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To what extent are ADHD medications insufficiently used to address properly diagnosed ADHD? To what extent are they misused by persons who are either undiagnosed or improperly diagnosed? In search of answers, an international team of researchers from Brazil, the United Kingdom, and the United States conducted a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature and a meta-analysis of studies from four continents - South America, North America, Europe, and Australia.

The benchmarks set for proper ADHD diagnosis were any of the following:
·        Criteria established in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)or the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD), confirmed by validated diagnostic instruments or clinical interviews.
·        Use of validated ADHD symptom scales with pre-specified thresholds.
·        Participants or caregivers affirming ADHD diagnosis by a physician.

Medications reviewed were those recommended by the majority of the international guidelines-both stimulant(methylphenidate, dexmethylphenidate, amphetamines), and non-stimulant (atomoxetine).

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The team excluded studies relying on the insurance health system and third-party reimbursement datasets because the focus was on rates of ADHD medication use in the entire population rather than among individuals searching for treatment.

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A meta-analysis of 18 studies with a total of 3,311 children and adolescents properly diagnosed with ADHD in seven countries on four continents (Canada, United States, Australia, Brazil, Netherlands, England, Venezuela) found an overall pharmacological treatment rate of only 19%. There was considerable variation, with the highest treatment rates in the United States (frequently over 40%) and the lowest treatment rates in Brazil, Venezuela, and Canada (under 10%). There was no sign of publication bias.

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A second meta-analysis pooled 14 studies with a total of 29,559 children and adolescents without a proper diagnosis of ADHD in five countries on four continents (United States, Canada, Venezuela, Australia, Netherlands). Roughly 1% were using ADHD medications. Again, there was considerable variation, with the highest rates of medication misuse being reported in the United States and Venezuela (3-7%). Again, there was no sign of publication bias.
The authors cautioned, "it is important to note that even though the data collected constitute the most comprehensive evidence available in the literature and response/completion rates observed are acceptable, it does not constitute a world representative sample." Also, the predominance of samples from prosperous countries "most certainly inflates the treatment rates due to the exclusion of a large proportion of the world population with significant financial, cultural, and health access barriers to ADHD treatment."

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They concluded, "Despite these limitations, our meta-analysis provides evidence for substantial under-treatment of children and adolescents affected by ADHD in different countries. This is a relevant public health issue worldwide since ADHD under treatment is associated with known negative outcomes in education, healthcare, and productivity systems. At the same time, we found evidence of overtreatment/misuse in individuals without a formal ADHD diagnosis. This practice might expose individuals to undesirable side effects of medications, increased risk of medication misuse, and unmeasured costs for the health care system."

It sounds like science fiction, but scientists have been testing computerized methods to train the brains of ADHD people to reduce both ADHD symptoms and cognitive deficits such as difficulties with memory or attention.  

Two main approaches have been used: cognitive training and neurofeedback. Cognitive training methods ask patients to practice tasks aimed at teaching specific skills, such as retaining information in memory or inhibiting impulsive responses.

Currently, results from ADHD brain studies suggest that the ADHD brain is not very different from the non-ADHD brain, but that ADHD leads to small differences in the structure, organization, and functioning of the brain. The idea behind cognitive training is that the brain can be reorganized to accomplish tasks through a structured learning process. Cognitive retraining helps people who have suffered brain damage, so it was logical to think it might help the types of brain differences seen in ADHD people. Several software packages have been created to deliver cognitive training sessions to ADHD people.

Neurofeedback was applied to ADHD after it had been observed, in many studies, that people with ADHD have unusual brain waves as measured by the electroencephalogram (EEG). We believe that these unusual brain waves are caused by the different ways that the ADHD brain processes information. Because these differences lead to problems with memory, attention, inhibiting responses, and other areas of cognition and behavior, it was believed that normalizing the brain waves might reduce ADHD symptoms.

In a neurofeedback session, patients sit with a computer that reads their brain waves via wires connected to their heads. The patient is asked to do a task on the computer that is known to produce a specific type of brain wave.  The computer gives feedback via sound or a visual on the computer screen that tells the patient how 'normal' their brainwaves are. By modifying their behavior, patients learn to change their brain waves. The method is called neurofeedback because it gives patients direct feedback about how their brains are processing information.

Both cognitive training and neurofeedback have been extensively studied. If you've been reading my blogs about ADHD, you know that I play by the rules of evidence-based medicine. My view is that the only way to be sure that a treatment works is to see what researchers have published in scientific journals. The highest level of evidence is a meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials. This ensures that many rigorous studies have been conducted and summarized with a sophisticated mathematical method.  

