ADHD: Then & now

[misty]

I get the Dr. huggiebear newsletter. This week it was telling kids what questions to ask their grandparents to get an idea of whether their moms or dads were ADHD as a kid. These pertain to adults that were never Dxed.... Questions for the kids to ask to try & get a "picture" of their parents behaviors as a child. To find out if its a possiblity that their parents were undiagnosed ADDers. Following it is a set of questions pertaining to how the parents act NOW as adults. I thought they were interesting & perhaps might come in handy for someone. Here they are:

Did mom or dad:

1· Have problems sleeping as a child?

2· Have specific behavioral problems as a five or six year old, such as temper tantrums, biting, cutting their hair, or constantly interrupting others talking?

3· Have problems in school? Did the teacher complain about their behavior?

4· What type of grades did they make? Was there a subject they failed or did poorly in?

5· Did they have a hard time with homework or assignments?

6· Were they ever expelled from school?

7· Were they ever in trouble with the law? Speeding tickets? Auto accidents? Fighting?

8· Did they have a hard time keeping a job as a teen?

9· Did they avoid social occasions?

10· Did they play more than one sport or none at all?

Now once that is out of the way, you can use the following list to decide if your parents are still ADHD:


A· Do your parents drink large amounts of caffeine to self medicate?

B· Do they drink a lot of alcohol or smoke dope to “unwind” or “take the edge off”?

C· Do they still get speeding tickets, have auto accidents, or have run-ins with the law?

D· Did they fail out of school or have a rough time after finishing high school?

E· Do they continue to have problems keeping a job or bounce from job to job without good reason?

F· Have they ever been fired from a job because they failed to do assigned work?

G· Do they seem to fail to finish what they start or get distracted and start several small projects around the house without finishing them?

H· Have they experienced an unwanted pregnancy?

I· Have they suffered a divorce?

J· Do they have problems with social relationships and friends?

K· Do they seem to be depressed or anxious even when taking medications for those disorders?

L· Have they been arrested?


If you find that you answer yes to more than five of these last observations, then your parent is probably still ADHD and needs evaluation and treatment.
It would be wise to talk to them about your observations and how much you love them and want to help, and share these lists of ADHD traits with them.

[misty]

now, My husband is (I'm personally sure) ADHD. His parents are dfeceased, but I talked to his sister & here's the results of my "detective work":

1. yes
2. yes, biting & hitting
3. yes
4. Poor grades in math & English/reading/spelling
5. Not sure, but she thinks most likely
6. no
7. yes. fighting
8. no
9. yes
10. no sports except karate

A. yes...lots of Iced tea & coffee
B. no. Drinks beer roughly once a month.
C. no
D. yes
E. no
F. no
G. yes
H. N/A
I. yes
J. yes
K. sometimes
L. yes, but YEARS ago, before we were married.....for beating up the guy he found his ex wife in bed with. I think anyone would have done the same.

[jj]

I guess I'd have to ask Mom on some of these for me but I'll answer the ones I know.

1· Have problems sleeping as a child? Have to ask.

2· Have specific behavioral problems as a five or six year old, such as temper tantrums, biting, cutting their hair, or constantly interrupting others talking? Temper tantrums big time and I do recall biting I think when I was REALLY mad. And interrupting to this day is a BIG battle for me as I am constantly holding myself back from doing so.

3· Have problems in school? Did the teacher complain about their behavior? Have to ask but I was very shy so I don't think so.

4· What type of grades did they make? Was there a subject they failed or did poorly in? Honestly, I think I was passed no matter how poorly I did. Never did I get straight A's.

5· Did they have a hard time with homework or assignments? Have to ask Mom for when I was really little but yes to the preteen/teen years.

6· Were they ever expelled from school? Yes, but only for skipping school and not because I was disruptive or a trouble maker.

7· Were they ever in trouble with the law? Speeding tickets? Auto accidents? Fighting? No, not as a kid/teen. Oh wait, when I was 17 I wrote a check for $4.00 to buy cigerettes and then the next thing I know the Sheriff was hauling me in for it. I guess the check bounced but I have no memory of getting things in the mail about it but I'm sure I must of. I spent 3 days in jail for that stupid $4.00's.

8· Did they have a hard time keeping a job as a teen? No.

9· Did they avoid social occasions? No.

10· Did they play more than one sport or none at all? None at all as a kid except participating in track.

Now once that is out of the way, you can use the following list to decide if your parents are still ADHD:


A· Do your parents drink large amounts of caffeine to self medicate? Me, drink coffee? Of course not. O.K.....I only drink a couple pots of coffee a day...so whats the big deal about that!

B· Do they drink a lot of alcohol or smoke dope to “unwind” or “take the edge off”? Honestly, I had a 7 year period that I did both but mostly drank but I stopped at least 7 years ago or so.

C· Do they still get speeding tickets, have auto accidents, or have run-ins with the law? Well, I should have gotten speeding tickets but I always talked my way out of them. No other issues with the law.

D· Did they fail out of school or have a rough time after finishing high school? Didn't fail. My senior year my grades were horrible but that was because I was hanging with some kind of crazy kids.

E· Do they continue to have problems keeping a job or bounce from job to job without good reason? No

F· Have they ever been fired from a job because they failed to do assigned work? No

G· Do they seem to fail to finish what they start or get distracted and start several small projects around the house without finishing them? Yes.

