Hi everyone! After a break in June to update the website and introduce our fantastic new ADHD coaches, I’m back with weekly articles full of ADHD research.
To begin this new season, I wanted to ask what you want me to research? Last year I wrote a similar article and since then we’ve covered many of the topics (with the rest in development). Based on 95 responses across social media, these are the top 10 areas you’d like me to research in 2021. Let me know if there’s anything else you’d like to see.
10. ADHD’s Relationship To Impulsivity.
Many of you felt ADHD made it more challenging to adopt behaviors you knew would be better for you. You described struggling to control impulses and avoid negative behaviour, which made it harder to put positive habits in place.
9. Supporting Children With ADHD At School.
Like my article “ADHD and School: 7 Things We Wish Teachers Had Known” many of you felt school was not always a supportive environment. As a result, you wanted to learn methods of supporting your children in that space. One participant asked, “What concessions can we push for at school to assist our kiddies?” while another asked about “differentiated learning strategies” available for ADHD children.
8. ADHD And Comorbid Diagnoses.
For many of you (approximately 66%, according to some research [1]), ADHD is part of a cluster of diagnoses that makes up your neurodiversity. Understanding how ASD or mental health diagnoses might relate to and affect ADHD was an area you're interested in learning more about.
7. How To Find A Career That Supports Your ADHD.
Several people felt they struggled in their current career and were looking for support to discover how to develop their job into something more suited to their ADHD strengths or find another one. Many of you described being exhausted from shifting fields and jobs. For example, one participant described the “individual challenges of ADHD” in the workplace and how that made it more difficult to discover which career best suited them.
6. How To Prioritise Tasks.
One participant asked for support with “how to organise thoughts enough to complete tasks,” noting that although “I need to majorly declutter... I walk into a room, get overwhelmed, and don’t do it.” Often this feeling of overwhelm comes from a lack of priorities, particularly prioritising in a way that considers challenges with working memory and dopamine. Developing a system outlining how to prioritise is something we will be covering next week.
5. Had To Navigate The Workplace With ADHD.
For those who’ve found a job they’re happy with, there are still struggles navigating the workplace. One participant asked, “could you please write about negotiations and communication strategies at work with your employer?” while another noted struggles with, “drawing lines and boundaries at work... instead of trying to solve everyone’s problems.” Over the next few months, we will start delving into and writing more about ADHD in the workplace.
4. Managing Stress With ADHD.
Similar to our articles about anger, RSD, and anxiety you also wanted to know more about handling stress in general. For example, participants mentioned struggles with “self-regulating emotions” and “effective stress management.”
3. How ADHD Affects Teenagers.
During the teenage years, many changes occur, and a number of you wanted to know how those changes affect and are affected by ADHD. This was particularly important to those of you raising children with ADHD.
2. Creating ADHD Routines With Children.
While we wrote an article on adult ADHD routines many of you wanted to understand how this could be adapted to include your family. For example, one neurodiverse participant shared how difficult it felt getting their ADHD family members to help around the house in a way that didn’t involve nagging.
1. First Steps When Getting Diagnosed With ADHD.
Many of you were at the beginning of your ADHD journey and wanted to know, “what now?” For example, participants described struggling with “acceptance of having the condition when diagnosed later in life.” Others also wanted to know how to share this new diagnosis with their family and friends in a way that “delves a little deeper into explaining ADHD’s neurology.”
A big thanks to everyone who contributed to this article and shared their stories and struggles with me. If you related to any of these struggles, know that you are not alone! A lot of us with ADHD have gone through these challenges. Over the next few months, I’ll be exploring the research behind these questions and providing weekly articles addressing these amongst other topics.
Take care and talk to you next week,
Skye.
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References
[1] B. Piñeiro-Dieguez, V. Balanzá-Martínez, P. García-García, and B. Soler-López, ‘Psychiatric Comorbidity at the Time of Diagnosis in Adults With ADHD: The CAT Study’, J. Atten. Disord., vol. 20, no. 12, pp. 1066–1075, Dec. 2016, doi: 10.1177/1087054713518240.