Although both cognitive training and neurofeedback are rational methods based on good science, meta-analyses suggest that they do not help reduce ADHD symptoms. They may be helpful for specific problems, such as problems with memory, but more work is needed to be certain if that is true. The future may bring better news about these methods if they are modified and become more effective. You can learn more about non-pharmacologic treatment for ADHD from a book I recently edited: Faraone, S. V. &Antshel, K. M. (2014). ADHD: Non-Pharmacologic Interventions. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am 23, xiii-xiv.

Adults with ADHD are more likely to have accidents, drive unsafely, have unsafe sex, and abuse substances. These 'real world' impairments suggest that people with ADHD may be predisposed to making risky decisions. Many studies have attempted to address this, but it is only recently that their results have been aggregated into a systematic review and meta-analysis.  This paper by Dekkers and colleagues reports 37 laboratory studies of risky decision-making that studied a total of 1175 ADHD patients and 1222 controls. In these laboratory tasks, research participants are given a task to complete which requires that they make choices that have varying degrees of risk and reward. Using the results of such experiments, researchers can score the degree to which participants make risky decisions. When Dekkers and colleagues analyzed the 37 studies together, they found substantial evidence that ADHD people are more likely to make risky decisions than people without ADHD. The tendency to make risky decisions was greatest for those who, in addition to having ADHD, also had conduct or oppositional disorders, which both have features that indicate antisocial behavior and aggressiveness. We can not tell from these studies why ADHD patients make risky decisions. One explanation is that it is simply the impulsivity of ADHD people that leads to rash, unwise decisions. Another theory postulates that risky decisions reflect deficits in one's sensitivity to rewards and punishments. If we are very motivated by reward and not aware of or affected by the possibility of punishment, then risky decisions will be common. The studies analyzed in the meta-analysis were not designed to demonstrate a link between risky decision-making in the lab and the real world, risky decisions that lead to accidents, and other outcomes. It is reasonable to hypothesize such a link, which is why clinicians should consider risky decision-making when planning treatments.  If you suspect deficits in this area, it will not change your approach to pharmacologic treatment but, given the potential adverse consequences of risky decisions, you should consider referring such patients to cognitive behavior therapy for adult ADHD as this talk therapy may be able to teach ADHD adults how to cope with their decision-making deficits.

Professor Larry Seidman is world-renowned for his neuropsychology and neuroimaging research. In addition to all of his creative science, he has found the time to create what he calls "Neuropsychological Informed Strategic Psychotherapy (NISP)in Teenagers and Adults with ADHD."

Let's start with what NISP is not. NISP is not cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). CBT emphasizes teaching patients to identify thinking patterns that lead to problem behaviors. NISP describes how the interpersonal interaction we call psychotherapy can help patients increase self-regulation and self-control. NISP treatments vary in duration from brief psycho-educational interventions of one to five sessions to much longer-term therapies of indefinite duration. The duration of therapy is tailored to the needs and goals of the individual. The methods of NISP can be adaptively applied to well-known therapy modalities such as CBT and family therapy.

By creating a solid therapeutic alliance, NISP improves adherence to medications and addresses ADHD's psychiatric comorbidities and functional disabilities. NISP is "neuropsychological informed" because it follows a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment of strengths and weaknesses. This leaves the therapist with an understanding of the patient's personal experience of ADHD, the meaning of the disorder, how it affects self-esteem, and how cognitive deficits limit the ability to self-regulate and adapt to changing circumstances. Attending to the patient's strengths is a key feature of Prof. Seidman's method.

ADHD is a serious disorder and it usually has serious consequences. But ADHD people also have strong points in their character and their neuropsychological skills. These sometimes get lost in assessments of ADHD but, as Dr. Seidman indicates, by addressing strengths, patient outcomes can be improved. A NISP assessment also seeks to learn about the psychological themes that underlie each patient's story. He gives the all too common example of the patients who view themselves as failed children who have not tried hard enough to succeed.

A frank discussion of neuropsychological test results can be the first step to helping patients reconceptualize their past and move on to an adaptive path of self-understanding and self-regulation. Prof. Seidman's approach seems sensible and promising. As he recognizes, it has not yet, however, been subject to the rigorous tests of evidenced-based medicine. With this in mind, I would not recommend using it as a replacement for evidence-based treatment. That said, if you are a psychotherapist who treats ADHD people, read Prof. Seidman's paper. It will give you useful insights that will help your patients.

When my colleagues and I wrote our "Primer" about ADHD, the topic of brain mechanisms was a top priority. Because so much has been written about the ADHD brain, it is difficult to summarize. Yet we did it with the eight pictures reproduced here in one figure.

