Alan Johnson
My brain, not on drugs As a child of the 90s, it’s a bit surreal to be taking Ritalin for the first time. Growing up, ADHD was kids bouncing off the walls, causing disruptions in class and having trouble with school. Ritalin was what they got in their daily trips to the nurse. This didn’t...
Neil Petersen
When Michael Phelps was a child, his teacher told his mother that he would “never be able to focus on anything.” Michael Phelps may be the only person with ADHD who has 23 Olympic gold medals to prove his teacher wrong, but his story of being doubted by a teacher will ring familiar for many...
Neil Petersen
Happy October! October isn’t just any month … it’s ADHD awareness month! So you can bet this month the ADaptHD newsletter will be bringing you one study, one news article, and one coping tip. Study of the month: ADHD in childhood usually becomes ADHD in adulthood Finding a hobby you love...
Neil Petersen
There’s something about screen time that can get away from you. You watch an episode on Netflix, and it’s so easy to continue into another episode after that. You look something up online, which leads you to click a link, and then another. Just five more minutes of browsing the internet,...
Neil Petersen
You can’t analyze love, right? Psychology researchers would beg to differ. In fact, psychology studies can help us learn about the workings of romantic relationships, and a new study sheds light on the relationships of people with ADHD in particular. A team of psychology researchers in...
Neil Petersen
Learning a language opens up exciting new possibilities. A new way of seeing the world, a new way of interacting with people, a new cultural universe to enjoy. Yet learning a language is also the quintessential hobby that people start but then drop. Why? Probably because it takes so much...
Neil Petersen
Sports might be just the kind of activity that the ADHD brain is made for. Competing in a sport provides ongoing stimulation and clear, immediate rewards. You don’t have to sit still, either – in fact, moving constantly is part of the job description! Swimmer Michael Phelps, the most...
Neil Petersen
ADHD doesn’t change, but our understanding of it evolves, and so do our methods of spreading awareness. This month’s ADHD news is a great example of that. We’ve got a study shining light on an underexplored symptom of ADHD, and an article describing the very 2021 experience of finding ADHD via...
Neil Petersen
ADHD and OCD are two conditions that seem to have underlying connections. Both involve impairments in the ability to self-regulate one’s thoughts in a top-down way, and the two may even have genetic links. Whatever the exact nature of their overlap, ADHD and OCD can often be found together....
Neil Petersen
If you ever feel like your mind is taking you on a ride you can barely keep up with, or like new thoughts are popping into your head faster than you can process them, you might be experiencing what psychologists call racing thoughts. Racing thoughts have long been known to be symptom of manic...