adhd

[lorraine]

My son is 7 yrs old and has been diagnosed with adhd and is on ritalin.  Lately, at school, it has come to our attention that he has been getting emotionally upset periodically through the day.  It happens particularily during sit and concentrate type of work.  Could this be a side affect of the medication or something else.  He seems to become overwhelmed by emotion very easily.  Anger is also an issue.  When he is playing with friends and they beat him at a game, he not only cries but becomes angry with the other person.  He lashes out verbally and says some pretty mean things like I dont want to be your friend, I am never playing with you again, you are never coming here again, and even I hate you.  He has had counselling(through the school) and we have researched numerous resources.  Is there something we have not yet thought of...He questions authority on a regular basis and acts out quite dramatically if something is not going as he had planned.  Is it possible that there may be another problem entirely or could it be something underlying.  Emotionally he seems immature in comparison to others his age.  He is a December baby and is the youngest in his class.  He has displayed signs of high intelligence.  Academically he is doing extremely well with no signs of any type of learning disorder.  The main issues seem to lie in the behavioural and emotional areas.  Any advice, suggestions, resources, any help at all would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks, Lorraine

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Dear Lorraine,

Your hunch is probably correct - i.e., your son displays an emotional disorder (perhaps a mood disorder) alongside his ADHD.
If your son's ADHD was diagnosed in pediatrics, iy would be worthwhile to have him evaluated also in a child mental health or behavioral health department.

It is worth noting that, in some children, Ritalin can exacerbate anger and irritability. In your son's case, compare the levels or intensity of his anger prior to starting Ritalin with the levels you see now. The anger may not, and is probably not, a side effect of the Ritalin, but it has to be considered.

[Debbie Anderson]

I am also having the same problem with my daughter.  She is 5 years old and is has not been diagnosed with ADHD and is not on any kind of medication.  We get complaints from both her daycare and her kindergarden teacher.  We have tried several different approaches to try and get her on the right track but nothing has worked yet.  We don't want her to be on medication.  Do you have any other suggestions?

[Anita Lamour]

My five year old son has some similar issues. He has been kicked out of two daycare facilities, and now his hours are cut at his current one. We've had "diagnoses" of ADHD, ODD, and sensory defensiveness-the last one was by an OT friend. I don't want him on ritalin, but nothing else had worked yet.Any suggestions?

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Dear Ms. Anderson,

Take a look at a book titled S.O.S.: Help for Parents (by Lynn Clark and published by Parents Press). It will give you a systematic method for responding to behavior.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Dear Ms. Lamour,

Most pediatric mental health clinicians are reluctant to start young children on medication. However, there are instances when this is absolutely the reasonable thing to do, particularly if the pharmacological treatment is accompanied by a sound, systematic program of behavior management.

[Brenda Darnell]

I have a 5 year old daughter that is currently taking Adderall (adderrall) for her hyper-active behavior, at first it worked very well and we could see the difference, but lately she has been very bossy, always trying to start an argument with me and others living here. She sits and cries alot and when I question her about why she is crying she states that she doesn't know why. She is also very daring and I get so tired of my mother-n-law yelling at her along with others. I feel so sorry for her and I shouldn't.She gets upset when she doesn't get everything her way and starts to pu;; the guilt trip on me and I do feel very bad. Please help. I don't know what to think or do as well as what to say to those that always yells at her.

                                Thank you,
                                Brenda Darnell

[Diana Echols]

I have a 12 yr old daughter who had some issues with a former teacher. This teacher, whom I believe was just a personality confict, recommended that we have our daughter tested for ADHD to the school board. Well, after extensive testing by both medical doctors and psychiatrists, at our expense, my daughter was negative to ADHD or any other learning disorders. I homeschool her now and have noticed myself though that she lacks total concentration at times, which i feel can be normal. I was wondering, since I too have the same trouble keeping focused, if there were things herbal that could take the 'edge' off of concentrating for her and help her focus? She's a big girl for her age, as far as dosage goes. I went to the local GNC and found something called docosahexaenoic acid that is supposed to be for this such thing. Is it safe for her to take, and will it help her at all??