Tuesday, August 4th, 2020
8:00pm to 11:00pm
(UTC-04:00) Eastern Time (US and Canada) (EDT)
Where: Zoom
Organizer: Manhattan Adult ADD Support Group is pleased to announce a Zoom session:
Tuesday, August 4, 8pm to 10pm EDT
ADHD & SUBSTANCE ABUSE
w/ Brooke Molina, PhD
Does having ADHD increase your risk of becoming hooked on this chemical or that? On nicotine, alcohol, marijuana; or a harder drug? What are some of the pathways from temptation to addiction? In this huge and sprawling topic, these are a few of the questions that might come up.
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Psychologist Brooke S. G. Molina is a professor (www.yfrp.pitt.edu/people/brooke-molina-phd) in three departments – Psychology, Psychiatry, and Pediatrics -- at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. There, she runs the Youth and Family Research Program; directs research at the ADHD Across the Lifespan Clinic; and co-leads the Developmental Alcohol Research Training Program.
Dr. Molina also heads the Pittsburgh ADHD Longitudinal Study -- PALS -- which tracks ADHD-diagnosed children into adulthood with an eye toward substance use. Now in its third decade, PALS is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Along with PALS, Dr. Molina has worked with the multi-site Multimodal Treatment of ADHD Study (organized by the National Institute of Mental Health). For 20+ years, MTA has sought to evaluate the leading interventions used in ADHD.
suggested reading: www.pittmed.health.pitt.edu/story/paying-attention
donations are accepted to help cover the group's expenses -- www.paypal.me/robertfrombk -- we thank you in advance!
Description: The Manhattan Adult Attention Deficit Disorder Support Group is pleased to announce a Zoom session:
Tuesday, August 11, 8:30pm EDT
STILL DISTRACTED AFTER ALL THESE YEARS
w/ Kathleen Nadeau, PhD
It took a while, but we now know that ADHD can persist throughout adulthood ... and into the golden years. Which, for some, are just that.
But others struggle: with attention or planning or short-term memory. With irritability or impulse control. With starting a project ... or getting it done. With keeping the thread of a social conversation.
When older adults take leave of employment (not always by choice) some find that the loss of structure makes it tougher to cope with their core symptoms. During retirement, they may still have to deal with procrastination or time mismanagement. Or they may face financial hardship.
But how much of this is ADHD? And how much of it is normal aging (or what’s viewed as normal)? How much might be due to age-related cognitive slowing; or dimming? Or – worst case scenario – pre-dementia? Could fading hormones play a role? These are a few of the questions that might come up.
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Psychologist Kathleen G. Nadeau (https://vjs.d6f.myftpupload.com/home/our-team/kathleen-nadeau) is the founder and clinical director of the Chesapeake Center in Bethesda, Maryland (and three other locations in the same state).
Dr. Nadeau is the author (or co-author) of Adventures in Fast Forward; ADD in the Workplace; ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life; The ADHD Guide to Career Success; The Survival Guide for College Students with ADHD or LD; Understanding Girls with ADHD; Understanding Women with ADHD; When Moms and Kids Have ADD; three books for children; and the forthcoming Still Distracted After All These Years (of which this talk is a preview).
Dr. Nadeau has served on the advisory boards of leading ADHD organizations – one has elected her to its ADHD Hall of Fame -- and is the co-founder of the National Center for Gender Issues in ADHD. She has made multiple media appearances, and is a frequent lecturer both in the US and abroad.
suggested viewing/reading:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhxknZf5k9w
www.chadd.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Still_Distracted.pdf
www.paswfl.com/2020/02/25/an-unexpected-new-diagnosis-in-older-adults-adhd
participation: to join in, you must be part of the MAADDSG forum -www.groups.io/g/ManhattanAdultADDSupportGroup
donations are accepted to help cover the group's expenses -- www.paypal.me/robertfrombk -- we thank you in advance!
Manhattan Adult ADD Support Group
Description: Tuesday, August 18
ADHD & EMOTIONAL DYSREGULATION w/ Frederick W. Reimherr, MD
Once upon a time, an ADHD symptom was viewed -- by those who dominated mental-health care -- as an expression of an emotional conflict. Were you hyper or impulsive or inattentive? Then somehow
your feelings were at the bottom of it. But: some saw it differently; and the outcome of that dispute is reflected in what did -- and did not -- make it into the official ADHD criteria.
And yet -- years down the road -- still other voices started to insist that an unruly emotional life was not just a side issue in ADHD ... but a core component. The term "emotional dysregulation"
means different things to different observers. But it's become the phrase of choice to convey the co- existence of anger or mood fluctuations or just plain depression.
At the risk of splitting hairs: are these a consequence of having ADHD? A separate set of issues? Or a built-in feature of the ADHD itself? And what's at stake? How ADHD is understood,
perhaps; how accurately it's assessed; and how effectively it's treated. Join us as we delve into this question.
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Psychiatrist Frederick W. Reimherr
(https://medicine.utah.edu/faculty/mddetail.php?facultyID=u0028457)
taught for decades at the University of Utah
School of Medicine in Salt Lake City.
