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ADHD Medication and Risk for Later Alcohol and Drug Use
Many parents have to make difficult choices about how to help their children with an ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) diagnosis. Two treatments have been proven in well-designed and carefully controlled research studies to be effective: behavioral management (also known as parent training) and medication (typically Ritatin or Adderall). Medication treatment has raised concerns about…
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Former Israeli Prime Minister’s Significant Brain Activity – How Do We Know?
Israeli scientists and UCLA’s Dr. Martin Monti recently found that former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon demonstrates significant brain activity. Seven years ago Sharon suffered two strokes. The second stroke caused him to lose most of his consciousness. Sharon is in a minimally conscious state, a little more aware than a coma or a persistent vegetative…
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The Convenience of Therapy on your Computer
Finding a good therapist is important. As a graduate student in clinical psychology, I am often asked where to find one. Typically, I would recommend the psychology clinic associated with my university, or point them in the direction of therapists who use empirically supported treatments. Yet, there remains several obstacles for reaching a therapist. These include…
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Children with ADHD have greater likelihood of trying substances and developing substance use disorders.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most commonly diagnosed disorders in childhood. In fact, estimates of the rates of ADHD had found that between 5-10 percent of all children meet diagnostic criteria for the disorder. Children with and without ADHD, at a group level, show several differences, including poorer school performance, more…
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Career Options for How to Become a Therapist: Multiple Pathways Exist
Many individuals find the idea of helping people for a living to be appealing. There is no one path to this type of career. Clinicians, therapists, coaches, social workers, or psychologist, provide psychotherapy and guidance to people. Below are several popular avenues to becoming a professional therapist. Psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a medical doctor that…
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ADHD and Memory: Differences in What is Remembered
Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD (formerly known also as ADD) are classically seen as the kids in class who have trouble staying in their seats and paying attention during long lessons. Underlying these problematic behaviors is a confluence of factors, with evidence pointing to genetics, neural function, and environmental factors (including parenting…
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Is ADHD a real disorder?
Despite overwhelming scientific evidence that approximately 5 percent of children have a specific deficit in attention compared to children of their same age and sex, many people still question whether ADHD (and some still call it it’s former name: ADD) is a real disorder. A recent article in the New York Times takes on this…
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The Origins of Mental Disorders
The recent article in the New York Times outlining research on the preschool-age depression has raised public interest in the origins of mental disorders. Many non-scholars and even some psychologists are skeptical about the emergence of psychological problems in very young children. The stability of temperament (personalities traits such as extraversion and introversion) is now…
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brain mapping disorders
An ever growing number of studies feature brain mapping to illustrate structural differences in the brain based on grouping those with and without a given disorder. Techniques such as structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can aid in researchers understanding of differences in shape and volume of various brain regions. Group differences are often found, yet…
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Self-Control is important, and teachable to some extent
Self-control or behavioral disinhibition has been implicated in a number of psychiatric disorders, including Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It may be a mediating factor responsible for the lowered academic performance found among many children with ADHD. The ability to inhibit responses may predict academic performance even better than IQ. This New Yorker article reviews studies of…