Best of 2023: Must-Read Articles by and for ADHD Experts
This year, ADDitude’s expert contributors examined flaws in the DSM-5, prenatal risk factors of ADHD, implications of the first-ever adult ADHD guidelines, and new treatments for substance use disorder and depression, among other vital topics. Here are 10 of our favorites, along with supplemental resources.
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1. How the DSM-5 Fails People with ADHD — and a Better Way to Diagnose
By Russell Barkley, Ph.D.
DSM-5 ADHD criteria are flawed for several reasons. “The DSM-5 does not capture ADHD accurately because its criteria do not conceptualize ADHD as a disorder of executive functioning and self-regulation,” says Russell Barkley, Ph.D. “This limitation greatly narrows the concept of ADHD, trivializes its nature as just an attention deficit, and discourages diagnosing clinicians from focusing on the wider range of impairments inherent in ADHD.”
Despite these flaws, Barkley explains, clinicians can ensure more accurate diagnoses by focusing more on the patient’s symptoms of disinhibition and executive dysfunction and less on the age of onset for ADHD symptoms.
Continue reading “How the DSM-5 Fails People with ADHD — and a Better Way to Diagnose”
DSM-5 ADHD Criteria Challenged: Related Resources
- Read: ADHD Is a Whole-Life Experience. The DSM Needs to Reflect That.
- Read: Why We Need U.S. Guidelines for Adults with ADHD
- Read: What do I need to understand about ADHD that is not fully represented in the DSM?
- Download: How Is ADHD Diagnosed?
2. Deciphering Irritability in Children: Causes and Links to Comorbidities
By William French, M.D., DFAACAP
“Irritability is to mental health providers what fevers are to pediatricians,” says William French, M.D., DFAACAP. “Just as a fever is a core symptom of numerous illnesses and infections, irritability is a core symptom of many mental conditions.” In this guide, French outlines possible causes of irritability and provides a detailed overview of conditions such as DMDD, ODD, ADHD, and bipolar disorder. He analyzes emerging research on treatment approaches and interventions.
Continue reading “Deciphering Irritability in Children: Causes and Links to Comorbidities”
Irritability in Children: Related Resources
- Read: The ADHD-Anger Connection
- Read: Top Emotion Regulation Difficulties for Youth with ADHD
- Self-Test: Could Your Child Have DMDD?
- Read: The Parents’ Guide to Dismantling Oppositional, Defiant Behavior
3. Treatments for Depression and ADHD: New and Forthcoming Approaches
By Nelson M. Handal, M.D., DFAPA
Rising rates of depression — a condition that often accompanies ADHD — have attracted well-deserved concern and attention. Here, Nelson M. Handal, M.D., DFAPA, reviews what we know about major depressive disorder (MDD) and ADHD, combs through the latest treatment options for depression, and touches on alternative approaches for managing depression. “The field of depression treatment is making huge advances,” Handal says, referencing psychedelics, Spravato nasal spray, Zurzuvae (zuranolone), a rapid-acting oral treatment that was approved to treat postpartum depression, and others promising treatments for MDD.
Continue reading “Treatments for Depression and ADHD: New and Forthcoming Approaches”
Treatments for Depression: Related Resources
- Read: The ADHD – Depression Link
- Read: What to Expect When You Start Depression Medication
- Download: The Facts About Major Depressive Disorder in Women
- Read: How Undiagnosed ADHD Triggers Depression and Anxiety
4. Differential Diagnosis of Bipolar and ADHD: Taking a Phenomenological Approach
By David W. Goodman, M.D., LFAPA
A thorough and accurate diagnosis is critical before treating bipolar disorder, ADHD, or the two together. However, high rates of comorbidity and a constellation of overlapping symptoms make the task of distinguishing between bipolar disorder and ADHD especially challenging. David W. Goodman, M.D., LFAPA, explains how clinicians can differentiate between the two conditions.
“To arrive at an accurate differential diagnosis, a clinician must carefully consider family psychiatric history and dial into the patient’s phenomenological experience. The latter focuses on specific symptoms and qualitative nature,” he says. “For example, there is a qualitative difference between a tension headache and a migraine headache, even though both are headaches. The same difference can be seen in sadness vs depression — a qualitative difference in the psychological experience.”
Continue reading “Differential Diagnosis of Bipolar and ADHD: Taking a Phenomenological Approach”
Bipolar Disorder and ADHD: Related Resources
- Download: Solving the Bipolar and ADHD Puzzle
- Read: How to Distinguish ADHD’s Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) from Bipolar Disorder
- Read: The Physicians’ Guide for Distinguishing Bipolar Disorder and ADHD
- Self-Test: Bipolar Disorder in Adults
5. Prenatal and Early Life Risk Factors of ADHD: What Research Says — and What Parents Can Do
By Joel Nigg, Ph.D.
Is ADHD caused by birth trauma? Do prenatal complications like maternal obesity or hypertension increase a child’s risk for ADHD? What role do prenatal and postnatal exposures to substances, such as alcohol and smoking, play in the development of ADHD? Joel Nigg, Ph.D., explores the answers to these difficult-to-answer questions and provides an overview of the latest research and steps parents can take to protect their child’s health. “Exposure to risk factors does not guarantee ADHD, and early and effective treatment approaches can often mitigate the effects of previous complications and improve outcomes,” he says.
