What is Complex ADHD?

With all we know about attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, it’s likely you know or have met someone living with this mental health condition. As more studies are done on childhood ADHD and adult ADHD, researchers find that this disorder often co-exists with other mental health disorders. So when you hear someone talk about complex ADHD, this is often what they mean. Many of the patients at Grey Matters of Carmel live with complex ADHD and some don’t even realize it. But with our help and through neurofeedback, we’re able to help them live normal, happy lives! If you want to help a loved one, here’s what you need to know about complex ADHD.

What Other Conditions Accompany ADHD?

Complex ADHD refers to our evolutionary understanding of the base disorder in the psychiatric world. We’re learning that many other mental health disorders co-exist with ADHD, lending researchers to better understand and treat the disorder. While some would prefer to stay on their medications, many find neurofeedback or other behavioral therapies quite beneficial at mitigating symptoms.

Some of the other mental health conditions that complicate ADHD symptoms include:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Learning disabilities
• Speech difficulties
• Mood disorders
• Substance abuse
• Tics

How Can I Better Understand Complex ADHD?

If you have a loved one living with complex ADHD, understanding them starts with understanding how their brains operate. For individuals with ADHD, information in the brain travels at speeds neurotypical individuals couldn’t possibly comprehend. In most cases, an individual with ADHD can think and act on many different thoughts or activities at once. Or, their brains become extremely fixated on one subject, tuning out everything else; something called hyperfocus.

Think of it like this: an ADHD brain is like having 19 tabs open in Google, four of which are frozen, five are still loading, and you don’t know where the music is coming from.

To complicate matters, ADHD and complex ADHD symptoms change throughout a person’s life.

• In children:Behavioral issues and conduct disorders are more prevalent. In fact, about half of all children with ADHD will display behavioral problems. However, once people reach adulthood, these conditions are not as common.
• In adults:Anxiety and depression often co-exist with ADHD. Substance disorders are also more common because people are either trying to self-medicate or are struggling to deal with their mental health.

How is Complex ADHD Treated?

Doctors and psychologists often struggle with how to treat both the attention deficit and the additional mental health condition at the same time. This is because treating complex ADHD requires a strict balancing act since one condition can’t be ignored over the other(s). Unfortunately, failing to treat co-existing conditions could lead to more issues.

So, it shouldn’t be a surprise that many clinicians prescribe a multi-prong approach when treating complex ADHD. Many of these treatments include a combination of:

• Medications such as stimulants or non-stimulants, or sometimes both.
• Psychotherapy that helps manage the co-existing condition.
• Executive functioning therapy.
• Behavioral parenting training.
• Academic or workplace accommodations
• Healthy habits

What Can Neurofeedback Do For You?

If you’ve tried other methods of ADHD treatment for your child or as an adult but nothing has worked, then come see us at Grey Matters of Carmel! Our drug-free approach is non-invasive and actually gives you control over your brain.

By training the brainwaves responsible for hyperactivity and overactive motor activity, we’re able to help patients lower their aggressiveness, reduce their dependency on medication, and give them more focus at work or in school. If you’re ready to experience this same improvement and slow down your brain, then contact us today for a consultation!

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash