What causes ADHD ?

Research indicates there are a variety of contributing factors to ADHD characteristics. These characteristics can be caused, or intensified by the following factors (the first factor can cause and/or intensify ADHD characteristics, while 2-4 are intensifiers only):

There are actually at least 30 physical and chemical contributors to ADHD parents should be aware of. Click here to download Chapter 2 of my book on ADHD and refer to page 12 of the book.

Is ADHD over-diagnosed?

There is some controversy as to whether or not ADHD is over-diagnosed; whether it is a physiological condition, and so forth.  In my professional experience, I often hear parents say, “I’m not sure if my child has ADHD—he has a hard time staying focused, is impulsive, and often forgets things, but is this ADHD?”  I also have parents who want to know the difference between a child who is just full of energy, and one who is truly hyperactive.  They ask, “Don’t most children have short attention spans, or act unmotivated about doing something they don’t want to do, or fail to think before they act?”  In answer to such questions, it is necessary to understand that the well-known symptoms of ADHD are inattention, difficulty staying on task, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. However, in addition to these characteristics, there are over 90 other ADHD characteristics that a child can exhibit.  The combination and intensity of these characteristics can vary greatly from child to child.  A child with ADHD will manifest them to a degree and consistency that create problems and challenges at school, home, and/or in social situations.

Also, of those 90+ characteristics of ADHD, many of them can be characteristics of other conditions. For purposes of simplification, I refer to any combination of ADHD traits—whether from “true” ADHD or the mimickers of ADHD, as ADHD characteristics.  Regardless of the source of these characteristics, the challenges to the child are the same.  So if your child has ADHD characteristics, keep in mind that they can be the result of  physical conditions such as sleep issues, thyroid problems, allergies, and hypoglycemia (low-blood sugar), and other conditions,  it is important to rule out these contributors.

We all know people who have ADHD and seem to do just fine.  So what's the big fuss about ADHD?

The people who do fine have what I call, functional ADHD.  This means that they have a minimal amount of the over 90 ADHD characteristics, and those symptoms are mild. In other words, on the rating scale in chapter 1 of my book, they would rate no more than a 5 on the characteristics that they marked.

But there is also another category of ADHD. If a person has many of the ADHD characteristics and/or the severity of those characteristics is between 7 and 10 on the scale, he has what I call problematic ADHD.  Problematic ADHD creates just what its name suggests—a whole host of problems.  A child with problematic ADHD will, on a regular basis, will have feelings of frustration, discouragement, anger, depression, and hopelessness.  He is at greater risk for frequent failure, getting in trouble, people being upset with him, social difficulties, having low-self esteem, engaging in risky behavior, having problems at school, and experiencing emotional and behavioral challenges. Problematic ADHD can cause havoc in the home and school, and the child’s entire life.

Most children are in one of these two categories.  However, some children are borderline and fluctuate between the two categories depending on what is going in their life.  It isn’t necessary to hyper focus about which category your child is in.  The main reason I bring up the two categories is that if your child happens to have problematic ADHD, and has a teacher or relative who either has functional ADHD or knows others who have it and are doing fine, they may have a tendency to wonder what your child’s problem is.  Why doesn’t he just “get it together” like they did, or so and so did.  Comments like this can affect your child’s self-esteem, and make things difficult for you, because a child who has problematic ADHD can’t just "get it together".  He needs the tools and knowledge for turning ADHD stress into success. And in order for that to happen, you need the tools and knowledge too. This site will lead you to the help you need to make a positive difference for a child with ADHD.

How do I survive my child’s ADHD?

In my book, “Turn Your Child’s ADHD Stress into Success”, I give tools to help diminish the stress, frustration and negativity of ADHD, and increase the progress, joy, and success in your child’s life.  To survive the process of going from stress to success:

What if I am worried about the stigma of my child being “labeled” ADHD?

