Trouble Staying Still: ADHD's Identity Crisis
Professor Sally Marlow reveals the changing faces of ADHD, and asks why it still grabs the headlines and why there are so many contradictions surrounding it.
Web URL: Listen to this episode on BBC Sounds
FAB RESEARCH COMMENT:
This in-depth podcast does an excellent job of ‘debunking’ many of the myths about ‘ADHD’ that recur in its media portrayal – and their impact on those affected.
But as usual, the role of nutrition and diet is completely ignored, as though this is of no relevance at all to
- the features and traits that actually define ADHD (inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity) - or
- to the associated difficulties with mood, sleep and physical health.
The programme does actually mention the seminal work of The Hyperactive Children’s Support Group (HACSG) – a charity founded by the pioneering parent-researcher Sally Bunday in the 1970s, which helped a huge number of individuals and families
But the entire topic is then completely dismissed on the grounds one early diet - which was heavily promoted by the 1970s media - 'didn't work' (sigh)
Since that time, decades of solid evidence has shown that dietary factors can – and often do - contribute to 'ADHD-type symptoms' in both children and adults (whether or not they have a formal diagnosis) - and that attention to nutrition can often help to reduce related difficulties with mood, behaviour and sleep.
For up-to-date, and evidence-based information on this topic, please see:
ADHD & Dyslexia: What Can Diet Do?
- How can food and diet make any difference to children or adults with ADHD and/or Dyslexia?
- Hear from two of the world's leading experts in this field about the scientific evidence - and how some simple changes to nutrition could improve the lives of the many individuals and families affected
For further information please see also:
-
US bans controversial red food dye, decades after scientists raised alarm
- Artificial food colors and attention-deficit/hyperactivity symptoms: conclusions to dye for
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ADHD has been drawn into the media spotlight many times over the past 75 years since it was first described as Hyperkinetic Impulse Disorder. Treatment with the amphetamine Ritalin has added to the controversy with confusion that it, counterintuitively, 'calms kids down'.
The condition has taken on many identities over its lifetime, having been renamed several times, each new term reflecting something different about how the disorder was then understood by science.
The argument over whether ADHD even exists remains as strong today as it was 75 years ago, with the condition sometimes being associated with 'wokeness'. Yet the waiting list for an assessment is at an all time high, with girls, adults and older people waiting, often years, along with ‘naughty’ boys who were originally thought to be the only ones who suffered from the condition.
In Trouble Staying Still, Professor Sally Marlow, explores the archive to reveal the changing faces of ADHD, and asks why it still grabs the headlines and why there are so many contradictions surrounding it.
And what impact has the media and, more recently, social media had?
Sally looks at the rise of podcasts and celebrity diagnoses. She also tracks the developments in neuroscience which does reveal differences in the brains of people with ADHD. Sally is also curious about whether she could have the condition and considers getting tested.
Presenter: Professor Sally Marlow
Producers: Beth Eastwood and Geraldine Fitzgera
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