ADHD Roller Coaster: "Is It You, Me, or Adult A.D.D.?"
News and Essays about Adult ADHD, with author Gina Pera
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A quick note to let you know that my book, Is It You, Me, or Adult A.D.D.?, is available as a download from Amazon.com for 
Kindle devices and Kindle applications for iPads, iPhones, PCs, and so forth. Just click on the book title above to go directly to the product page.
Please tell your friends in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom that the Kindle is available on Amazon.com in those countries. (This is the English version.)
Thank you for spreading the word.
Tags: Adult ADHD, Adult ADHD books, France, Germany, Italy, Kindle, Spain, UK
Who knew that wearing my new t-shirt to the farmer’s market would cause such a fuss? Instead of my usual sharing of brief assessments about sugar-snap peas or shitake mushrooms with other shoppers, I was drawn into a “debate” about ADHD.
Sure, I’m accustomed to ranting ADHD-denyers on the rough-and-tumble Internet, but not while strolling amid the produce vendors on a sunny Saturday morning. Still, it was good to know that my verbal “gaslight-proof” skills match my written ones.
First, what does “gaslight” mean? It harkens to the 1944 film Gaslight, wherein Charles Boyer’s character cravenly manipulates Ingrid Bergman’s character to believe that she is insane. In psychological terms, “gaslighters” say and do things to make their victims question their perceptions, their knowledge, and their beliefs – all in an attempt to fulfill the gaslighter’s egocentric needs (financial gain, need to control others or to force others to conform to the gaslighter’s beliefs and perceptions, etc.).
Second, this wasn’t just any t-shirt. It was a strikingly good-looking t-shirt created for a Stride for ADHD Pride. My friend Natalie Knochenhauer, founder of the Philadelphia non-profit ADHD Aware, does all such things with style and substance. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: ADHD and meditation, ADHD Aware, ADHD medications, David Lynch Foundation, denial of ADHD, gaslight, gaslighting, Natalie Knochenhauer
Since I posted this blog entry on recent research from neuroscientist Nora Volkow and colleagues, more detailed stories interpreting the study’s findings have become available. In particular, this report from MedPage today targets clinicians. That site also includes an audio interview with Dr. Volkow, below (despite a strong Spanish accent, Dr. Volkow does a good job of making complex concepts understandable to the layperson, in my opinion).
Tags: AD/HD, dopamine research, neurotransmitters, Nora Volkow, science of ADHD
Okay, the headlines this week may not come as news to us. But, following the recent ADHD Hall of Shame entry, science-based reportage comes as welcome relief. The following news sources, among others, report the latest study by NIDA Director Nora Volkow and colleagues showing that, well, ADHD is real. Read all about it.
Here’s a sampling of the breaking headlines, followed by the press release from the researcher:
Tags: AD/HD, ADHD and obesity, ADHD is Real, ADHD medications and drug abuse, brain chemicals, brain's reward system, dopamine, dopamine receptors, dopamine reward pathway, dopamine transporters, Gina Pera, motivation, Nora Volkow, PET scans
High intelligence does not protect you from the effects of ADHD, a recent study indicates. Unfortunately, too many people mistakenly assume that high IQ rules out ADHD entirely.
Psychologist Thomas E. Brown, a prominent ADHD expert and assistant professor at the Yale School of Medicine, has previously conducted several studies to learn more about high IQ individuals with ADHD. The latest effort is now available from the online edition of the Journal of Attention Disorders (for a fee to non-subscribers) and will be published in the September print edition.
The scoop, according to the press release from the Yale University Office of Public Affairs: Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Gina Pera, intelligence and ADHD, IQ and ADHD, Journal of Attention Disorders, Thomas E. Brown, too smart to have ADHD?, Yale University
Is ADHD a modern “invention,” created by computers, fast food, or even…Big Pharma? Recorded history says
no. In fact, a recently discovered medical text from 1798 describes, in some detail, disorders of attention, including the observation that some are likely hereditary.
