Dr. Umesh Jain is now exclusively responsible for TotallyADD.com and its content

Costs of Adult ADHD

If anyone still thinks adult ADHD is a gift direct them to this video.  The downsides of ADHD are well documented in hundreds of studies. ADHD, when it’s undiagnosed and untreated, will sabotage you.  When it is severe enough, it will destroy your finances, your career, your relationships, your family, and your self-esteem.  It puts you at a much higher risk for everything from bicycle accidents and car crashes to STD’s, bankruptcies, and divorce.

Patrick McKenna – what are some of the costs of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?
[Dr. Lawrence Jerome] what a typical adult will explain to me is ever since they’ve been young they can read the words but they don’t connect the dots of meaning. They don’t get into the skin of the text.
Patrick McKenna – there’s no sense of that you were a failure or a success other than you were you were stupid is one way that they simply labeled you as. You were lazy you didn’t apply yourself, you you were always distracted by talking to other people he didn’t talk to other people so much maybe you can get your work done. There was always a reason it was always my fault that I wasn’t succeeding. So again no matter how hard you work no matter what at the end of day was gonna be my fault.
Dr. Kutcher – and so the youngster grows up with this sort of negative input and it’s not uncommon that one would be dysphoric or unhappy getting negative input all the time I would be that way you would be that way that’s not depression.
[Dr. Annick Vincent[ when you grow up with ADHD let’s say you’re a teenager all those things sticks with you then you are you have an increased risk of substance use and substance abuse increased risk of too much tobacco use.
Dr. Sam Chang – the studies have shown that approximately 50% of substance abusing adolescents have ADHD.
[Dr. Laura Muggli] you lose contact with friends you become more isolated you you have less feelings for society and societal norms cuz you know what were you taught as a kid for discipline was hitting you or criticizing you and then I think you can slip through the cracks. The ADHD person can slip through the cracks and you know end up in the prison population so being connected is a very important thing especially for people who have ADHD.
Dr. William Pelham – ADHD kids in the absence of treatment don’t have particularly good outcomes and the parent will often say oh what are the outcomes? and actually do talk about the risk for having problems with delinquency the risk for having difficulties in school was the child gets older the risk for not finishing high school the risk for not getting the kind of job that they could get otherwise.
[McKenna] so I was to blame for all that and blame and shame you know they they rhyme for a reason there’s a lot of things you carry as kids.
Dr. Grigorova – unless you get to the parent, the child is not going to get help until they are adult and can hopefully save themselves if it’s not too late for some of them but yeah it’s the severe cases of attention deficit disorder that sometimes are very difficult to to treat because of the resistant parent.
[Dr. Annick Vincent] so higher marital misfunction, higher divorce rate the impulsive spending and the fact that you forget to pay your bill increases your financial difficulties also.
Dr. Muggli – they’re frozen they can’t do anything they’re just existing almost you know they’re just in their house you know in the clutter not getting things done you know the relationships are faltering, they’re they’re disconnected from people.
Dr. Vincent – I don’t want to say that everyone who has ADHD will go through all that for sure but it increases the risk.
[Dr. Kutcher] and when you treat the ADHD symptoms that input gets better the dysphoria goes away but cross-sectionally that could be called depression with ADHD so that so we have these artefactual issues that come up. I can’t can be really problematic so the clinician has to be exceedingly exceedingly careful.
[Dr. Vincent] so this is why as clinician we think it’s really important to detect ADHD early and treat ADHD early and treatment includes educating what it is having ADHD how to cope with the symptoms and if you need medication what would be the best medication for you?
[Dr. Pelham] and and I say to parents what is your goal for your child my parents always say it’s to help him get better now and it’s to make him be whatever he could be and I’ll say well with effective intervention he can be that but you got to start now. You have to work really hard and you have to keep in mind that it’s not an eight week program it’s not a 16 week program it’s a life program. We’re gonna teach you skills that you can use to help your child. We’re gonna teach his or her teacher skills that the teacher can use to help the child we’re gonna teach your child skills that can help them get along with other children and it’s learning those skills and applying them over a long period of time that’s going to help the child.
  • View related videos

  • Leave A Comment