announced here is already half-filled!

Do you want to jump-start your ADHD-related knowledge and success strategies in a beautiful setting with knowledgeable, compassionate experts and attendees?  This is the place to be Sunday, September 12, 11 am to 7 pm. on Mercer Island, outside Seattle.

I am so looking forward to my trip and meeting you!   These images depict the venue: Mercer Island’s beautiful new Community Center, above Lake Washington. You can sign up now at Brown Paper Tickets .   (If you order your lunch with your ticket, you can specify your choice for $14. There will be more limited optioss available for purchase that day, for $16.

If you have friends in the Seattle area who might like to know about this event, please consider forwarding this post.  Thanks! Gina

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“On With My Vent In All Its Offensive Glory”

August 28, 2010 in Denial about ADHD, Guest Essays | 33 comments

Salvador Dali's "Raphaelesque Head Exploding" (click to see larger image)

What does it feel like to have ADHD in a world that doesn’t always “meet you halfway” and can in fact feel devoid of empathy?

What does it feel like to never meet anyone’s expectations or to be constantly admonished for what you’ve done wrong but seldom praised for what you have worked so hard — five times as hard as most people — to do right?

This guest essay below (in the black type) from L. Friesen should give you an idea.

But first some background. For  many years, I’ve read the online “rants” from the partners of adults with ADHD.  A rant is a post wherein the writer releases long-simmering frustration. Typically, the most tortured rants come from those who are living with adults “in denial” — that is, those who cannot or will not see the adverse impact of their ADHD symptoms on everyone involved. Sometimes these adults with ADHD are so lost in their own symptoms they blame everyone else around them for their problems.  It is not a pretty picture.

Yet there exists a parallel phenomenon among adults with ADHD who must deal on a daily basis with people who are “in denial” about ADHD and the challenges they, these adults with ADHD, are up against. The denial sword cuts both ways.

Even though I do facilitate a face-to-face group for adults with ADHD (and receive many e-mails from readers of my book who themselves have ADHD), I’ve not been privy to rants from adults with ADHD (excluding those who flame me as being a Pharma Shill or other anti-psychiatry expletives). Perhaps the adults in our local group are simply polite or else their friends and loved ones are more enlightened about ADHD. I’m not sure, but I intend to ask at the next meeting.

Recently, I received this e-mail from L. Friesen, a woman who had read some of my posts on an ADHD discussion forum: Read the rest of this entry »

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Baltimore, DC Area: “Make Love, Not War” — Gala 9/24 with ADHD Expert Ari Tuckman

August 27, 2010 in The Basics | No comments

Got Adult ADHD?  Love someone who does (maybe even someone “in denial”)? Perhaps you are a therapist or physician who would like to learn more about Adult ADHD, especially as it can affect relationships.  If you can get yourself to  Ellicott City, MD, on Sept. 24 at 6:00 pm,  you are in luck!

Banish thoughts of sitting in folding chairs in a drab lecture hall.  Instead, picture delicious hot appetizers, cocktails and wine,  an abundant surplus of good-humored company, and an entertaining-and-informed speaker at this second annual soiree sponsored by CHADD of  Greater Baltimore. (While I’m a fan of all CHADD chapters — God bless their volunteering hearts –  I must tell you: This is an extremely fun group.)  Click here to learn more and purchase tickets through BrownPaperTickets. (And don’t procrastinate! Because the event could sell out.)

Last year, I had the good fortune to be the featured speaker  (the photo to right shows the lovely ballroom setting), and if I weren’t 3,000 miles away, you can bet I’d be in the audience this time.   This year’s speaker is psychologist Ari Tuckman, author of More Attention, Less Deficit.  The title of his talk: “Make Love, Not War: A Light-Hearted Look at Making ADHD Relationships Work.”

Not only will you gain an opportunity to

  • relax, mingle, and network with interesting people in the local ADHD community (including professionals),
  • learn about Adult ADHD strategies for individuals and couples,
  • enjoy that rare feeling of being in ballroom full of people who can relate to your challenges,
  • have a fun night out in a beautiful setting with fun people. and
  • meet and learn from Dr. Tuckman.

But you will also be supporting CHADD of Greater Baltimore‘s wide-ranging outreach. That includes local support groups and training (the chapter runs four parent support groups around the Beltway and one adult group in Linthicum, MD. Visit the link to learn more.) The chapter also contributes to national CHADD‘s Presidential Council initiatives, such as Parent to Parent and Teacher to Teacher training held online and in communities nationwide.

All this for the mere price of a co-pay with a therapist who might just waste your time when it comes to helping with ADHD.  There is no risk here. There is only a great opportunity  to learn and gain support in a beautiful setting with warm-hearted, good-humored people. — AND support these hard-working volunteers’ efforts to help others.  (It might even be tax-deductible!)

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Can A Pulitzer Prize Offset Entry to The ADHD Roller Coaster Hall of Shame? You Decide.

August 24, 2010 in ADHD and Driving, ADHD in the News | 3 comments

The New York Times Silicon Valley technology reporter Matt Richtel won a Pulitzer Prize for his series “Driving While Distracted.” Good for him. Too bad his continued glaring, and even intentional, omission of ADHD in his subsequent reporting on similar topics has earned him a spot in The ADHD Roller Coaster Hall of Shame. (Yes. I know. He’ll be really upset to learn this.)

For any good reporter who dips the tiniest toe into the research, the evidence is clear about ADHD deficits’  adverse effect on driving safety. Moreover, I have written to Richtel numerous times over the years explaining the substantial research in this area, as highlighted in my book chapter on the topic:  “Driving to Destruction.”  (Yes, many people with ADHD drive very well;  when it comes to research, though, we’re talking significant trends within a group, not individuals.) I have also invited him to sit in on our Silicon Valley Adult ADHD Salon in Palo Alto, so he could talk to his fellow  Valleyites about their experience with ADHD.  No response. None at all. Read the rest of this entry »

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SCT: A New Type of ADHD for Next DSM?

