A Letter: Women and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Women and ADHD


REGARDING NICOLE Crawford's excellent article, "ADHD: a women's issue," (February Monitor http://www.apa.org/monitor/apr03/letters.aspx ) attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a well-known disorder that is not known well. What is not known well is that gender stereotypes contribute to missed opportunities for identification and effective medication and psychological treatments for female adults with ADHD. For example, many females do not present with the classic "Dennis the Menace" triad of ADHD symptoms--restlessness, distractibility and [lack of] self-control. Rather, they suffer severe chronic and pervasive difficulties with distractibility--a difficulty filtering out external distractions that is often misdiagnosed and sometimes associated with disorders such as anxieties, substance abuse and depression.

A core problem in the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD is that scientists know much about how brains and minds work but have no knowledge about how brains produce minds. This wide brain-mind gap is often filled by political ideologues--both liberal and conservative--claiming they do not "believe" that ADHD exists, or at least know it is vastly over-diagnosed. Liberal ideologues tell us we mask the problems with medication. Conservative ideologues say ADHD is another myth of mental illness.

Until we have a medical test to identify ADHD, no amount of scientific knowledge, clinical experience or testimonies from those with the disorder will convince some citizens of the validity of neurophysiology disorders such as ADHD in adult females or anybody else. Your article does much to clarify the influence of stereotypes and myths about adult females with ADHD.

Steven J. Ceresnie, Ph.D.
Plymouth, Michigan

Book Review: "The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neurologists Quest for What Makes Us Human"

3/29/11. Colin McGinn reviews this new book by V.S. Ramachandran.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/mar/24/can-brain-explain-your-mind/?pagination=false

Why Women Can't Stand Nice Guys

3/29/11. Many women describe their ex-husband as that macho, tough guy.

Any truth to this?

http://www.yourtango.com/experts/lucia/12-reasons-women-can-t-stand-nice-guys

When We Cannot Predict Risk

3/28/11. Scientists discuss prediction and risk. What we know but can't predict can hurt us.

http://www.edge.org/documents/tsunami/tsunami11_index.html

Monday Quotations

3/28/11.

"Whether someone has a network of good relationships or is alone in the world is a much stronger predictor of happiness than any other objective predictor."

--- Roy Baumeister, Professor of Psychology, Florida State University


"Reason is an ought only to be the slave of the passions, they can never pretend to any other office than to serve and objey them."

--- David Hume (1711 - 1776)


"We hear and apprehend only what we already half know."

--- Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862)


"Epistemological modesty is an attitude toward life. This attitude is built on the awareness that we don't know ourselves. Most of what we think and believe is unavailable to conscious review. We are our own deepest mystery."

--- David Brooks (1961 -    )

The Greatest Show on Earth

3/27/11.  Interview with evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,748673,00.html

Book Reviews: "Soul Dust"

3/26/11. Matt Ridley reviews Nick Humpreys "Soul Dust," looking at the magical mystery show of consciousness.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703858404576214771893335998.html?KEYWORDS=+the+magical+mystery+show+of+consciousness

Caspar Melville's review:

http://newhumanist.org.uk/2533/natural-history-of-the-soul

Photographs of American Frontier Life

3/24/11.

http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2011/02/23/from-the-archive-frontier-life-in-the-west/2713/

Detroit's Population Crashes

3/24/11. Born and raised in the motor city.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704461304576216850733151470.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read

Jonah Lehrer: What Causes Bad Moods?

3/24/11.

What causes bad moods? Why do we sometimes slip into angry fits and melancholy torpors? In general, happy moods have easy explanations – we know why we’re elated. But a bad mood often seems to arrive out of the blue, a gloomy weather pattern that settles in from everywhere all at once. All of a sudden, we find ourselves pissed off without a good reason, which only makes us more pissed off.

The standard theory of bad moods is rooted in a psychological quirk known as ego depletion. Pioneered by Roy Baumeister and Mark Muraven in the 1990s, the basic idea behind ego depletion is that self-control and willpower are limited cognitive resources. As a result, when we overexert ourselves in one domain – say, when we’re on a strict diet, or focused on a difficult task for hours at work – we have fewer resources left over to exert self-control in other domains. This helps explain why, after a long day at the office, we’re more likely to indulge in a pint of ice cream, or eat one too many slices of pizza. A tired brain, preoccupied with its problems, is going to struggle to resist what it wants, even when what it wants isn’t what we need.

A bad mood is no different. When we push our mind too hard, asking it to refrain from carbs and cigarettes, we struggle to avoid the negative thoughts and emotions that lead to sour moods. Consider this 2007 study: The scientists told subjects to refrain from eating a tempting chocolate donut for a few minutes. Then, they insulted these poor (and probably hungry) experimental volunteers. Not surprisingly, those who had successfully resisted the donut were more likely to get aggressive in response to the insult. Or look at the medical literature, in which people on diets are typically “irritable and aggressive.” (This is the so-called cranky dieter effect.) Although we’d like to be happy and polite, those positive moods take cognitive work, and our brain is too tired to care. We lose our temper because we lack the willpower to swallow our angry words.