A quick overview of this figure shows you the complexity of ADHD's pathophysiology. There is no single brain region or neural circuit that is affected.

Figures (a) and (b) show you the main regions implicated by structural and functional neuroimaging studies.

As (c) shows, these regions are united by neural networks rich in noradrenalin (aka, norepinephrine) and dopamine, two neurotransmitters whose activity is regulated by medications that treat ADHD.

Figure (d) describes two functional networks.

The executive control network is, perhaps, the best-described network in ADHD. This network regulates behavior by linking the dorsal striatum with the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This network is essential for inhibitory control, self-regulation, working memory, and attention.

The Corticocerebellar network is a well-known regulator of complex motor skills. Data also suggest it plays a role in the regulation of cognitive functions.

Figure (d) describes the Reward Networks of the brain that link the ventral striatum with the prefrontal cortex. This network regulates how we experience and value rewards and punishments. In addition to its involvement in ADHD, this network has also been implicated in substance use disorders, for which ADHD persons are at high risk.

Figures (f)(g) and (h) complete the puzzle with additional regions implicated in ADHD whose role is less well understood. One role for these regions is in the regulation of the Default Mode Network, which controls what the brain does when it is not focused on any specific task (e.g., daydreaming, mind wandering).

People differ in the degree to which they shift between the default mode network and networks like Reward or Executive Control, which are active when we engage the world. Recent data suggest that the brains of ADHD people may be in 'default mode' when they ought to be engaged in the world.

There are several very effective drugs for ADHD, and those treatment guidelines from professional organizations view these drugs as the first line of treatment for people with ADHD. The only exception is for preschool children where medication is only the first line of treatment for severe ADHD; the guidelines recommend that other preschoolers with ADHD be treated with non-pharmacologic treatments, when available. Despite these guidelines, some parents and patients have been persuaded by the media or the Internet that ADHD drugs are dangerous and that non-drug alternative are as good or even better. Parents and patients may also be influenced by media reports that doctors overprescribe ADHD drugs or that these drugs have serious side effects. Such reports typically simplify and/or exaggerate results from the scientific literature. Thus, many patients and parents of ADHD children are seeking non-drug treatments for ADHD. What are these non-pharmacologic treatments and do they work? My next series of blogs will discuss each of these treatments in detail. Here I'll give an overview of my evidenced-based taxonomy of non-pharmacologic treatments for ADHD described in more detail in a book I recently edited (Faraone, S. V. &Antshel, K. M. (2014). ADHD: Non-Pharmacologic Interventions. Child Adolesc Psychiatry Clin N Am 23, xiii-xiv.). I use the term "evidence-based" in the strict sense applied by the Oxford Center for Evidenced Based Medicine (OCEBM; http://www.cebm.net/). Most of the non-drug treatments for ADHD fall into three categories: behavioral, dietary, and neurocognitive. Behavioral interventions include training parents to optimize methods of reward and punishment for their ADHD child, teaching ADHD children social skills, and helping teachers apply principles of behavior management in their classrooms. Cognitive behavior therapy is a method that teaches behavioral and cognitive skills to adolescent and adult ADHD patients. Dietary interventions include special diets that exclude food coloring or eliminate foods believed to cause ADHD symptoms. Other dietary interventions provide supplements such as iron, zinc, or omega-3 fatty acids.  The neurocognitive interventions typically use a computer-based learning setup to teach ADHD patients cognitive skills that will help reduce ADHD symptoms. There are two metrics to consider when thinking about the evidence base for these methods. The first is the quality of the evidence. For example, a study of 10 patients with no control group would be a low-quality study, but a study of 100 patients randomized to either a treatment or control group would be of high quality and the quality would be even higher if the people's rating patient outcomes did not know who was in each group. The second metric is the magnitude of the treatment effect. Does the treatment dramatically reduce ADHD symptoms, or does it have only a small effect? This metric is only available for high-quality studies that compare people treated with the method and people treated with a 'control' method that is not expected to affect ADHD. I used a statistical metric to quantify the magnitude of the effect. Zero means no effect, and larger numbers indicate better effects on treating ADHD symptoms. For comparison, the effect of stimulant drugs for ADHD is about 0.9, which is derived from a very strong evidence base.  The effects of dietary treatments are smaller, about 0.4 to 0.5, but because the quality of the evidence is not strong, these results are not certain and the studies of food color exclusions apply primarily to children who have high intakes of such colorants. In contrast to the dietary studies, the evidence base for behavioral treatments is excellent, but the effects of these treatments on ADHD symptoms are very small, less than 0.1.  Supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids also has a strong evidence base, but the magnitude of the effect is also small (0.1 to 0.2). The neurocognitive treatments have modest effects on ADHD symptoms (0.2 to 0.4) but their evidence base is weak. This review of non-drug treatments explains why ADHD drug treatments are usually used first. The evidence base is stronger, and they are more effective in reducing ADHD symptoms. There is, however, a role for some non-drug treatments. I'll be discussing that in subsequent blog posts. See more evidence-based information about ADHD at www.adhdinadults.com

