ADHD in children and sleep problems

There is not one part of our body that does not benefit from sleep.  And it’s no surprise that importantly, our brain needs sleep to function correctly.  Lack of sleep not only impacts our physical but also our mental health... I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I love my sleep.  But that’s probably because I rarely get a good night’s sleep.  Like a lot of parents, I am a light sleeper because I’m always listening out for a child who might need me in the night.  When one tiptoes in, after I’ve managed a couple of hours of sleep, my…

0 Comments

ADHD and Emotional Regulation

Keep Moving! When we think of ADHD the first things that generally spring to mind are hyperactivity, fidgeting and/or attention difficulties.  However, one of the biggest burdens someone with ADHD must deal with is the inability to regulate their emotions.  This emotional dysregulation is extreme and largely underestimated. Whilst children with ADHD experience the same emotions as others, they experience them more intensely.  As discussed before, (The ADHD Brain) there are very real brain differences in a child with ADHD.  These differences result in delayed development of parts of the brain, one of these being delayed emotional development.  The prevalence of emotional…

0 Comments

ADHD and RSD in children

OK, so yet more initials to throw at you! But I am just learning about this and thought I would share my findings.  RSD or Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria.  Heard of it?  I hadn’t.  It’s not a medical diagnosis, but more a way of describing a symptom that is closely related to ADHD.  In fact, up to 99% of individuals with ADHD have this.  Hence a blog about ADHD and RSD in children. What is RSD? Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria is an intense emotional sensitivity whereby the individual believes they have been rejected by a person or criticised by someone important to them.  Dysphoria…

4 Comments

ADHD and Anxiety

As I have learnt, ADHD has high comorbidity rates with many other disorders; depression, ODD (oppositional defiance disorder), OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), dyslexia, and dyscalculia to name but a few.  Anxiety is one of these linked to ADHD, with a 25% comorbidity rate.  However, anxiety disorders are difficult to recognise as anxiety is often internalized and unless the level of anxiety causes weight loss, sleeplessness or perhaps the refusal to go to school etc, it can often go unmissed.  This can then lead to poor concentration in school or restlessness which can be interpreted as a sign of ADHD.  So, is it ADHD…

0 Comments

ADHD and Autism

My friend's son has been recently been diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder).  We had thought it was ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) because some of his traits were remarkably like my daughters with ADHD. Clearly, we are not professionals which is why it should be left to the professionals to diagnose!  However, it did get me thinking about what Autism is and the differences between ADHD and Autism. ADHD is the most common coexisting condition in children with ASD. Some studies suggest a figure of approximately half of all ASD children having ADHD.  Equally, about a quarter of children with ADHD…

0 Comments

ADHD and DYSLEXIA

ADHD is linked to many learning disorders (as high as 50-60%).   ADHD and Dyslexia (a learning disorder) have a high comorbidity rate, they co-occur significantly.  Whilst one does not cause the other, figures show that people who have one often have both.   So, what is Dyslexia? What is Dyslexia? ADHD and Dyslexia Dyslexia is a learning disorder.  It makes processing the written and spoken language ridiculously hard.  How it presents is very individual, just like ADHD!  Some people have trouble pronouncing written words, even when they are their everyday words; some people have trouble decoding a word (phonemic awareness), splitting it…

0 Comments

ADHD and ODD

ADHD ODD ADD HDMI So, you have just had your diagnosis of ADHD for your child and then the Specialist starts throwing other initials at you, e.g., ADHD and ODD!  As if ADHD does not have enough concerns for you to address, you will often find that it rarely exists by itself.  ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) and ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder) often exist simultaneously.  About 60 % of people who are diagnosed with ADHD also suffer from one or more other conditions.  Certain conditions are considered secondary, i.e., triggered by ADHD.  For example, many children who are constantly given negative feedback…

0 Comments
Read more about the article ADHD and Low Self-Esteem
Low Self-Esteem

ADHD and Low Self-Esteem

This week I was going to write about something totally different to do with ADHD, but then this week my daughter had huge self-esteem issues. It really got me thinking.  When I investigated it, I found a disturbingly high comorbidity.  Hence, why I decided to research and find out why children with ADHD have such low self-esteem, and hopefully what we can do to help that. ADHD and Low Self-Esteem Ever imagined what it must be like for a child with ADHD?  I sat down the other day and really thought about it.  Like, properly thought about it.  Imagine constantly being reprimanded…

2 Comments

End of content

No more pages to load