March 2004 Newsletter

Online Resource Directory—Advertise your practice, clinic, school, or services on myADHD.com

The myADHD.com Online Resource Directory will launch in April, 2004. Subscribing healthcare professionals, ADHD coaches, educators, advocacy groups, clinics, and educational centers will be able to use this directory to advertise their practices, services and products.

"The Online Resource Directory fits right in with our mission at myADHD.com to connect stakeholders to provide the best treatment for people with ADHD" says Simon Frisch, myADHD.com CEO. Consumers affected by ADHD will be able to find healthcare professionals in their area who provide ADHD treatment and they can learn about their practice. Advocacy groups can advertise meeting times and locations. Parents will be able to find schools or educational specialists that are experienced in meeting the learning needs of children with ADHD. Adults will be able to locate ADHD coaches.

The Online Resource Directory will be more than a list of services or products. Each advertiser will have a unique web page to explain what they offer. Viewers will be able to search through advertisers by name, service, product type, or location.

WHAT IS NEW IN RESEARCH AND TREATMENT

Consider improvement in "attention" in addition to behavior when measuring the effectiveness of stimulant treatment.
Researchers in Germany remind us that it is important to consider the effects of medication on cognitive functioning (attention) and not just behavior of children with ADHD. In an article in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Vol 43 (2), February 2004) Konrad, et al. found that different doses of methylphenidate (MPH) can affect attention differently. For instance, MPH tends to improve alertness and intensity of attention. This helps children better select stimuli to pay attention to and improves their ability to sustain attention. As the dose increases so does alertness and sustained attention. At higher doses, however, the child's ability to shift-attention may worsen making it more difficult for them to move their attention from one stimulus to another. The study investigators advise clinicians to consider differential effects of medicine on attention performance in children. Cognitive tests, they advise, might be better indicators of this than single measures such as parent or teacher rating scales if changes to attention and not only hyperactivity are the cruicial goal of the clinician.

Study examines differences in cognitive inhibition in adults with ADHD.
Another study of cognitive functions (this time cognitive inhibition) by J. M. Ossmann and N. W. Mulligan was published in a 2003 volume of American Journal of Psychology and explained in a recent issue of The ADHD Report. The investigators compared the performance of 24 ADHD and 24 non-ADHD individuals on several tasks that measure cognitive functions (a negative priming task, working memory task, a stop task, and the TOVA). On the TOVA, the ADHD group exhibited more omission and commission errors and slower, more variable reaction times. The ADHD group also was slower and less efficient in response inhibition on the stop task. Differences were not so significant for the negative priming task. This study provides partial support for the idea that adults with ADHD exhibit deficits in cognitive as well as behavioral inhibition. No differences in working memory were observed.

MARCH'S FEATURED MYADHD.COM TOOLS

Cognitive Behavior Therapy Tools
Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) combines two very effective kinds of psychotherapy—cognitive therapy and behavior therapy.

Behavior therapy weakens the connections between stimuli (people, situations, or events) and a person's habitual, undesirable reactions to them. These undesirable reactions may include fear, sadness, anger, self-defeating or self-damaging behavior, worry, panic, etc. Behavior therapy also teaches relaxation strategies to calm the mind and body so one can feel better and think more clearly.

Cognitive therapy emphasizes the role of thinking in how we feel and what we do. Cognitive therapists instruct clients to identify unhealthy thoughts that can lead to unwanted feelings and behavior. Clients are taught how to replace unhealthy thoughts with healthier thoughts that lead to more desirable reactions and to use appropriate strategies to problem solve.