Myth:  ADHD medications "anesthetize" ADHD children.
 The idea here is that the drug treatment of ADHD is no more than a chemical straightjacket intended to control a child's behavior to be less bothersome to parents and teachers. After all, everyone knows that if you shoot up a person with tranquilizers, they will calm down.

Fact:  ADHD medications are neither anesthetics nor tranquilizers.
The truth of the matter is that most ADHD medications are stimulants. They don't anesthetize the brain; they stimulate it. By speeding up the transmission of dopamine signals in the brain, ADHD medications improve brain functioning, which in turn leads to an increased ability to pay attention and control behavior.  The non-stimulant medications improve signaling by norepinephrine. They also improve the brain's ability to process signals. They are not sedatives or anesthetics. When taking their medication, ADHD patients can focus and control their behavior to be more effective in school, work, and relationships.  They are not "drugged" into submission.

Myth: ADHD medications cause drug and alcohol abuse
We know from many long-term studies of ADHD children that when they reach adolescence and adulthood, they are at high risk for alcohol and drug use disorders. Because of this fact, some media reports have implied that their drug use was caused by treatment of their ADHD with stimulant medications.

Fact: ADHD medications do not cause drug and alcohol abuse
Some ADHD medications indeed use the same chemicals that are found in street drugs, such as amphetamine.  But there is a very big difference between these medications and street drugs. When street drugs are injected or snorted, they can lead to addiction, but when they are taken in pill form as prescribed by a doctor, they do not cause addiction. When my colleagues and I examined the world literature on this topic, we found that rather than causing drug and alcohol abuse, stimulant medicine protected ADHD children from these problems later in life. One study from researchers at Harvard University and the Massachusetts General Hospital found that the drug treatment of ADHD reduced the risk for illicit drug use by84 a percent. These findings make intuitive sense. These medicines reduce the symptoms of the disorder that lead to illicit drug use. For example, an impulsive ADHD teenager who acts without thinking is much more likely to use drugs than an ADHD teen whose symptoms are controlled by medical drug treatment. After we published our study, other work appeared. Some of these studies did not agree that ADHD medications protected ADHD people from drug abuse, but they did not find that they caused drug abuse.

Myth:  Psychological or behavioral therapies should be tried before medication.  
Many people are cautious about taking medications, and that caution is even stronger when parents consider treatment options for their children.  Because medications can have side effects, shouldn't people with ADHD try to talk therapy before taking medicine?

Fact:  Treatment guidelines suggest that medication is the first-line treatment.
The problem with trying talk or behavior therapy before medication is that medication works much better.  For ADHD adults, one type of talk therapy(cognitive behavioral therapy) is recommended, but only when the patient is also taking medication.  The multimodal treatment of ADHD (MTA) study examined this issue in ADHD children from several academic medical centers in the United States. That study found that treating ADHD with medication was better than treating it with behavior therapy. Importantly, behavior therapy plus medication was no more effective than medication alone. That is why treatment guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Children and Adolescents recommend medicine as a first-line treatment for ADHD, except for preschool children. ADHD medications indeed have side effects, but these are usually mild and typically do not interfere with treatment.  And don't forget about the risks that a patient faces when they do not use medications for ADHD.  These untreated patients are at risk for worsening ADHD symptoms and complications.

Myth: Brain abnormalities of ADHD patients are caused by psychiatric medications
A large scientific literature shows that ADHD people have subtle problems with the structure and function of their brains.  Scientists believe that these problems are the cause of ADHD symptoms. Critics of ADHD claim that these brain problems are caused by the medications used to treat ADHD.  Who is right?

Fact: Brain abnormalities are found in never medicated ADHD patients.
Alan Zametkin, a scientist at the US National Institute of Mental Health, was the first to show brain abnormalities in ADHD patients who had never been treated for their ADHD.  He found that some parts of the brains of ADHD patients were underactive. His findings could not be due to medication because the patients had never been medicated. Since his study, many other researchers have used neuroimaging to examine the brains of ADHD patients. This work confirmed Dr. Zametkin’s observation of abnormal brain findings in unmediated patients. Reviews of the brain imaging literature have concluded that the brain abnormalities seen in ADHD cannot be attributed to ADHD medications.