A brand new paper, published in the Journal of Consumer Research, extends this link between self-control and anger, even as it complicates the ego-depletion model. In a series of clever studies, the Northwestern psychologists David Gal and Wendy Liu demonstrate that the exertion of self-control doesn’t just make it harder for us to contain our own anger – it also make us more interested in watching anger-themed movies, or thinking about anger-related information, or looking an angry facial expressions. In other words, acts of self-control haven’t just exhausted the ego – they actually seem to have pissed it off.

My favorite experiment involved movies. Two hundred and thirty nine subjects were given a choice between a virtuous apple and a hedonistic chocolate bar. (A slim majority chose the apple.) Then, they were offered a selection of movies to watch, from Anger Management (an anger themed film) to Billy Madison (a non-anger themed film.) Interestingly, students were significantly more likely to choose the angry films if they’d first chosen the apple. And it wasn’t just films: another experiment found that people who exercised financial restraint – they chose a gift certificate for groceries over one for spa services – were more interested in looking at angry faces.

What’s driving this effect? Gal and Liu argue that the preference for angry stuff is not simply a result of ego depletion. Instead, they speculate that self-control is inherently aggravating. Perhaps choosing the apple annoys us because our goals have been thwarted – we really wanted the candy bar – or maybe we’re pissed because we feel that our sense of autonomy has been diminished. (If we weren’t so constrained by societal norms and expectations, we would have gorged on chocolate.) The point is that the labor of self-control directly inspires our tendency towards anger, and not indirectly via a worn down prefrontal cortex.

So the next time you decide to resist some treat, be it a day at the spa or a pint of Haagen-Dazs, be sure to keep a few cognitive resources in reserve. You’ll need them to keep the urges of anger at bay.

Book Review: "The Longevity Project"

3/19/11. How to keeping going and going.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703529004576160601149946420.html

The Economic Impact of Disasters

3/19/11. How delightful to see my Uncle George Horwich who was a Professor of Economics at Purdue University cited in this week's "Economist" for his analysis of the effects of the Kobe earthquake. Oh how I wish George were here to see some of the fruits of his discipline and creativity.

http://www.economist.com/node/18387016

Professor Horwich is mentioned in a NYT Blog:

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/gauging-disasters-toll-on-an-economy/?src=busln

Professor Horwich cited in the New Yorker:

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2011/03/28/110328ta_talk_surowiecki

Professor Horwich referenced in the IrishTimes:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2011/0325/1224293045828.html

Interview with James Q. Wilson

3/16/11. Professor Wilson is the author of 14 books, including "Crime and Human Nature."

ttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704823004576192673060882298.html?KEYWORDS=james+q+wilson

Live Sex Acts in the Classroom

3/16/17. Psychology, academic freedom, and sex toys in the classroom.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/lower-education_554092.html?nopager=1

Family Facts

3/8/11. Lots of data at your fingertips.

http://familyfacts.org/?utm_source=communications&utm_medium=homefeature&utm_campaign=heritagewebsite

The Duke, Before My Time

3/8/11. Nat Hentoff discovers some early Duke.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703791904576076282468283342.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_TOPRightCarousel_1

Scientific Community Baffled

3/7/11. Scientists still puzzled about one man's condition of chronic incompetence. (R Rating:  Language.)

http://www.theonion.com/articles/scientists-baffled-by-mans-incredible-ability-to-f,19422/?utm_source=recentnews

Talk Pays Less

3/7/11.

Psychological therapy helps many people. Psychiatric medication helps many people. There is no substitute for the therapeutic relationship --- whether you benefit from psychological therapy, psychiatric medication, or both.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/health/policy/06doctors.html?_r=1&hpw

Balanced Budget vs. Brain

3/6/11. Jonah Lehrer - spot-on.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704506004576174440290134816.html?KEYWORDS=jonah+lehrer

Therapist-free Therapy

3/6/11. Not ready for prime time.

http://www.economist.com/node/18276234

Book Review: "The Social Animal"

3/5/11. Psychologist Christopher F. Chabris reviews David Brooks,' "The Social Animal."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704005404576176923998708008.html?KEYWORDS=david+brooks

The Science of Making Decisions

3/4/11. Should I read this?

http://www.newsweek.com/2011/02/27/i-can-t-think.print.html

Psychology and ESP

3/1/11. Science meets the paranormal.

http://nymag.com/print/?/news/features/bem-esp-2011-3/index2.html

Best Movies Ever?

3/1/11.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704150604576166543911285226.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_MIDDLESecond