Parents and stress caused by ADHD

When you have a pre-teen with ADHD, stress is inevitable. In my case, I spend most of my time at home with kids, especially with my pre-teen with ADHD. He needs that extra attention to complete his homework and his studies. This means I have less time for other chores, which get postponed. It also means I have less time to relax and do things I would love to do.

Very often I don’t feel relaxed after a weekend, when I get back to office because I have been trying to revise my son’s lessons, without which he wouldn’t be able to manage. My husband helps me with most of the other chores. We also find that we have less time for each other. Even for those weekend outings, we always think twice, because it might affect my son’s schedule.

Tension brewing in this kind of a situation is common. There are lots of arguments and those fights, which actually have no basis but stress. May be we don’t link all this to ADHD, but I am sure it is.

My pre-teen is over anxious about thieves

My 13-year old is on ADHD medication. Now he has a strange, problem, which I don’t think is related to ADHD or medication. He starts getting tensed by nightfall. The reason, he fears sleeping alone. We somehow pacify him or stay in his room until he falls aleep and then retire to our room. By then we become really tired. Then by midnight he is knocking at our door. However we try to pacify him, he insists on sleeping in our room.

One night, he woke me up and silently signaled to me that there was someone under our bed. I said, no, no one’s there. But he wouldn’t believe. Very reluctantly he looked under the bed. Seeing the fear on his face, I almost expected someone to be there. Then he frantically started opening our wardrobes to check for someone hiding in there, right in the middle of the night. Finally he fell asleep. But then he insisted on sleeping near my husband and held on to him until he fell asleep.

I can’t describe the thoughts that crossed my mind. I was really shaken. I have heard about various disorders that could accompany ADHD. But, his psychiatrist ruled it out. He said, the child would grow out of it. He has had similar fears in the past too and he recovered from that. May be he is a bit too sensitive. I hope he gets over this sooner.

Psychiatrist and your child with ADHD

We paid yet another visit to the psychiatrist before the school reopened. He prescribed Atomoxetine Hydrochloride 18, twice a day. He said it is perfect for his weight (40kg). So far he has been taking only half the dose daily.

I somehow get this feeling that he doesn't understand the human side of ADHD. For him my son is just a kid who needs to take medication. I wonder if all psychiatrists are like this. He said if the kid didn't do well it must be because of low intelligence. I really had to control myself. Perhaps he didn't remember that we had shown him the results of the intelligence test and it was way above normal. The psychiatrist mentioned to me that in spite of being able to concentrate he has scored so well. He said that his actual scores would be higher. And this is not something a psychiatrist should say after treating a child for three years.

It is one week since the school reopened. I am monitoring him carefully for his progress and also growth and any changes in him. He still spends one hour almost everyday searching for his pens or books. He still finds it difficult. His class teacher had said that he has become a laughing stock in the class because when all kids in the class are writing, he would still be searching frantically for his things. I wonder if other kids with ADHD also experience similar difficulties.