Physician Alexander Crichton (pictured right, at his Cambridge University graduation) provided the first known medical description of disorders of attention in his three-volume medical textbook. Moreover, “he certainly deserves credit for being the first to describe adults with attention disorders,” says ADHD expert Russell Barkley, Ph.D., writing a commentary about Crichton’s work and its modern relevancies in the February issue of The ADHD Report, a newsletter that follows research and trends in the field of attention disorders.
Until the discovery of Crichton’s three-volume textbook (by the two Washington University researchers who wrote a paper introducing it), most medical historians acknowledged physician George Still as providing the first description of symptoms of what we today call ADHD, in children.
Specifically, in his lectures before the Royal Society of Medicine and later writing for the medical journal Lancet in 1902, Still Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Alexander Crichton, George Still, History of ADHD, Russell Barkley
Myths about ADHD are persistent and pervasive. That’s why I created a nonsense-busting chapter in the book called “But I Heard That…: More Background for the Unconvinced.”
Myth #1 is excerpted here, and now here’s #2:
“ADHD is just an excuse for irresponsibility.”
Psychologist and ADHD expert J. Russell Ramsay has heard that line so many times he’s named it one of his top three myths about ADHD (the other two follow in future myth-munching posts).
As the associate director at the University of Pennsylvania’s Adult ADHD Treatment and Research Program, he’s noticed that clients often expend much-higher-than-average time and effort trying to meet their responsibilities—typically “twice the effort for half the result.” Instead of seeking an easy way out, he argues, “They want to gain a measure of predictable cause-and-effect in their lives.” Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: ADHD is an excuse, ADHD Myths
The best part of having a blog is being able to share with you wonderful essays written by other people. After all, my journalistic background is as an editor — the person who assembles and polishes the entire magazine or newspaper. Recognizing talent is what I do best!
My friend Lew Mills, PhD, MFT is a San Diego-based psychotherapist with remarkably thoughtful perspectives on ADHD. Having it himself and having children with ADHD, Lew knows of what he speaks. I’ve always enjoyed his writing, and I’m pleased that he’s allowed me to share this one — about why being “special” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
What is the most universal appeal in commercial advertising?
OK, yes, sex. Sure, I’d like to believe that the model in the beer ad is really flirting specifically with me. But really, our culture’s most beckoning appeal is to be “different.” The Apple Computer campaign, advocating that you “think different”, exploits it directly. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: ADHD gifts, being special, Lew Mills
A physician with the World Anti-Doping Agency contends that ADD (as he calls it) is being overdiagnosed in major-league baseball. More importantly, it is over treated with medication. On what does he base this? The fact that he has rarely diagnosed the condition throughout his career.
Fail to see the logic? Me, too.
Just when I think this blog can move on to topics other than ADHD medical treatment, another flagrant show of ADHD ignorance makes the headlines. Being a big believer in speaking truth to misperception, I just can’t let it pass.
Besides, it’s pretty good timing. You know those physicians-in-denial-about-ADHD that Dr. Charles Parker wrote about last time? This physician serves as a good example. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: ADHD and professional athletics, anti-doping, baseball, Scott Eyre
Speaking of ADHD and denial (as we were, with the previous post), Dr. Charles Parker wrote to say that treating physicians often compound the problem. I’ve personally witnessed this more times than I can count: An adult with ADHD is perfectly willing, even eager, to seek medical treatment, only to become so beset with side effects that medication is foresworn forever. This is a preventable tragedy. Dr. Parker explains:
Denial and misrepresentation of ADHD difficulties remains pervasive in spite of remarkable new science. One of the most important reasons, other than some simply not wanting to have a problem or take medications, is the fact that the basic new science is often overlooked. Most importantly, the psychiatric labels have not kept up with functional brain science. The current labels are too superficial, too descriptive, and lack functional biological significance.
The unhappy result of these circumstances: medical targets are imprecise, miss significant symptom objectives, and often are simply used capriciously. If docs don’t have a precise target, it’s almost impossible to hit the mark. Missing the mark directly correlates with encouraging denial. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: ADHD denial, Dr. Charles Parker, poor treatment outcomes
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