Attention Deficit Hyperactivi... Video Transcript

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They feel that they can never do anything right. One of the first things, when I interview older women and we tell them they have this disorder, they say, “You mean I'm not stupid?” They really do feel that they can't do things that other people can do easily.

I had a little three year old boy in my office one day sitting there very cutely, swinging his feet and smiling. And I said, “Why are you here?” And he said, “Because I'm bad.” And I said, “Why do you think you're bad?” And he said, “Well if someone yells at you all day long, you're bad.” So these children get a lot of self-esteem problems. They really can't get along with other children. They don't know why they're always messing up; why they can't do it the same way other kids can do it.

And it leads to a lot of pain, not only in their lives, but in the family. There's a very high incidence of divorce in families of children with ADHD. 40% of parents have made a job change because their child has ADHD. And there's a financial burden on the family to have a child with this disorder as well.

LISA CLARK: Indeed. I have one last question. If you suspect your child has ADHD, where do you go for help?

DR. PETER JENSEN: Well any well-trained pediatrician should be able to make this diagnosis. And that's not always the case that the doctor you go to is well-trained. So parents need to be educated themselves and on the look out. And if they have concerns, that they're not quite sure they've been fully addressed by whoever they've seen, then they should be willing to get a second opinion. But a pediatrician, a trained family practitioner, a psychologist, a psychiatrist, these are people who should be able to make the diagnosis.

LISA CLARK: Well, I'd like to thank both of you for being here to discuss this and to give our audience a place to start as they learn more about ADHD. Thank you very much, Dr. Patricia Quinn, Dr. Peter Jensen.

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