October 2024

ADHD

• ADHD Explained
• The ADHD Brain 🧠
• Nutrition & ADHD
• Herbal Support For ADHD

ADHD Explained

ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. Lately, people have resisted the classification of ADHD as a disorder and prefer labeling the condition as neurodivergent, a condition that is not necessarily a problem but rather brain differences affecting how the brain works, including unique strengths and challenges from people whose brains don’t have those differences.

Self-regulation is the capacity to optimize your behavior, thinking, attention, and emotional experience and expression. It doesn’t necessarily mean inhibiting behaviors or emotions; in some cases, it means promoting them or fine-tuning the response to the situation. 

People with ADHD struggle to fine-tune their responses. They either respond too fast or too slow, too weakly or much more strongly than the circumstances require. 

Self-regulation involves multiple brain processes. When something is wrong with even one of these processes, it might look like ADHD. 

Poor self-regulating – cognition

Poor self-regulation of cognition means that the person with ADHD has a hard time controlling which thoughts they focus on, making them easily distracted.

People with ADHD have a low capacity for attention and low impulse control; they are easily distracted. Nevertheless, they can be hyperfocused when engaging in activities that they find interesting or exciting. 

Time & Space management 

People with ADHD are chronically late to meetings and often procrastinate when given an assignment. They underestimate the time they will need to complete tasks. However, they can plan and complete tasks on time when given a deadline and if the consequences of not completing them are severe enough. 

Another aspect of completing an assignment that people with ADHD struggle with is breaking the assignment into small steps and following these steps. 

Some people with ADHD have challenges organizing their belongings in space. They then have difficulty finding the staff they need to complete tasks or functions in their daily lives. 

Working memory disruption 

People with ADHD often have an excellent memory for past or upcoming events, but their working memory is disrupted. Think of working memory as a temporary sticky note in the brain. It can hold a limited amount of new information so the brain can work with it briefly and connect it with other information. For people with ADHD, the capacity of their working memory is very limited. 

Poor self-regulated behavior or action

Poor self-regulated behavior means an inability to optimize the level of reaction to the condition at hand. The reaction might be too strong and fast or slow and sluggish. 

People with ADHD are often described as impulsive. It means reacting to immediate triggers without taking the time to reflect or consider the consequences of their actions for their long-term goals. 

People with ADHD tend to blurt out things they shouldn’t say or act in impulsive ways, but they also have a hard time initiating and maintaining effort over time. 

Impulsive behavior puts people with ADHD in risky situations because they jump from thought to action without pushing on the brakes and evaluating the implications of their behavior. Cravings and addictions are especially common among people with ADHD who attempt to curve down their impulsivity by self-medicating with coffee, alcohol, or drugs. 

While some people with ADHD will act fast without thinking, others are dreamy, have sluggish minds, and find it challenging to harness their attention to initiate and perform tasks. For these people, ADHD manifests as an underactive mind and behavior that, in some cases, can lead to depression and anxiety. 

Poor self-regulation – emotions

People with ADHD have problems regulating their emotions. They have difficulty dealing with their feelings internally and expressing their emotions in ways that will support their intentions.

Many people with ADHD are easygoing and excitable, but they might push it too far and get frustrated if they can’t get what they are after. They have a hard time regulating positive emotions and are usually the center of the party. 

Yet others might struggle with regulating negative emotions. They might have tantrums and anger outbursts over mild irritants. Once in a tantrum, they can’t settle down and stay upset for a long time. These people struggle with low self-confidence. They tend not to be very social and may develop mood disorders. 

On the other hand, some people with ADHD have low-key emotions and tend never to get very angry. Their emotional responses are similar to the underactive reaction and behavior described above. 

Who can diagnose ADHD?

A psychiatrist, a psychologist, a pediatrician or family doctor, a nurse practitioner, a neurologist, a master-level counselor, or a social worker can diagnose ADHD.

When seeking an ADHD diagnosis, you want to ensure that your chosen practitioner is experienced. Generally, mental health practitioners will have more experience diagnosing ADHD than your nurse practitioner. 

In addition, the diagnosis needs to rule out the prevalence of other mental conditions that might have similar manifestations. 

What are the causes of ADHD?

Research on ADHD shows it has strong genetic components, demonstrated in an increased chance of kids having ADHD if one of their parents was diagnosed with ADHD. 

ADHD is associated with other non genetic conditions such as:

• Low birth weight 
• Exposure to alcohol in the uterus 
• Extreme physical and emotional neglect in early life.
• Extreme parental stress.
• Maternal or paternal exposure to chemicals before conceiving.
• Childhood exposure to environmental chemicals.
• Dietary or nutrition insufficiency. 

Recent studies in epigenetics suggest that while genetics play a role in increasing the risk of a child developing ADHD, nongenetic and nonbiological factors play an important role in determining which genes will express themselves and which will be inhibited. 

Is ADHD Becoming An Epidemic?

The diagnosis of ADHD has tripled in the last couple of decades. That might be because of improved screening tools, a culture of multitasking, and exposure to electronics, which decrease our attention span. With children, one has to wonder if our expectation of children as young as six years old to sit in front of a desk and focus is developmentally appropriate. 

I wonder how many of the children who are now diagnosed with ADHD are trying to adapt to a fast-paced culture that overwhelms them with sensory input and unrealistic expectations. 

Adult ADHD

While ADHD is a neuro-developmental disorder that implies an early origin that might go back to gestation or birth, some adults are now diagnosed with ADHD for the first time.  

Late diagnosis of ADHD may be a result of improvement in screening tools or because of a lifestyle that leads to a reduction in attention span.  

ADHD manifests differently in children than in adulthood, mainly because of the differences in tasks and lifestyle that children are engaged with as opposed to adults and the tendency of children to need more movement and take more risks than adults.