6 Types of ADHD????

[welcometowitsend]

I was doing some research online this morning because the whole 'lighting matches in difficult child's room' was making me nervous. So I googled ADHD and fire starting..... up came some different sites for 6 types of ADHD. Apparently Dr. Amen has come up with these categories but it's not widely accepted in the medical field?

Has anyone had any experience with dr.'s who are familiar with this? Do they agree/disagree with these categories? Do you?

Just curious and looking for more experienced opinions.....

 

[liz]

Where did you find this info? I am very intrigued!!

 

[welcometowitsend]

You can google Dr. Amen and/or google Ring of Fire ADHD (that's the 6th type of ADHD) and all sorts of info will pop up.

I came across the Ring of Fire ADHD reference when looking for ADHD and fire starting (because my 16 year old has been 'playing' with matches in his room)

 

[welcometowitsend]

Here is something I found online that gives a brief description of the 6 types.......

Dr. Amen has written a great book on the subject, titled "Healing ADHD:The Breakthrough Program That Allows You to See and Heal the 6 Types of ADD" where he uses his SPECT scans of patient's brain activity to help in making his six classifications. His classifications include these "Types" ...​

1. Classic ADD - Inattentive, distractible, disorganized. Perhaps hyperactive, restless and impulsive.
2. Inattentive ADD - Inattentive, and disorganized.
   
3. Over-focused ADD - Trouble shifting attention, frequently stuck in loops of negative thoughts, obsessive, excessive worry, inflexible, oppositional and argumentative.
4. Temporal Lobe ADD - Inattentive and irritable, aggressive, dark thoughts, mood instability, very impulsive. May break rules, fight, be defiant, and very disobedient. Poor handwriting and trouble learning are common.
5. Limbic System ADD - Inattentive, chronic low-grade depression, negative, low energy, feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness.
6. Ring of Fire ADD - Inattentive, extremely distractible, angry, irritable, overly sensitive to the environment, hyper-verbal, extremely oppositional, possible cyclic moodiness.

This dr. says that if you do a brain image it is easier to tell which type of ADHD you are dealing with and then you can prescribe more appropriate medications for each type. Interesting.

 

[BusynMember]

Dr. Amen is not well respected in the medical community though. He thinks everything is ADHD and believes you can see it on a PET scan. I don't think any other medical person agrees. Just the heads up.

 

[welcometowitsend]

MWM- I did see that he wasn't well respected by other dr.'s in the field. I'm not sure about the scan but I think it is the type of scan that measures brain function at rest and when asked to do different types of activities. I would think this would be a helpful tool to determine which brain centres are working at what levels. Wouldn't that help to determine where the problems lie?

It's Dr. Amen's theory that different types of ADHD present with problems in different brain areas and therefore different medications should be prescribed depending on the type. Kind of makes sense to me but I haven't done much research on it.

 

[InsaneCdn]

The split between "classic" and "inattentive" is well documented. More boys are "classic" and more girls are "inattentive", but it can go either way.

The rest? To me, it's just somebody drawing lines in the sand again. There is SO much overlap - read those descriptions. And then consider that the majority of people with ADD/ADHD have that plus a list of other things... Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), Auditory Processing Disorders (APD), LDs, all are frequently co-morbid. Add in the mood disorders that come when life works against you for too long, and it complicates things even more. And that's before you look at MI.

On top of that... the symptoms of ADD/ADHD are by definition also found in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) kids, and many of those get ADHD as a first diagnosis.

I think the approach is a bit simplistic.