Last month’s newsletter included part one of an article entitled “ADHD Goes to College – Part 1“.  

But what happens to those students who are unaware of their diagnosis?  Freshman are the most at risk because while attending high school and living at home with their parents, they may have had a lot more structure and support from both teachers and parents.  If this is their first time living away from home, they will need to self-regulate and structure their time in ways that are far more difficult for them than for other students.   According to Dr. Stephanie Sarkis, “The reality is that young adults with ADHD tend to function at a younger emotional age than their peers.”  Their parents have likely spent years monitoring their child’s academic and social activities and although being away at school may be exciting for these students, being on their own, can also be overwhelming.

The areas of concern to most be aware would be in comorbid disorders that are present in approximately 25 to 50% of people with ADHD. (Fischer et al., 2007; Sarkis et al. 2005) These would include depression, anxiety, eating disorders, sleep problems, and drug alcohol abuse. Sometimes symptoms are missed because of the ADHD and it has been determined that only 36% of students with ADHD who meet the criteria for depression actually sought medication or counseling while on campus.   (more…)

By Leslie Rouder, LCSW

The challenges facing a person who is married to someone with untreated ADD can certainly be difficult to navigate, especially because these challenges may be completely hidden to the rest of the world.  No one seems to understand what you struggle with.  She or he is such a “great guy” and may appear totally “together” to everyone else.  So what’s wrong with you? Maybe you are even beginning to doubt yourself.  This article attempts to address some of the predictable patterns that one may experience being married to someone with ADD and why it creates such difficulty.

Being married to someone with untreated  ADD is often fraught with a predictable progressive pattern that goes from happy, to confused, to angry, and finally to hopeless. (Orlov, 2010) How does this happen and why is this so predictable in couples whose spouses have untreated ADD?

In an attempt to answer that question let’s look at some of the patterns that typically come up in these kinds of relationships;

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