There a those who oppose a child being labeled “ADHD”.  They say that if a child is labeled ADHD, then he will live up to the name.  One mother told me that she didn’t want to have her son get the diagnosis of ADHD because she was worried about how his teachers would treat him, and she didn’t want him to be labeled as ADHD.  I explained to her that because of the fact that her son was behaving in a way that was causing problems at school, whether she liked it or not, he was going to be labeled by the teachers.  The label might be lazy, a pain in the butt, a brat, or a child who has ADHD.  At least with the label of ADHD, there is some explanation for his behavior.

It is very important however, that the child be referred to as a child with ADHD, not an ADHD child.  ADHD is a condition he has, not WHO he is.  It should never, ever become his identity.  If his teachers, for example, view the ADHD as a set of symptoms that need to be addressed, then they place themselves in a position to do something to improve the child’s present situation, and provide a brighter future for him. Some parents are reluctant to accept the reality that their child has ADHD for any or all of the following reasons—they would be embarrassed; they can’t handle the fact that their child might have a “disability”; or they don’t want to deal with the ADHD.

Accepting the reality of your child’s ADHD can cause a variety of emotions, including disappointment.  It may be hard to accept the fact that your friends’ child who is the same age as yours is excelling, winning awards, or getting scholarships, when your child struggles.  You may have had high expectations for your child’s future, and may go through a mourning process when you realize that those expectations may never become a reality.  However, it is important to deal with these emotions, and move on to the fact that although your child may not have the future and/or accomplishments you had originally planned, it doesn’t mean that he won’t be able to accomplish great things in his life, or have a bright future.  You may have to have some paradigm shifts in regard to what success is.  That is why I like the definition of success as: "developing the skills and traits that lead to progress, fulfillment, peace, and joy in life".  Accepting the reality of your child’s ADHD, means accepting the fact that his success in life may travel down an unlikely road.  But it can reach an incredible destination, and be a great adventure—if you teach him to make the most of his life, and triumph over the challenges of his ADHD.

Parents aren’t the only ones who may not want to accept the reality of ADHD.  Their child may also not want to accept its reality.  But, refusing to accept the reality of ADHD, doesn’t make it go away, it just prevents anything from being done to improve it.

Is medication the best route to go with ADHD?

For some children, ADHD medication is better than nothing.  However, it comes with many negative effects. Studies show that 30% of children with ADHD cannot tolerate taking stimulant medications, and as many as 45% don’t experience sustained improvement from ADHD medication.  For children who show improvement, the side effects of the medications are more concerning than the ADHD symptoms.  These side-effects can include:

Two of the most common side effects are appetite loss and insomnia, which is ironic since each can lead to difficulty paying attention, remembering, and staying emotionally balanced—which are characteristics the ADHD medication is supposed to decrease, not increase.  In addition, forty percent of children who have Tourette Syndrome, did not have any of it until they started taking stimulants. Strattera®, a non-stimulant drug, also has side effects including nausea/vomiting and sleepiness (again, how can a child who is sleepy pay attention).  In addition, the FDA issued several Strattera warnings including the warning that it can cause liver damage that can progress to liver failure resulting in need for a liver transplant, or death.  There is also a link between suicide and Strattera.

Not every child appears to experience extreme side effects of ADHD medication.  However, for some it is only a matter of time before they began experiencing them.  And, even if side effects aren’t apparent, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t occurring. Children whose ADHD medications caused liver damage, or other organ damage, didn’t show any symptoms until the damage was already done.

Another concern of the ADHD medications is that their side-effects can lead doctors to prescribe “Black-box” medications that have even more concerning side-effects.  Some children can be on as many as 6-8 different medications, beginning with the ADHD medication, then adding additional ones to address side-effects of the previous meds.

A final concern about ADHD medications, is that they can mask the true causes of ADHD characteristics.  As mentioned, a variety of health conditions generate ADHD characteristics.  Dr. Mary Ann Block, a leading expert on ADHD, states, “Many children with symptoms of ADHD have health issues that caused the symptoms.  Giving the child a drug only masks the symptoms which can lead to a health issue going undetected and untreated, and can lead to other complications beyond the ADHD.”