I recently came across a paper from Tom Brown that adds to the growing scientific literature about smart people with ADHD. Dr. Brown's study measured executive functions in 157 ADHD adults with an intelligence quotient (IQ) in the top 9 percent of the population. The executive functions of the brain regulate cognitive processes in a manner that allows for the effective planning and execution of behaviors.

We know from many studies that both children and ADHD have deficits in executive functions, which impair their ability to manage time and keep themselves organized. Dr. Brown extends that literature by showing that three out of four ADHD adults with high IQ scores were significantly impaired on tests of executive functioning. They had problems in many areas: working memory, processing speed, and auditory-verbal working memory relative.

The lesson from this literature is clear. Smart people can have ADHD. Their high IQs will help them do better than the average person with ADHD, but they may not achieve their potential without appropriate diagnosis and treatment.

For more evidence-based info about adult ADHD, go to www.adhdinadults.com.

Raising children is not easy. I should know.

As a clinical psychologist, I've helped parents learn the skills they need to be better parents. And my experience raising three children confirmed my clinical experience.

Parenting is a tough job under the best of circumstances, but it is even harder if the parent has ADHD.

For example, an effective parent establishes rules and enforces them systematically. This requires attention to detail, self-control, and good organizational skills. Given these requirements, it is easy to see how ADHD symptoms interfere with parenting. These observations have led some of my colleagues to test the theory that treating ADHD adults with medication would improve their parenting skills. I know about two studies that tested this idea.

In 2008, Dr. Chronis-Toscano and colleagues published a study using a sustained-release form of methylphenidate for mothers with ADHD. As expected, the medication decreased their symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity. The medication also reduced the mother's use of inconsistent discipline and corporal punishment and improved their monitoring and supervision of their children.

In a 2014 study, Waxmonsky and colleagues observed ADHD adults and their children in a laboratory setting once when the adults were off medication and once when they were on medication. They used the same sustained-release form of amphetamine for all the patients. As expected, the medications reduced ADHD symptoms in the parents. This laboratory study is especially informative because the researchers made objective ratings of parent-child interactions, rather than relying on the parents' reports of those interactions. Twenty parents completed the study. The medication led to less negative talk and commands and more praise by parents. It also reduced negative and inappropriate behaviors in their children.

Both studies suggest that treating ADHD adults with medication will improve their parenting skills. That is good news. But they also found that not all parenting behaviors improved. That makes sense. Parenting is a skill that must be learned. Because ADHD interferes with learning, parents with the disorder need time to learn these skills. Medication can eliminate some of the worst behaviors, but doctors should also provide adjunct behavioral or cognitive-behavioral therapies that could help ADHD parents learn parenting skills and achieve their full potential as parents.

Research on ADHD has extensively explored various aspects of the condition, yet surprisingly little attention has been devoted to its impact on romantic relationships. Despite over 25,000 articles on ADHD listed in PubMed, only a small number examine topics such as love, sex, and relationship dynamics.

One study by Brunner and colleagues analyzed ADHD symptoms and romantic relationship quality in 189 college students. The findings indicated that students with high levels of hyperactivity-impulsivity and inattentiveness reported lower relationship quality compared to peers with fewer ADHD symptoms. Similarly, a study of 497 college students revealed that ADHD symptoms were linked to the use of maladaptive coping strategies in relationships, resulting in reduced romantic satisfaction.

In research involving young adults, ADHD symptoms were associated with greater negativity and reduced positivity during conflict resolution tasks within romantic partnerships. Higher levels of ADHD symptoms were predictive of lower relationship satisfaction. However, couples where the ADHD partner displayed only inattentive symptoms experienced fewer relational challenges, suggesting that the severity and type of symptoms significantly influence outcomes.

Regarding sexual behavior, studies highlight distinct patterns among individuals with ADHD. Adolescents with ADHD, regardless of gender, report nearly double the number of lifetime sexual partners compared to their non-ADHD peers. These findings align with research by Barkley and colleagues, who observed that ADHD predicted earlier sexual activity and parenthood. Similarly, Flory and colleagues, in a retrospective study, found that childhood ADHD was associated with earlier sexual initiation, more sexual partners, casual relationships, and unintended pregnancies.

A broader study of over 1,000 adults found that ADHD was associated with less stability in romantic relationships, difficulty providing emotional support, higher rates of sexual dysfunction, and increased divorce rates.

Although the body of research on ADHD and romantic relationships is relatively small, it consistently highlights the significant impact of ADHD on love, sex, and relational dynamics, often presenting unique challenges for those affected.

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