H· Have they experienced an unwanted pregnancy? No.

I· Have they suffered a divorce? Suffered? I didn't suffer a divorce but I got great pleasure divorcing 2 times. ROTFL

J· Do they have problems with social relationships and friends? NO.

K· Do they seem to be depressed or anxious even when taking medications for those disorders? No

L· Have they been arrested? No, except when I was a minor.

So now I have to see what this all means. I edited this because I've been married 3 times not divorced 3 times but twice and widowed once. Just had to make that correction.

[lcdc1]

Most of these would have to be YEAH!!! Of course I am diagnosed!!

[unicorn]

This is very interesting. I could answer yes to a lot of these about Tiff's biological father.

[lostmyshoe]

Misty, thanks for the great thread.

Here are my answers and it is interesting that my parents came out on the not having side. There have however been different characteristics that I've seen that may indicate an Ld and/or ADD. There are also some children on my H's side of the family that have had focus problems and hyper activity. My one sister is also very hyper, always has been.

Did mom or dad:

1· Have problems sleeping as a child? My H has no problem sleeping. I've always been a light sleeper and sometimes have insomnia, My Mom too. Dad slept like a log. Slow to get up, had to drink coffee.

2· Have specific behavioral problems as a five or six year old, such as temper tantrums, biting, cutting their hair, or constantly interrupting others talking? I did, but not my parents. H did have some behavioral problems in grade school, a bit aggressive. Very layed back though as an adult.

3· Have problems in school? Did the teacher complain about their behavior? I talked too much and was distracted easily but I don't think my parents had any trouble in school in that area. I think my H got in a few fights when he was in grade school.

4· What type of grades did they make? Was there a subject they failed or did poorly in? I made A's until 3rd grade, then crashed. Math was my worst. My H struggled one year in 1st grade and his Mom chose to hold him back. After that he made A's all the way through college. My Mom did well except for Math. My Dad made straight A's from day one all the way through to college, a real Mr. Brain, LOL.

5· Did they have a hard time with homework or assignments? I had a terrible time but my parents I think did okay. My H did well.


6· Were they ever expelled from school? None of us

7· Were they ever in trouble with the law? Speeding tickets? Auto accidents? Fighting? Dad had a few accidents, but nothing major. I had my share of little goof ups with the car. My Mom is a really good and safe driver and so is my H. As for fighting, Mom and Dad had a few screaming matches and same with my H and I.

8· Did they have a hard time keeping a job as a teen? I did, but no one else

9· Did they avoid social occasions? Not my parents or my H, but I may have.

10· Did they play more than one sport or none at all? My H played many, My parents each one sport and me none

Now once that is out of the way, you can use the following list to decide if your parents are still ADHD:


A· Do your parents drink large amounts of caffeine to self medicate?
Dad drank lots of soda until he was over 30, then stopped because my Mom told him it was bad for his teeth and his health. He did drink some coffee though. My H prefers juice, milk or water, doesn't drink alcohol at all. I drink a cup or 2 of coffee a day and drink alcohol rarely. Drank more then I should have when I was in my early 20's. Now it just makes me sick.

B· Do they drink a lot of alcohol or smoke dope to “unwind” or “take the edge off”? H never did, nor my parents. When I was younger I drank alcohol more then I should have.

C· Do they still get speeding tickets, have auto accidents, or have run-ins with the law? It's been over 3 years since anyone has been in an accident and the last one was me.

D· Did they fail out of school or have a rough time after finishing high school? No one but me. I never failed out of school, but never finished college.

E· Do they continue to have problems keeping a job or bounce from job to job without good reason? Everyone is holding steady. Mom has not really worked except for before she got married and had children.

F· Have they ever been fired from a job because they failed to do assigned work? Just me because I either didn't understand what I was doing or was too slow with numbers.

G· Do they seem to fail to finish what they start or get distracted and start several small projects around the house without finishing them? Yes, both parents, My H and Me

H· Have they experienced an unwanted pregnancy? No

I· Have they suffered a divorce? No

J· Do they have problems with social relationships and friends? Not too much. Mom is very picky about friends. I had problems socially when I was very young but learned to compensate and make friends easily now. H never really had a problem there.

K· Do they seem to be depressed or anxious even when taking medications for those disorders? Dad never got depressed, hyper if anything. Mom sometimes a little bit but has never been medicated for it. Me, I have my ups and downs. Doing well, for the most part. When I was much younger I had the most problems. H never gets depressed or anxious, lucky him.

L· Have they been arrested? Never


If you find that you answer yes to more than five of these last observations, then your parent is probably still ADHD and needs evaluation and treatment.
It would be wise to talk to them about your observations and how much you love them and want to help, and share these lists of ADHD traits with them.

[crazyhouse]

1·
yes!!

2· Talking or interupting we werent aloud to misbehave

3· ALL THE TIME!!!

4· poor grades just barely squeek by!

5· Yes

6·No I would have been beaten

7·Speeding tickets, accidents

8· I've worked so many different jobs it is not even funny! around 12 as a teen

9· no I welcomed them!!! PARTY!!

10 Yes Basketball




A· No my vice is chocalate!!

B· I have been having a drink 2 or 3 times a week

C· NO

D· YES

E· No unless you count the job bouncing me!

F· No

G· Several projects at a time!

H· YES

I.No

J. YES

K· Yes

L· NO

This was a cool test Misty I think I'm on the border?