Dr. Ryne Pulido, PLLC

11/01/2024

“Out of the 50 included videos, 92% (n = 46) were misleading. Furthermore, useful videos had minimal engagement, with only 4% of the total likes, 1% of the total comments, and 7% of the total favorites.”

There is misleading information related to adult ADHD screening and testing on TikTok. There is a need to address this misinformation.

05/24/2024

is, in part, a "motivational deficit disorder." In this lecture, Dr. Russell Barkley describes why ADHDers struggle with self-motivation. In short, ADHDers, the "pressure" of future consequences is turned down low, while the pressure of present consequences is turned up high.

This is why many ADHDers continue to do unhelpful things despite the consequences. Psychologists call this "perseveration." This is why frequent rewards and using enjoyment are vital in .

I've worked with many parents who have expressed honest concerns about the use of rewards and sticker charts. While they don't work for every ADHDer (especially if they are also autistic), rewards and enjoyment just help many ADHD brains stay unstuck and on target.

Here are some key takeaways from Dr. Barkey's lecture:

🧠 The inattention of ADHD is not just about lack of focus, but also a broader problem with working memory, planning, problem solving, and emotional self-regulation.

⏰ As we mature, we shift from being controlled by the present moment to looking further ahead and anticipating the future.

🧠 ADHD results in a shift towards immediate gratification, while others of the same age are more governed by delayed gratification, impacting their long-term welfare.

💰 People with ADHD have a much steeper devaluation gradient for events further ahead in time, making them less motivated by long-term goals and plans.

💪 Compensating for the motivation deficit in ADHD can be achieved through strategies like including more frequent rewards and cultivating positive emotions about getting tasks done.

🤝 Making ourselves accountable to others can socially motivate us and give us "skin in the game" to accomplish our goals.

🧠 ADHD is a motivation deficit disorder, and people with ADHD need to reorganize their environment to cope with this difficulty.

Does this sound like you? Are you struggling with focus and productivity? Are you stuck in a vicious cycle of short-term reward and procrastination? If you've got questions about ADHD or adult ADHD, I may be able to help. Visit my website at www.rynepulidophd.com for more information or to book your evaluation.

In response to a subscribers request, I have created a short video that can be used to educate friends and family on the nature of the motivation deficits th...

05/20/2024

You believed in Santa for 8 years. You can believe in yourself for like 30 minutes. You can do it!

04/29/2024

ADHD is more than attention deficit. While hyperactivity is not always present, the diagnostic criteria for ADHD often ignore emotional dysregulation. In this lecture, Dr. Dodson discusses the often misunderstood emotional life of ADHDers. Here are some key takeaways from the lecture:

🧠 "People with ADHD fundamentally think in a different way than do neurotypical people."

💔 Rejection sensitive dysphoria can deeply affect one's self-esteem and relationships, making it difficult to feel valued and gratified.

😔 People with ADHD struggle with emotional dysregulation, which can be the most impairing aspect of the syndrome, affecting their ability to express and control their emotions.

😔 Rejection sensitive dysphoria is a common experience for people with ADHD, where the emotional response to perceived rejection is much more intense than it should be.

🧠 People with ADHD don't see their own emotions and actions coming, making traditional therapies largely ineffective in helping them control their expression.

📝 When asking about rejection sensitive dysphoria, it's important to ask if the person has always been much more sensitive than other people to rejection, teasing, criticism, or their own perception of failure.

😔 Rejection sensitive dysphoria can lead to suicidal thinking and misdiagnosis of major depression.

🤯 Emotional dysregulation can present as externalized rage directed at the person or situation that caused the intense emotional response ("rage attack"). Rejection sensitivity and ADHD have limited research, while disruptions in inhibition and emotional dysregulation have potential for drug company income, and the Cleveland Clinic has found success in treating ADHD with Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) therapy.

People with ADHD feel emotions more intensely, more frequently, and more suddenly. In fact, one third of adults with ADHD say emotional dysregulation is the ...

04/27/2024

Drs. Hallowell and Ratey wrote the ADHD classic Driven to Distraction, one of the first books on ADHD. They were also among the first to reframe ADHD from a disorder to a different way of thinking. In their most recent book, ADHD 2.0, they describe how ADHDers can live their best lives based on their biological strengths and differences.

This excerpt describes what adult ADHDers need to thrive in a work environment.

04/20/2024

"12 Principles for Raising a Child with ADHD" by Russell Barkley, PhD is must read for any parent of an ADHD child. In this hour long lecture, he discusses his principles for raising a child with ADHD. Why listen to Dr. Barkley? He has dedicated his life to researching and writing about ADHD. There are very few people who know more about ADHD than Dr. Barkely. Here are some of my key take aways from the lecture.

