Does ADD and ADHD actually exist? I have heard debate about this especially on radio talk shows.
Yes—ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) + ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) DO exist in children as well as adults, in spite of the meandering monologues of some media pundits. Long term studies, cross sectional population studies and medical studies have revealed facts such as:
• Medical studies clearly show the different areas of the brain receive differing amounts of blood, traveling different paths during thought processes in “normal” children opposed to ADD/AHD children.
• Children with this disorder who are prescribed appropriate medications, such as Ritalin, Adderall or Concerta, are 50 to 60 % less likely to risk substance abuse during adulthood.
• There have been clear co-morbidities reported, in both children and adults with ADD/ADHD, such as anxiety, low self-esteem, and depression.
• The true way ADD and ADHD work is that people with this disorder have overly developed attention unless bored or uninterested and then they are overly distractible.
• The best treatment for this disorder is a combination of medication therapy and concrete, cognitive-behavioral therapy.
Is it true that adults can have Attention Deficit Disorder? I thought this condition was only seen in children?
Yes, there are adults as well as children who have ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) or ADHD (Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity). Often, the symptoms lessen or “burn out” to varying degrees by the time the child reaches adulthood, but many symptoms may remain. In some adults, symptoms such as low self-esteem, stress, anxiety, difficulty focusing and distractability, are as strong as when they were children. Many adults (50-60%) who were not given appropriate medications as children also may suffer from substance abuse as they try to medicate these symptoms. They require the right medications and common sense counseling. This combination has shown to be the most effective treatment in helping them function at their best level. This is true for both children and adults with ADD/ADHD.
The ratio of ADD or ADHD patients I see in my practice is about 60% children and 40% adults, the majority being male. If you are uncertain as to whether you or your child have ADD or ADHD, call me for information or discuss it with your family physician.
For a good many individuals, hypnosis calls to mind a trance perhaps brought on by Bela Lugosi in the old Dracula movies, or a bizarre scientist twirling a multifaceted bauble. Actually, there is nothing magical or mysterious regarding hypnosis or its use in psychotherapy. Hypnosis is a deep state of relaxation. There are stages of relaxation which can be used for differing purposes depending on the goal of the hypnosis. You might wonder about the stage hypnotists who get people to squawk like a chicken or bark like a dog. This is done by carefully interviewing a good number of willing volunteers before the scheduled show and selecting five or six individuals who the hypnotist believes will be eager to perform. When the hypnotist tells them they will not remember anything after the show, they do not, until they decide they are ready to do so, at which time they give a detailed account of their performance. They were only in a deep enough state of relaxation to allow themselves to perform. No one can be made to do anything they would not ordinarily do in their daily lives via hypnosis. I have found hypnosis to greatly help in the treatment of phobias, anxiety and/or panic, stress, pain, overeating, and smoking cessation. (Extracted from the authors article published in Hypnotherapy Today, 1994)
What are the signs that you and your partner are in need of relations or marital counseling?
Studies have shown that long term relationships of 30 and 50 years, respectively, that are loving and healthy, have the following elements in common: Good communication ~ Affection ~ Common interests ~ Being each others best friend ~ Common goals ~ and Agreement about finances.If two or more of these elements are missing in a relationship, then you are likely experiencing one or more of the following: distancing from one another, a lack of contentment, a lack of nurturing, or boredom within the relationship.
Even if your relationship is young, these things are necessary. For instance, if you, as a couple, experience 2-3 meaningful affectionate hugs a day, your union will do very well (4 or 5 are even better). Also, an hour a day of meaningful communication will do wonders. (Achieving this in 5, 10, or 20 minutes at a time that add up to an hour would be great). These things are like water to a houseplant. And the same holds true for the other elements mentioned at the top of this article.
If you feel your relationship is in trouble, an objective professional counselor, such as myself or others in the area, can give you the tools to create or rebuild these elements.
What is really meant by the terms anxiety and depression?
If you are walking down a city block and as you turn a corner you find a crazed wolf lunging at your throat, you panic and feel extreme fear. If you panic and feel extreme fear and there is no external event (the wolf), THAT is anxiety. Psychologically speaking, we know that there is a cause for anxiety and panic attacks. The cause is symbolic—life situations that remind you of events where you felt extremely frightened or panicked. These events can no longer harm you today and you probably are not aware they exist in your emotional life. Anxiety can take the form of a panic attack, or you may experience generalized or free-floating anxiety throughout the day, or it may be situational relating to a certain event or events.
Depression is often anger turned inward creating feelings of defeat and self-downing. Sometimes depression occurs due to great loss, such as of a spouse or child, or it can be endogenous, coming from within without the influence of outside life factors. All forms of depression can be greatly lessened or eradicated with therapy alone or a combination of appropriate medication and therapy..
In counseling, the goal is to get in touch with the self-defeating emotions of anxiety or depression, and the inner statements that maintain them. To dismantle and release them, creating emotional balance and regaining the joy life has to offer.
I keep hearing terms such as reality therapy, rational therapy and cognitive therapy. What do these terms mean?
These terms apply to psychological counseling that is often used today. Basically, cognitive refers to cognition or thinking, reality means just that, dealing in reality, and cognitive-behavioral means treating thoughts as well as behaviors. The umbrella term is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. The most influential of these, in my opinion, and the one I use, is Rational Emotive (Behavioral) Therapy created by Dr. Albert Ellis some 50 years ago. This therapy treats irrational thoughts, replacing them with rational thoughts; the emotional life (Emotive); and behaviors. In Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, we recognize that our emotions, thoughts and behaviors or actions, all interact and effect one another.
When our thoughts are irrational they effect our emotionas and behaviors. When our emotions are upsetting they effect our thoughts and actions, and when our behaviors are off track, they effect how we think and feel.
The goal of therapy is to straighten out faulty thinking, reverse upsetting emotions, and create self-helping adaptive behaviors.
