October is ADHD Awareness Month and this year’s theme is: Setting the record straight. Clinical psychologist, Lorian Phillips, shares the facts and dispels the myths about ADHD to help us understand the ADHD brain a little better.
Did you know?
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting both children and adults. It is described as an on-going pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that gets in the way of daily life.
- MYTH:
ADHD is just a lack of willpower. People with ADHD focus well on things that interest them, so they should be able to focus on other tasks if they really wanted to.
FACT:
ADHD looks very much like a willpower problem, but it isn’t. It is essentially a chemical problem in the management of the brain.
- MYTH:
ADHD is a simple problem of being hyperactive or not listening when someone is talking to you.
FACT:
ADHD is a complex condition that involves impairment in focus, organisation, motivation, emotional regulation, memory and other functions of the brain’s management system.
- MYTH:
Brains of people with ADHD are overactive and need medication to calm them down.
FACT:
Underactivity of the brain’s management networks is typical of persons with ADHD. Effective medications increase alertness and improve communication in the brain’s management system.
- MYTH:
ADHD is simply a label for behavioural problems; children with ADHD just refuse to sit still and are unwilling to listen to parents or teachers.
FACT:
People with ADHD sometimes have behavioural problems as a result of the chemical transmissions in the brain, but chronic inattention symptoms cause more severe and longer-lasting problems for learning and relationships for those with ADHD.
If you would like to learn more about ADHD, don’t miss Impaq’s ADHD Parenting Seminar. In this informative talk, Lorian will share her clinical knowledge along with the experience she has gained from being the mother of two ADHD/ADD boys. Click here for more information.
Sources:
ADHD Awareness Month Coalition: 7 Facts You Need to Know About ADHD.
https://www.adhdawarenessmonth.org/adhd-facts/
Brown, T.E. (2006). Attention Deficit Disorder: The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press.