1. ADHD is not just about symptoms, but also about impairment and evidence of harm, including increased risk of early mortality and shortened life expectancy.

2. ADHD is a disorder of the brain's executive system, impacting the ability to stop, look ahead, readjust behavior, control emotions, and engage in self-motivation.

3. ADHD disrupts the brain's executive functions, which are used to manage ourselves and improve our future welfare.

4. Self-awareness is the mind's mirror, allowing us to monitor our behavior and exercise self-restraint and flexibility.

5. Mental play is the source of our planning and problem solving, and ADHD delays all executive abilities by about 25 to 40 percent on average.

6. ADHD is a self-regulation disorder that arises from disruption in all seven executive functions, leading to harm and is not typical behavior.

7. ADHD is among the most impairing disorders, rivaling or exceeding autism spectrum disorder and possibly bipolar disorder.

8. ADHD children live in the present, making it difficult for them to anticipate the future and engage in tasks that require long-term planning.

9. Your child is a unique combination of influences that you don't get to design, but you do get to influence their outcomes in several different ways.

10. Encourage good peer groups, strong schools, and external resources to promote your child's non-traditional talents.

“Raising happy, healthy children with ADHD comes down to these core actions: accepting your child for who they are, setting them up to succeed with their uni...

04/17/2024

Balgan et al. (2023) found that "cyclic sighing" improved mood and reduced respiratory rate compared to mindfulness meditation. Experiment with 5 minutes of cyclic sighing daily and see changes for you.

04/13/2024

In my work as a psychologist serving young folks in the north Austin metro area, I see many young men struggling with "Failure to Launch" (FTL) —18+ years old, not employed, not active in education or training, and living at home with parents or living at their experience. While high-quality data on FTL is non-existent, the data we do have suggests the vast majority of FTLers are young men.

In this lecture, author and scholar Richard Reeves discusses his observations from his book "Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It." I strongly recommend this book to anyone helping young men.

Here are my key takeaways:

1. Richard Reeves advocates for improving conditions for boys and men while ensuring continued progress for girls and women, addressing gender imbalance and barriers faced by males, and moving beyond zero-sum thinking in addressing inequality.

2. Boys and men are facing challenges in the modern economy and education system, as evidenced by the drop in male college enrollment rates during the first year of COVID.

3. Su***de rates have risen for both men and women, with men accounting for 80% of su***de deaths, and research shows that men often feel useless and worthless before taking their lives.

4. Boys and men have lower college enrollment and completion rates, and it is important to address this issue and provide support for them to succeed in higher education.

5. There is a significant gender gap in high school GPA, with the bottom 10% being mostly male and the top 10% mostly female, leading to a big impact on gender balance in institutions that don't require or encourage test results.

6. Adolescence is a period of struggle between increased sensation seeking and decreased impulse control.

7. Boys' frontal cortex develops later than girls', leading to differences in organizational skills and cognitive functioning during adolescence.

8. Girls tend to have higher GPAs than boys because they mature and turn in their homework earlier.

9. There is a significant decrease in the percentage of male teachers in K12 classrooms.

10. There is still stigma around men working in early education, and efforts are being made to achieve gender equity in leadership roles in education.

11. The low percentage of male kindergarten teachers sends a message to the next generation that education and teaching are associated with being a girl or woman.

12. Fewer men in the classroom make it harder to persuade boys that teaching is a profession for them.

13. Most men today earn less than most men did in 1979, with a big increase in wage inequality, especially for men in the middle or the bottom, and race also plays a significant role in wage disparities.

14. The decline in marriage and rise in single parenthood is leading to a majority of births occurring outside of marriage, except for college-educated Americans.

15. Fathers, whether biological or social, play a crucial role in the development of boys, especially in low-income neighborhoods, and their presence has a positive impact on boys' well-being and success.

16. Increasing the number of male teachers, starting school later in the morning, and reducing the amount of time spent sitting still in classrooms could help address the boy crisis in education.

17. It is important to pay attention to young men and provide them with support, as they may turn to negative influences if they feel unseen and neglected.

Richard Reeves is an author and Brookings Institution Senior Fellow. His new book "Of Boys and Men" addresses the question of why the modern male is struggli...

04/11/2024

Give in Fantasy What You Cannot Give in Reality is one of my favorite de-escalation tools from the classic parenting book “How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen.”

Use Give in Fantasy when your child is whining, complaining, or arguing about not getting something they want. If you’re a living breathing parent, in this situation, you will have the urge to change the topic to stop the arguing. Unfortunately, that doesn’t usually work.

Instead, Give in Fantasy shows your kid you get it. You understand why they’re upset and they’re not crazy. It feels good when someone validates you and tells you you’re not crazy.

