Starved Stuffed and Restless: The relation between ADHD and the disregulation of eating.

By Dr. John Fleming, C.Psych.

Dr. Fleming is a psychologist in private practice with more than 25 years of experience in the treatment of eating issues, including obesity.
John has provided assessment and treatment for individuals with ADHD for 13 years. During the past 10 years, he has co-directed a research program investigating the connection between ADHD, overeating and obesity. He has recently started an eight week group, teaching mindfulness skills to individuals with ADHD.

For more information visit: www.drjohnfleming.com

How ADHD contributes to imbalanced eating is fundamentally unknown. Still, I will take a stab at outlining what I believe to be the primary contributing elements. This is based largely on over twelve years of working with clients with ADHD, obesity and binge eating.

At one level this relationship is a result of the fact that ADHD represents a problem with a central cognitive capacity which creates a distinct disadvantage in a great many situations. This is why such a high percentage of individuals with ADHD struggle with a variety of comorbid conditions including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, as well as increased difficulties with things like underemployment and marital discord.

A second key piece is understanding the experience of restlessness, which is tied to the problem of regulating emotions and arousal. Read more

Another Disastrous Day Syndrome

As ADHD and Women April winds to a close, ADHD coach, Candace Taylor takes a lighthearted look at ADHD from the female perspective. Special thanks to all the contributors who helped to make this month a success.

”If We Only Had a Wife”

How many CEO’s, (okay let’s just say men) could do what they do if they also had to do what we do?
Answer: None. But if WE are the CEO, it doesn’t keep us from killing ourselves trying to do it all ourselves, and all by ourselves.

The Medical Version Of ADHD Traits Includes The Following:

Distractibility
Physical or Mental Restlessness
Overwhelm
Procrastination
Difficulty Completing Tasks
Time Insensitivity
Poor Organization
Low Self Esteem and Self Awareness
Difficulty Transitioning
Hyperfocus
Environmental Chaos and Clutter
Impulsivity (shopping anyone?!)

We all have days that we could answer “Yes!” to everything on this list. But for the ADD woman, every day is this list. Read more

Common ADHD Symptoms in Women

What are some of the gender specific symptoms of ADHD in women?

A female with ADHD may be less hyperactive and less impulsive than her male counterpart. Instead she may present with more subtle symptoms such as being disorganized, scattered, forgetful, introverted, withdrawn and socially isolated. She may have great difficulty keeping her focus on tasks, becoming side-tracked and easily distracted by things around her or even by her own thoughts. It may take her a little longer to process information, so that she appears “slow” or “spacey” or “flighty”, when in fact she may be highly intelligent. Read more

ADHD and PMS: Good Luck!

Your ability to pay attention, problem solve, plan, and regulate your emotion is managed in part by certain chemicals in your brain. One of these important chemicals is Dopamine. Studies suggest that an ADHD brain does not release or reload dopamine effectively, which leads to problems with all of those executive function activities listed above that we need to use on a daily basis.

So why should women care about this? Read more

4 ADHD Tips

Dr. Ainslie Gray has been assessing and treating ADHD for two decades, so she knows a thing or two about women and ADHD. Coincidentally, her team at Toronto’s Springboard Clinic consists of all women (three coaches and two other ladies to help keep the clinic running).

Here are Dr. Gray’s top 4 tips for women with ADHD:

1. Know your symptoms. The more you understand your ADHD, the better you can explain it to the important people in your life (i.e. your husband/partner, daughter, boss, etc.). If they understand, for example, that your ADHD might make you forget things a little more often but that it also makes you an extremely empathetic shoulder to cry on, there might be fewer arguments and disappointments.

2. Don’t underestimate the power of exercise. I know you don’t want to hear another doctor tell you to hit the gym, but the studies about exercise and ADHD are far too compelling to ignore. And hey, instead of using the gym for weight loss Read more

ADHD and the Individual

When I spoke with TotallyADD about writing a piece for their month dedicated to ADHD and Women, I began making a list of how ADHD impacts men and women differently. I started by saying my usual message: women are more commonly anxious and internally restless, men can often be more explosive with their anger and more externally hyperactive, girls often get diagnosed later, women often go through bouts of depression…all of which are generally true.

And then I stopped categorizing and started to think of my clients. I began to hear their voices and had trouble creating clear groups based on sex…Many men suffer from the inattentive type of ADHD, have a great deal of internal anxiety, and have suffered from depression or mood disorders, often as a result of frustration over years of being unsure why they were not meeting their potential… and it is not at all uncommon for women Read more