Is ADHD For Life? - 50% Of ADHD Children Will Have It For Life
It is strange that we have been brainwashed in many ways about how we can treat ADHD successfully and not even think about the failure rate.
Well, as the title of this article suggests, the question, is ADHD for life has a very pessimistic answer.
The fact is that 10% of children may have ADHD and that estimates say that 4% of adults have it.
If we do the math, that means that roughly 50% of kids with ADHD are in for the long haul.
We are confident that a few years of medication will do the trick and that some behavior therapy might even help.
We are unaware of a few startling facts.
The first is that the effects of the medication in the long term are not what they are cracked up to be.
The work of Dr.
William Pelham (University of South Florida) is crucial in this regard as he was able to show that the effects actually wear off after about three years.
So, let us face the reality that the success rate is pretty low.
Half of our kids are going to learn to cope, the other half not.
Are we preparing them and ourselves for that harsh reality? Are we aware that ADHD adults are going to have a much higher rate of felonies, car accidents, divorces and job failures? So, we need to increase the chances that our kids will be in the successful half.
First, we should be very wary of the fact that meds will do the trick.
They will certainly help with improving focus and getting them to pay attention.
But this is just a sort of band aid type of treatment and the longer it goes on, the less likely they are of getting to grips with the condition.
We need to make sure that we are doing our very best to ensure that they are going to be able to cope with some of the most mundane tasks that we set them every day.
We are asking a lot so we should be prepared to invest our own time and efforts too to help them get there.
That means a superhuman effort on our part too.
So, we are going to plan and execute the following:
Well, as the title of this article suggests, the question, is ADHD for life has a very pessimistic answer.
The fact is that 10% of children may have ADHD and that estimates say that 4% of adults have it.
If we do the math, that means that roughly 50% of kids with ADHD are in for the long haul.
We are confident that a few years of medication will do the trick and that some behavior therapy might even help.
We are unaware of a few startling facts.
The first is that the effects of the medication in the long term are not what they are cracked up to be.
The work of Dr.
William Pelham (University of South Florida) is crucial in this regard as he was able to show that the effects actually wear off after about three years.
So, let us face the reality that the success rate is pretty low.
Half of our kids are going to learn to cope, the other half not.
Are we preparing them and ourselves for that harsh reality? Are we aware that ADHD adults are going to have a much higher rate of felonies, car accidents, divorces and job failures? So, we need to increase the chances that our kids will be in the successful half.
First, we should be very wary of the fact that meds will do the trick.
They will certainly help with improving focus and getting them to pay attention.
But this is just a sort of band aid type of treatment and the longer it goes on, the less likely they are of getting to grips with the condition.
We need to make sure that we are doing our very best to ensure that they are going to be able to cope with some of the most mundane tasks that we set them every day.
We are asking a lot so we should be prepared to invest our own time and efforts too to help them get there.
That means a superhuman effort on our part too.
So, we are going to plan and execute the following:
- highlight good behavior tell them or reward then when it happens
- stress that they have lots of creativity and that their hyperfocus is second to none
- talk about their problems and how they can be overcome with practical suggestions.
- create a well ordered and structured home which is totally ADHD friendly
- break down instructions
- spend quality time with them instead of checking our emails and chatting on the phone
- bond and empathise by organising more green time activities
- implement a diet rich in Omega 3, zinc and magnesium while reducing highly processed foods
- reduce media time to a minimum and make sure that iPads and iPhones are secure.