Why do you want to show understanding and validate? Therapists have a saying “Validate to motivate and regulate.” Validation helps your child take back control from emotions AND increases motivation to follow directions in the long term. Who doesn’t love a two-for-one deal?

How to Give in Fantasy? Well, I encourage you to buy the book and turn to page 29 for more details. Essentially, you acknowledge 1) why your child wants the thing makes sense, 2) it’s normal to be upset when you don’t get what you want, and 3) getting the thing would be really cool.

If your child wanted candy, you talk about what candy they want and what they might pick next time. You might have a conversation about your favorite candies. If your child wanted iPad time, you can talk about how fun the game or app is and what they might do next time they’re on the iPad.

The key is to be gentle, act interested (even if you’re not), validate, and use an easy manner.

04/09/2024

Dr. Kabat-Zinn developed one of the first evidence-based (science backed) programs for stress and burn out called Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. As a psychologist in Georgetown, TX, I know that it can be hard to find time to destress. Most people aren't sure what TO do even when they have time. In this video, Dr. Kabat-Zinn walks us through a 5 minute version of techniques used in MBSR. I use it all the time to give me a "power break" when dragging throughout the days.

Learn the power of compassion in this guided meditation preview with Jon Kabat-Zinn’s. Join Jon on MasterClass for the full meditation session and other less...

04/07/2024

I'm sure you've heard of Murphy's Law - anything that can go wrong will go wrong. As a psyhologist in Georgetown, TX who works with parents of youth with chronic mental health struggles, I've walked with many through parental burn out. COVID might feel like it in the rearview mirror, but Murphy events still happen to parents, worsening parent burnout. In this video, one of my Dr. Lisa Coyne walks us through preventing parenting burnout. The video was created in the time of COVID, but applies to any Murphy event - divorce, illness, job loss, pandemics, and so forth. Here is the TDLR.

🤔 Parental burnout is not restricted to one's work, but can also affect anyone doing something meaningful to them while enduring conditions of chronic stress and demands.

🌟 Trying to be a perfect parent is a risk factor for getting burnt out.

😳 Increased thoughts of su***de are four times more likely to be associated with parental burnout than with job burnout.

🔥 Child neglect is 10 times more associated with parental burnout than with job burnout.

🤝 Create a support group of peers, of friends, of your family, who can be around you. No one should do this alone.

🏖️ Trying to push away or minimize feelings of anxiety and depression can be counterproductive and use up a lot of your energy and bandwidth.

🧠 Slowing down and being mindful of your surroundings can help prevent burnout and anxiety.

😡 It is 100% okay to feel whatever you're feeling, and to think whatever you're thinking.

🌱 You can step back from your thoughts, hold them more lightly, and change your relationship to them.

Dr. Lisa Coyne discusses parental burnout, strategies to ease exhaustion, and ways to preserve mental health for both parents and children alike during this ...

04/02/2024

Dr. Faraone is arguably the world's foremost reacher on ADHD. As a psychologist who evaluates and treats childhood and ADULT ADHD, I think he gives a great overview of ADHD in this podcast. Here are the main insights:

ADHD Treatment and Management

😓 People with ADHD, especially high achievers, have to work harder than their peers to get to the same level, leading to burnout.

🧬 ADHD disappears in about one-third of cases by the mid-20s, while two-thirds of kids continue to have ADHD as young adults.

🧠 The ADHD brain is becoming more typical with age, with small differences in brain scans that accumulate and cause symptoms in some adults.

🧠 The development of self-regulation in adults is influenced by learning from parents, teachers, and peers, allowing us to control our behavior and emotions.

💡 The effectiveness of drug treatments for ADHD, such as methylphenidate and amphetamine, is rated around eight on a scale of one to ten, while non-pharmacologic treatments like omega-3 fatty acid supplements are rated around two.

🧒 Early intervention and treatment for ADHD can make a significant difference in a child's academic and social success.

🧠 Medications like methylphenidate and Adderall have been used for decades with very few side effects that can't be dealt with by a physician.

💊 Treatment, including medication and cognitive behavior therapy, is crucial for managing ADHD and overcoming stigma and misinformation.

😞 The problem of ADHD was misunderstood and not taken seriously, leading to serious problems in the lives of children, adolescents, and adults.

🧠 ADHD is now understood as a collection of specific symptoms, not just hyperactivity and impulsivity, which challenges the traditional view of the disorder.

😔 Sadly, people with ADHD have shorter life spans on average, mainly due to accidents and a higher risk of su***de.

Stephen Faraone is an American psychologist. He has worked mainly on attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and related disorders and is considered one of ...