August 20, 2010 in ADHD Diagnosis Issues, Essays on ADHD, Guest Essays | 17 comments

Before my friend Jack was diagnosed with ADHD, he used to call himself “Sluggo the Wonder Boy.”  Highly educated, hard-working, and his heart set on big achievements, Jack still had problems around being, well, sluggish.

For example, when he sat in a chair, within five minutes he invariably slumped and slid  until his head was on the back of the chair and his legs were stretched out, eyes half-closed unless something thoroughly grabbed his attention. It was a miracle of physics that he didn’t slide right onto the floor. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think he was chronically sleep deprived, but he slept well and regularly.

Only after ADHD was diagnosed and he began taking stimulant medication did he start sitting in a more erect and alert manner.  Moreover, his pupils became fully visible. Finally, I could see that his eyes were a lovely shade of brown. Who knew?

Does Jack have a different type of ADHD?  A sluggish type? I can’t say. But I can offer you this guest column from Robert F. Eme, Ph.D., on the possibility of a new type of ADHD that focuses on something called Sluggish Cognitive Tempo. Read the rest of this entry »

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Cyber Command: “To Ritalin or Not to Ritalin”?

August 18, 2010 in ADHD Cyber Command, ADHD in the News, The Basics | 10 comments

I really thought we were done with stories like this, especially on the blog of a well-known medical school. Ah, but this is Stanford, in my backyard, and if you seek evaluation or treatment for ADHD there, well, good luck to you.

In many ways, I consider the Bay Area, in general, the Third World of ADHD medical treatment. Yes, there are a few excellent clinicians in private practice. And the University of California, Berkeley has as its Psychology Department Chair an internationally renown ADHD researcher, Stephen Hinshaw, Ph.D.  But the two university medical schools that serve as Silicon Valley bookends? For all their Nobel laureates, Stanford and UCSF simply can’t hold a candle to Harvard or the University of Pennsylvania when it comes to ADHD research or expertise, and this lack filters out into the community.   Still, even I was surprised today to read this post in Stanford School of Medicine’s blog, Scope: “Blogger Asks, To Ritalin or not to Ritalin?” It is in response to a blog post by an adult who was treated for ADHD as a child and is now a behavioral therapist. Read the rest of this entry »

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ADHD Cyber Command On The Watch!

August 11, 2010 in ADHD and Parenthood, ADHD Diagnosis Issues, ADHD in the News, science of ADHD, The Basics | 8 comments

There’s a cartoon floating around among my Facebook friends. One character says: “Come to bed, honey.” And the other character, at the computer keyboard, says, “I can’t. Someone is saying something wrong on the Internet, and I must correct it!”

For 10 years, I’ve resembled that character, rat-a-tat-tatting at my keyboard to counter fallacious information about ADHD on the Internet. The latest just this morning, which as both an ADHD advocate and responsible journalist, was too hard to resist.  (If you’d like to skip my preamble, scroll to the end of this post to get to a recent CNN article and my response to it.)

And yes, it’s been a  personal mission, though it hasn’t kept me up late at night and I aimed for surgical strikes, not omnipresence.   As a writer and editor with a long-held reputation for fairness and accuracy, though, I’ve found this new “medium” of the Internet by turns extremely exciting yet unsettling. Read the rest of this entry »

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ADHD in The News Roundup: July/August 2010

August 9, 2010 in ADHD in the News, science of ADHD, The Basics | No comments

Lots of ADHD in the News for July and early August. Environmental groups call for ban of pesticides linked to ADHD. Western diet linked to ADHD. Lots of links, but what are the facts?

Please remember as you read some of these reports: Association is not causation. A “risk factor” is something that is associated with a condition. Whether that factor causes the condition or results from the condition, that is often the question that remains to be answered.

For example, in the first news story below, note that there is a link between the Western diet and ADHD.  As the study’s researcher rightly points out (far down in the story):

“This is a cross-sectional study so we cannot be sure whether a poor diet leads to ADHD or whether ADHD leads to poor dietary choices and cravings,” Dr Oddy said.

NUTRITION:

Western Diet Link to ADD, Australian Study Finds

ScienceDaily, July 29

A new study from Perth’s Tlethon Institute for Child Health Research shows an association between ADHD and a “Western-style” diet in adolescents. Read the rest of this entry »

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Seattle ADHD Workshop with Don and Gina

August 5, 2010 in Conferences and Events, Finding Support, Gina Out and About, The Basics | No comments

Seattle-based ADHD specialist Don Baker, MA, LMHC

Adult ADHD workshops are few and far between on the West Coast, especially those that include a focus on relationship issues. To remedy this situation, well-known Seattle ADHD specialist Don Baker, MA, LMHC, and I have scheduled a one-day workshop.

It takes place Sunday, September 12, 11-7 pm, on beautiful Mercer Island, right above Lake Washington. And,  we’d love to see you there.  Couples. Singles (with or without ADHD). Therapists. As  Don puts it, “A full day for the couples, uncoupled, and don’t want to be coupled.” In other words, all are welcome.

We’re still working out the day’s details, but it’s sure to be illuminating and entertaining. I for one immensely enjoy these opportunities to meet with singles and couples affected by ADHD, hear your stories, and share the knowledge I’ve gained over 10 years of study and advocacy.  And I know I’ll learn a lot from Don, too, having greatly enjoyed his presentations at last year’s ADD Resources Conference and hearing such stellar reports about his Adult ADHD groups.

Capacity truly is limited, so if you’d like to join us, please sign up now at brownpapertickets.

See you on the 12th!

Don and Gina

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