He was also a member of a team -- led by the late psychiatrist Paul Wender, a central figure in the emergence of adult ADHD as a field within a
field -- that studied ADHD for years. Their work covered medication studies, comorbidity studies, and diagnostic studies. As such, Dr. Reimherr was an author of the Utah
Criteria for ADHD in Adults. Which argued – as early as 1981 -- that "affective lability" and "hot temper" were intrinsic parts of ADHD. (The Utah Criteria evolved into the widely-used Wender-
Reimherr Adult Attention Deficit Disorder Scale.) More recently, Dr. Reimherr has picked up where the old crew left off (www.pubmed.gov/32220152). He's argued that ADHD should be split into an
Inattentive “presentation" and an Emotional Dysregulation "presentation" as a matter of definition. In addition to his research, Dr. Reimherr maintains a private practice in Salt Lake City.
suggested reading:
www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/the-shrink-tank/202004/adhd-and-emotions-what-the-dsm-5-doesnt-tell-us
www.additudemag.com/adhd-and-emotions-diagnosis-criteria-study
www.healio.com/news/psychiatry/20200407/attentional-emotional-adhd-classifications-provide-more-clinically-relevant-diagnosis-approach-among
participation: to join in, you must be part of the MAADDSG forum www.groups.io/g/ManhattanAdultADDSupportGroup
donations accepted to help cover the group's expenses. www.paypal.me/robertfrombk We thank you in advance!
Thursday, August 27, 8-12 EDT
ADHD MINDS: FAST & SLOW
w/ Ellen Braaten, PhD
If you have ADHD, your brain runs faster than what's typical. That's the stereotype.
Maybe you can up keep up with your thinking, and make it work for you. Or maybe you can't, and run into trouble.
Like most stereotypes, this is accurate ... as far as it goes. What's missing are children -- and adults -- whose mental processing speed is slower than normal.
But what is processing speed? In the words of our presenter:
"Processing speed is the time it takes for us to take in information, make sense of it, and respond. The information can be visual, verbal, or motor. Another way to define it is to say it’s the time required to perform an intellectual task or the amount of work that can be completed within a certain period of time.
"Because we place such a high value on doing things quickly in our culture, it is hard to live with a nervous system that needs more time to process information. Kids with slow processing speed are usually assumed to be lacking in intelligence, but this isn’t the case.
"My research indicates that processing speed problems cut across and affect many academic, behavioral, and emotional difficulties, with the largest group affected being kids with ADHD. In addition, research shows that 61 percent of kids with slow processing speed will meet criteria for a diagnosis of ADHD [emphasis added]."
Processing speed -- often a lifelong attribute – can be tested. Studies suggest it can factor into: who does well in school, and who doesn't; who can read easily; who can handle math; who can master a language; who has friends; who is abused; who gets scammed; and who has a middling case of depression versus a severe case.
For an expanded picture of the ADHD world, join us on August 27.
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Research psychologist Ellen B. Braaten is an associate professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School. There, she serves as a teacher and as a trainer of future psychologists.
At the nearby Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Braaten directs the Learning and Emotional Assessment Program, which handles psychological and neuropsychological testing; for which she's well known. And she co-directs the Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds, which does public outreach.
Her books include Bright Kids Who Can't Keep Up; How to Find Mental Health Care for Your Child; Straight Talk About Psychological Testing for Kids; and The Child Clinician's Report-Writing Handbook.
Dr. Braaten is a frequent speaker on topics relating to education, child development, learning challenges, ADHD, autism, processing speed, and intelligence. Recently, she’s come by some data on adults; which she'll share with us on the 27th.
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participation: to join in, you must be part of the MAADDSG discussion forum -- www.groups.io/g/ManhattanAdultADDSupportGroup -- click after Subscribe
donations are accepted to help cover the group's expenses -- www.paypal.me/robertfrombk -- we thank you in advance!
Manhattan Adult ADD Support Group
Description: Tuesday, September 1, 8-10 EDT
UNDERSTANDING YOUR FAMILY'S ADHD HISTORY
w/ Laurie Dupar, RN, PMHNP, PCC
They look like you. They sound like you. Sometimes they even act like you. They're your family, and -- most likely -- the lot of you are in it for the long haul.
Chances are, too, that if you have ADHD, so does someone else in your family. It turns out that ADHD is among the more hereditable conditions known to medicine.
Indirectly, this has swelled the ranks of adults diagnosed with ADHD. That’s because -- once a child is diagnosed -- it dawns on the parents that one of them may also have ADHD.
It's also led to a parlor game of sorts. Did Dad have ADHD? What about Uncle Joe? Maybe Granny had it? And so on up the family tree. In the words of our presenter, "the relational, behavioral and emotional patterns of ADHD extend in your family for generations. When misunderstood or undiagnosed, the negative impact, even trauma of the ADHD experience, gets transferred trans-generationally directly or indirectly. Healing, higher self-esteem, increased emotional health, resilience and even happiness is possible with a broader understanding of other family members’ ADHD."
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Laurie Dupar trained as a psychiatric nurse. She's also a veteran ADHD coach, who works with individuals, families and entrepreneurs who have been diagnosed with ADHD. She helps them understand more about themselves, and teaches them how to get things done.
In 2015, Laurie co-founded the International ADHD Coach Training Center (IACTCenter). There she mentors emerging ADHD coaches as they build their own businesses.
Laurie's books include Brain Surfing & 31 Other Awesome Qualities of ADHD; Unlock The Secrets to your Entrepreneurial Brain Style; More Ways to Succeed with ADHD; and Wacky Ways to Succeed with ADHD.
A well-known presenter, Laurie also hosted the recent Succeed With ADHD Virtual Summit.
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participation: to join in, you must be part of the MAADDSG discussion forum -- www.groups.io/g/ManhattanAdultADDSupportGroup -- click after Subscribe
donations are accepted to help cover the group's expenses -- www.paypal.me/robertfrombk -- we thank you in advance!