With the addition of our two new ADHD blogs in recent weeks, now’s a good time to revisit some of the basics about attention deficit disorder, because a lot of misconceptions prevail.
At one time, it was thought that attention deficit disorder (with or without hyperactivity, it’s often nowadays abbreviated the same way as ADHD) only affected children. However, in the past two decades, we’ve learned that attention deficit disorder can also affect adults. ADHD doesn’t have to be viewed merely as a “disability” either, as many famous people live with ADHD and use it as the foundation for their imagination and creativity. In fact, as Tom Wootton and his colleagues blog about regularly over at Bipolar Advantage, what are commonly labeled as “mental disorders” can also be viewed as having many positives — positives often simply overlooked, de-emphasized or dismissed by professionals (and indeed, many people).
Last year, we wrote about pretty much everything you need to know about ADHD in a nutshell, Living with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder:
If you’re a parent of a child who’s recently been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), you may be devastated and overwhelmed. If you’re an adult who’s recently been diagnosed, you may be going through “various stages of grief” after learning that your “lifelong difficulties can now be explained by a medical condition,” said Terry Matlen, MSW, ACSW, licensed psychotherapist and founder of ADD Consults. Fortunately, ADHD is highly treatable and whether one is diagnosed at 30 or 80, “your quality of life will change for the better,” Matlen said.
But knowing what treatments are effective and how to find them can seem just as overwhelming as the diagnosis. Here’s a clear-cut look at managing ADHD, from evaluation to treatment.
The article covers common misconceptions about attention deficit disorder, how ADHD is diagnosed, four steps for successful treatment, disclosing your diagnosis to others, treatment options (psychotherapy and medications), ADHD coaching, and general tips for dealing with ADHD symptoms. It’s a resource worth checking out if you didn’t know about it already.
Read the full article: Living with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
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Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 9 Mar 2010
