Children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) frequently experience co-occurring problems with aggression, mood swings, tics, anxiety, or depression. Organized around detailed case presentations, this highly informative book helps the clinician make sound decisions when assessing and treating the full range of ADHD comorbidities. Experienced child psychiatrist Steven Pliszka offers straightforward guidance on how to avoid common diagnostic errors, develop an individualized medication regimen, minimize health risks and side effects, collaborate successfully with parents, and tailor psychosocial treatments to each family's needs. A reproducible structured interview facilitates sorting out symptoms and distinguishing between different comorbid disorders.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder. Previously, it was considered a disorder that affected children only. Recently, however, there is no doubt that ADHD can affect adults as well, but with different clinical presentation. Thus, it is critical to understand how the clinical picture of the disorder changes with development. Traditional ADHD diagnostic procedures are broadening and incorporating new entities like endophenotypes. Comorbidity is a rule, especially if ADHD is not recognized and treated early. New genetic studies bring deeper and more concise knowledge about the disorder’s etiology. This book addresses these aspects of ADHD to bring about more clarity and understanding of the disorder.

The diagnosis and management of ADHD co-occurring with other disorders such as anxiety, depression and personality disorders remain major challenges for clinicians treating all age groups. This book guides clinicians through each step in the diagnosis and management of the comorbidities of adult ADHD on the basis of essential case studies describing psychiatric disorders that frequently occur with ADHD. Each case includes a diagnosis section and management section and is accompanied by questions and answers concerning the most important aspects in diagnosing and managing both ADHD and the comorbid disorders. Drawn from actual clinical encounters, the case studies also feature ample current and valid references.

The only book that covers the multiple ways in which ADHD is complicated by other psychiatric and learning disorders in both children and adults, ADHD Comorbidities: Handbook for ADHD Complications in Children and Adults features comprehensive, research-based information on ADHD and its full range of coexisting syndromes. Contributing researcher-clinicians, familiar with the complications that additional disorders pose, summarize in accessible language what is currently known about ADHD and its comorbidities, from preschool age to adulthood. These authors describe how ADHD leads to different profiles at different stages of development and how to adjust treatment strategies for both ADHD and additional disorders to reduce the impairments resulting from their combination. The book offers a new paradigm for understanding ADHD, viewing it not as a simple behavior disorder but as a complex developmental impairment of executive functions in the brain. This important handbook gives developmental context to ADHD by describing how symptoms at preschool onset differ from those of older age at onset. Clinicians will find practical help for patients whose ADHD appears in conjunction with 11 other syndromes -- from mood disorders to developmental coordination disorder -- and acquire valuable guidance on adapting and adjusting medications and other interventions to optimize treatment effects for the wide diversity of complex cases that embody ADHD.

Not long ago, conventional wisdom held that ADHD was a disorder of childhood only—that somewhere during puberty or adolescence, the child would outgrow it. Now we know better: the majority of children with the disorder continue to display symptoms throughout adolescence and into adulthood. It is during the teen and young adult years that the psychological and academic needs of young people with ADHD change considerably, and clinical and campus professionals are not always sufficiently prepared to meet the challenge. College Students with ADHD is designed to bring the professional reader up to speed. The book reviews the latest findings on ADHD in high school and college students, assessment methods, and pharmacological and nonpharmacological interventions. Practical guidelines are included for helping young adults make the transition to college, so they may cope with their disorder and do as well as possible in school and social settings. Coverage is straightforward, realistic, and geared toward optimum functioning and outcomes. Among the topics featured: - Background information, from current statistics to diagnostic issues. - ADHD in high school adolescents. - ADHD in college students: behavioral, academic, and psychosocial functioning. - Assessment of ADHD in college students. - Psychosocial/educational treatment of ADHD in college students. - Pharmacotherapy for college students with ADHD. - Future directions for practice and research. The comprehensive information in College Students with ADHD provides a wealth of information to researchers and professionals working with this population, including clinical and school psychologists, school and college counselors, special education teachers, social workers, developmental psychologists, and disability support staff on college campuses, as well as allied mental health providers.

FAST MINDS is an acronym for common symptoms that are often seen in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Millions of adults have ADHD or some of its traits, but they are under-recognized, under-treated, and often under-supported. This book empowers people with ADHD, or some of its characteristics, to adapt and thrive. By working through the program in this book, you will develop personalized strategies to take control of your life. Forgetful. Achieving below potential. Stuck in a rut. Time challenged. Motivationally challenged. Impulsive. Novelty seeking. Distractible. Scattered. If any or all of these symptoms are making it difficult for you—or someone you know—to live life to the fullest, then the clinically proven, cutting-edge program in this book will help you understand your struggles and challenges. Whether you have been diagnosed with ADHD, think you may have it, or just exhibit many of these traits, FAST MINDS will help you: Figure out what isn’t working in your life, and the keys to fixing it. Build personalized strategies for managing your time, tasks, and relationships. Learn organizational habits that work for you. Stop communicating poorly, making impulsive choices and taking pointless risks. Eliminate negative thinking patterns that waste your mental energy. Create environments that support your challenges. Make the most of both medical and nonmedical resources (medication, coaching, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, mindfulness, support groups, lifestyle change). With inspiring stories of real people who have adapted and thrived using the methods in this book, FAST MINDS will help you create the kind of life you want to live.

This book highlights the importance of investigating for ADHD in adults with attention difficulties, poor memory and executive function impairments. The authors advocate a neurodevelopmental assessment approach in all phases of life, and explain how to perform such assessments. The identification of ADHD in adults with other psychiatric and neurological disorders will lead to a better response to treatments, and as a result reduce its social, economic and personal burden. ADHD can no longer be considered solely a pediatric condition, as it occurs in a significant proportion of adults worldwide. However, ADHD in adults is often unrecognized and untreated. Diagnosing the disorder in adulthood is a challenge, due not only to the different clinical presentation in this phase of life, but also to the fact that other conditions may mask the symptoms. ADHD constitutes a hidden comorbidity with a detrimental impact of those affected, and a poor response (or even non-response) to several treatments. Intended for psychiatrists, neurologists, specialists in gerontology and neuropsychology, this book is an indispensable resource for all mental health practitioners who want to optimize the treatment of patients affected by psychiatric and neurological disorders who respond poorly to standard treatments.