Continue reading “Prenatal and Early Life Risk Factors of ADHD: What Research Says — and What Parents Can Do”
What Causes ADHD? Related Resources
- Read: Epigenetics and ADHD: The Impacts of Environment, Lifestyle, and Stress
- Download: Free Guide to Hormones & ADHD in Women
- Read: Treating for Two: ADHD Meds in Pregnancy
- Watch: The Unspoken Truths of Postpartum Depression: Help for Women with and Without ADHD
6. The Future of ADHD Research Looks Like This
By Peter Jensen, M.D.
While no one can predict the scientific discoveries that lie ahead, three research areas are especially promising for improving our understanding of ADHD: neuroimaging, genetic research, and non-pharmacologic interventions, like transcranial magnetic stimulation and attention training. Here, Peter Jensen, M.D., describes these key three areas of ADHD research.
“As we discover more specific gene and brain developmental pathways, we should expect to find that different and precise interventions work for different ADHD subtypes, depending on the individual’s particular gene-environment mix and how factors unfold over time,” he says.
Continue reading “The Future of ADHD Research Looks Like This”
ADHD Research Updates: Related Resources
- Download: Health & Fitness Lifestyle Changes for Adults with ADHD
- Read: The Evolution of ADHD: Examining the Last 25 Years — and the Future
- Watch: ADHD Then and Now: How Our Understanding Has Evolved
- Read: Beyond Genes: Leveraging Sleep, Exercise, and Nutrition to Improve ADHD
7. Sobering Advice: How to Treat ADHD Alongside SUD
By Timothy Wilens, M.D.
ADHD medications — both stimulants and non-stimulants — may be used to treat patients with comorbid substance use disorder and typically improve outcomes for patients with both conditions. “Unfortunately, many patients who have an active SUD (or even a past history of substance use issues) are either not diagnosed with ADHD or, even with a diagnosis, they are denied medication and appropriate treatment for their co-occurring ADHD due to overstated and misplaced fears, bias, and misinformation,” says Timothy Wilens, M.D. “In other words, far too many clinicians discriminate against patients with comorbid ADHD and SUDs.” Here, Wilens examines the role ADHD medications play in SUD treatment and suggests steps to curtail prescription misuse.
Continue reading “Sobering Advice: How to Treat ADHD Alongside SUD”
Substance Use Treatment with ADHD: Related Resources
- Read: The ADHD & Addiction Link — Addictive Behaviors in Adults Explained
- Read: Does Stimulant Medication Cause Drug Dependence?
- Self-Test: Could You Have a Substance Use Disorder?
- Read: 5 Key Facts About Substance Use Disorders
8. First-Ever Adult ADHD Guidelines Forthcoming
By Carole Fleck
ADHD diagnoses among adults are growing faster than ever in the U.S. despite the absence of formal clinical guidelines for the accurate evaluation and treatment of the condition after childhood. That’s about to change. A task force commissioned by the American Professional Society of ADHD and Related Disorders (APSARD) is developing ADHD diagnosis and treatment guidelines for adults in the U.S., to be published in 2024. In an interview with ADDitude, APSARD President Ann Childress, M.D., discussed the implications of the forthcoming guidelines. “ADHD in adults is not just a minor inconvenience — it is a major public health problem,” Childress says. “Guidelines will help practitioners who previously may have felt uncomfortable evaluating and treating adults with ADHD, and these will improve access to high-quality care.”
Continue reading “First-Ever Adult ADHD Guidelines Forthcoming”
ADHD Treatment & Diagnosis Guidelines: Related Resources
- Read: Adult ADHD Is Real — and Still Heavily Stigmatized
- Read: ADHD in Older Adults: Distinct Diagnostic and Treatment Considerations
- Download: How Common Is ADHD in Adults?
- Read: ADHD in Women and Girls — Why Female Symptoms Slip Through Diagnostic Cracks
9. How Undiagnosed ADHD Triggers Depression and Anxiety
By Nelson M. Handal, M.D., DFAPA
Depression and anxiety disorders occur with ADHD at significant rates. What explains these high comorbidity rates? “Many factors may explain the overlap, and one of them I can’t stress enough: ADHD does not happen in a vacuum, and its effects are far more impairing when the condition goes undiagnosed, untreated, or improperly treated,” Nelson M. Handal, M.D., DFAPA, says. Here, Handal shares why depression appears to take a more significant toll on women with ADHD and how undiagnosed and/or untreated ADHD manifests in patients with depression.
Continue reading “How Undiagnosed ADHD Triggers Depression and Anxiety”
Untreated ADHD in Adults: Related Resources
- Download: Signs of Depression That May Surprise You
- Self-Test: Depression in Adults
- Read: The Depression Treatment Gap for Teens — And How to Close It
- Read: What’s Behind the “Depression Gap” Impacting Women?
10. “A Daily Nightmare:” One Year into the ADHD Stimulant Shortage
By ADDitude Editors
More than one year into the ADHD stimulant shortage, patients still struggle to fill their prescriptions for Adderall XR and other stimulants like Vyvanse, Concerta, and Focalin.
According to an ADDitude survey of 11,013 caregivers and adults with ADHD, roughly 38% of all patients have had trouble finding and filling their prescription medication over the last year, and 21% continue to suffer treatment disruptions today. Here, ADDitude readers share how they have been forced to forgo medications, make do with substitutes that aren’t as effective or cause bothersome side effects, and ration out a dwindling supply, often dividing it between multiple family members with ADHD.
Continue reading “‘A Daily Nightmare:’ One Year into the ADHD Stimulant Shortage”
ADHD Medication Shortage: Related Resources
- Read: How the Adderall Shortage Is Casting a Long Shadow on ADHD Treatment
- Read: The Real Reason ADHD Medication Supply Is Lagging Demand
- Read: Generic Adderall Shortage Extends to Vyvanse, Ritalin
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