On Wednesday, November 19 we held our monthly Pathway Session with Dr. Ned Hallowell over Zoom. In his open, empathetic style, Ned made the case for why ADHD is not so much a disorder as a series of traits that can be managed. In fact, these traits have huge benefits, especially the big three which are both strengths AND challenges: 1) curiousity/distractibility, 2) creativity/impulsivity and 3) energy/restlessness.
Ned, an author of 20 books including 4 on ADHD, pointed to himself as an example of how ADHD (and dyslexia) can be channeled into significant achievements in life.
Dr. Hallowell addressed addiction as a big risk for those with ADHD, especially those that aren’t yet diagnosed. He doesn’t feel that ADHD is way over-diagnosed, despite the fact that the US statistic is 9%. He is concerned about addiction risk, which he feels is 5-10X higher for those with an ADHD diagnosis.
Ned mentioned that drugs as well as behavioral treatment prescriptions are helpful. He finds ADHD medicine to be effective in 80% of his patients, and says there is NO additional risk of substance misuse for those patients who take their ADHD medicine as prescribed.
For those wanting to learn more, please see his two bestselling books Driven to Distraction and ADHD 2.0, as well as the Disruptors documentary and his “128 Questions”. Finally, please go here to view the replay of our Zoom discussion: https://bit.ly/ADHD_Pathway_Replay.