What is ADHD?
What does ADHD stand for?
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
In class, when the teacher is teaching something that is boring, how might this affect someone with ADHD?
Can't stay focused
Daydream
Fidget
True or False:
It can be hard for someone with ADHD to listen to and be interested in what their friends or loved ones are saying.
True
With ADHD, people often have a lot on their minds. Sometimes it might be a challenge to sit and listen to someone else without interrupting and saying what comes to mind.
True or False:
Many people with ADHD have trouble managing their emotions.
True:
People with ADHD often feel emotions more intensely and take longer to recover from them. Becoming easily bored, angry, upset, or overly frustrated is often a challenge for people with ADHD. This can happen when things don't go their way, something is difficult to do, they too many things to do all at once, or they feel left out.
True or False:
Pharmacological treatments are most effective for ADHD
True.
While there are non-pharmacological treatments for ADHD, medication is generally seen as most effective for ADHD and is recommended (except for kids under 6)
How many subtypes of ADHD are there? What are they called?
There are 3 types of ADHD:
inattentive
hyperactive
combined
Name at least one ADHD behaviour that makes completing work tasks/schoolwork more difficult?
starting or finishing your work,
paying attention, getting upset or frustrated easily, sitting still, focusing, organizing your work, trouble remembering, interrupting, waiting your turn
Name 3 ways someone with ADHD may act impulsively that can affect the friend or family member they are with.
*Bonus: Describe how that behavior may impact the friend or family member.
Get upset quickly-trouble keeping your cool
Interrupting
Blurting out things that might hurt their feelings or that you promised to keep private
Making commitments before thinking it through
Have trouble waiting/taking turns
True or False:
Rejection is especially hard for people with ADHD.
True:
People with ADHD often have intense pain when they experience rejection and these feelings are often bigger and last longer than someone who does not have ADHD.
This is called Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria.
Name one type of non-pharmacological ADHD treatment
Behavior management
Digital therapeutics
Psychosocial therapies - CBT, MBT, DBT, psychoeducation
List 2 common behaviors for someone who struggles with impulsivity?
Interrupting others
Acting without thinking first
Trouble waiting for his/her turn
Not thinking about consequences of choices
Blurt things out
What are at least 2 common distractions in an office, classroom,or at home that can make it difficult to complete class/home work?
Friends/colleagues
Phone
TV/Video games
Sounds outside or inside classroom/office
Name at least 2 reasons why it is harder for someone with ADHD to keep friends.
1. People with ADHD can be intense, emotional, and demanding sometimes which can be hard for some friends to understand and look past.
2. Sometimes people with ADHD don't always follow the normal social rules such as taking turns, letting other people talk, paying attention to other people, not touching others without asking, respecting other's personal space.
3. Following directions can be hard for some people with ADHD.
4. Being flexible and open to new ideas is sometimes a challenge for people with ADHD.
Name 2 ways ADHD can decrease a person's self-esteem.
1. ADHD brings more challenges for people which can lead to beliefs that they are not as "good at things, smart, popular, etc." as others.
2. Kids and teens often have to be reminded or corrected more often than neurotypical kids and teens which can lead to negative beliefs about themselves.
3. Some kids and teens with ADHD get "in trouble" more often or have more setbacks than their friends or siblings that don't have ADHD. When this happens frequently they can begin to believe that they are "bad" or "not good enough."
4. When kids or teens do poorly on tests, projects, activities, or sports they can view it as a failure. If that happens often they can view themselves as a failure.
Name one of the two brain chemicals that ADHD medications alter.
Dopamine
Norepinephrine
List 2 ways in which someone with ADHD may be inattentive.
Daydreaming
Forgetfulness/leave things don't bring things home
Take longer to understand directions
Struggle to complete tasks/assignments
Become bored quickly
Difficulty staying focused, especially on something that doesn't interest you
When someone with ADHD has trouble staying focused and paying attention in meetings or class, how does that affect their learning?
Miss instructions from their boss/teacher so they don't know how to do the work.
Trouble remembering presented material, so they don't understand what to do.
Trouble completing work independently because of what they have missed/don't understand.
True or False:
Remembering things is a challenge for some people with ADHD that can impact relationships and friendships.
True
Those with ADHD might find they forget plans they have made with friends, their birthdays, or forget to do things they promised to do, which can lead friends and loved ones to feel disappointed, frustrated, or like they can't depend on you.
Name 2 reasons why people with ADHD often "give up" when they feel stuck.
1. People might give up when things are challenging because they have struggled to be successful in the past and have developed the belief that they "aren't going to do well anyway."
2. ADHD can make it difficult to get started and/or finish tasks so it feels easier to just "not even try."
3. People can feel easily overwhelmed by all the different parts of a project or task and have trouble figuring out how to even get started.
4. People with ADHD often have difficulty asking for help. This may come from feelings of shame and embarrassment due to difficulties with paying attention, focusing, understanding or being corrected or reprimanded frequently.
True or False:
Boys and men are more likely to have ADHD.
False.
Boys/men are more likely to get diagnosed with ADHD, but actual rates among males and females are roughly the same.
List 2 ways someone with ADHD may be hyperactive.
Move around a lot
Fidget/shake leg, pick fingernails/cuticles, play with things
Trouble staying seated/move around a lot in the seat
Moving constantly/restless
Talk a lot
How does ADHD make it harder for an employee or student to complete long-term assignments/projects?
Requires organizing, tracking of material and information
Planning steps to take to complete the project
Managing time, abide by a schedule
Task initation
True or False:
The big emotions that come with ADHD only affect the person who has ADHD.
False:
Not only might people with ADHD have trouble managing emotions, but they might also have big, emotional outbursts that can hurt others. These are impulsive emotional reactions without really thinking through the problem at hand or the consequences and can damage relationships, make others uncomfortable, lose friendships, or make it hard for others to tell us how they feel.
True or False:
Oversharing can be a symptom of ADHD
True.
Due to challenges with impulse control, oversharing information about oneself can be a symptom of ADHD. This can lead to further social difficulty and rejection from peers.
True or False:
Girls/women with ADHD are more likely to have comorbid psychiatric disorders with ADHD.
True.
Females with ADHD are more likely than males to have anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and personality disorders.
Men with ADHD are more likely than women to have schizophrenia or SUD.