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She Got ADHD: A Black Millennial’s Journey to Self-Acceptance
The tension was thick between my supervisor and I. She’d rightfully run out of verbal warnings and patience with me. I was in month six of my first real “big girl” job in my field of study as a Communications Specialist, and my ADHD was the star of the show.
When Your Children Don't Believe They Can Succeed in School
Has your child lost confidence in his or her ability to succeed in school, sports, friendships, or other skills? You can help your children understand why, and how, they can enhance their brains to reach their highest goals and ignite positive expectations to reboot their efforts to achieve success.
Can Adults With ADHD Really Change?
“I am who I am” and “I can’t change” are more about fear than reality, and don’t reflect the science around ADHD.
Recently, a non-ADHD partner wrote me in despair, saying “my ADHD partner says he’s got a mental illness and he can’t change…how can we possibly improve our relationship?” Her despair in the face of her partner’s unwillingness to try ‘ADHD –friendly’ tactics for improving his side of their relationship was palpable. ‘Take it or leave it’ is a disastrous approach to a relationship when either of you is miserable and struggling.
A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that younger children in their class were more likely to be diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than their older peers. In states that required kindergarteners to be 5 years old by a September 1 cut-off date, children who recently turned 5 in August were more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than their September-born peers, who were nearly a year older. This finding is concerning, but not surprising.
Asking the Hard Questions about ADHD
In my previous blog post, I discussed the New England Journal of Medicine study which found that younger children in their class were more likely to be diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than their older peers. This study demonstrated that we need to rethink the threshold we use to decide when kids are put on medication. I expressed that before pursuing medication, we need to explore other avenues, including a reduction of over-stimulation in the classroom and changing criteria on when children should start school.
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder is a well-known affliction that is characterized by difficulties in impulse control, hyperactivity, and a reduced ability to concentrate for extended periods of time. While it is typically considered to be an issue afflicting children and young adults, a growing body of research has revealed that ADHD does not disappear when one reaches adulthood. It is now estimated that symptoms persist into adulthood for as many as 60 percent of those who are diagnosed with the disorder during childhood.
How ADHD Adults Cope Before Treatment
“[W]hat I always intuitively did, from early on, was to avoid any kind of dependence/commitment…any kind of commitment, even a club membership, where you need to attend meetings five times a year, whatever, even that would have felt restricting."
The above statement is how one adult in a recently published study described attempts to cope with symptoms of undiagnosed ADHD. Another subject described “surrounding myself always with lots of people” as “it never attracted attention when I behaved specially obnoxiously.”
Awareness about and diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in minority populations in the United States has increased over the past decade. The higher numbers diagnosed likely are the result of more widespread attention to signs, symptoms, and diagnosis.
As a result, ADHD has been increasingly recognized among African-Americans.