Our team has been seeing something called “ring of fire” ADHD spreading across the internet. It’s a supposed subtype of ADHD promoted by Daniel Amen, a celebrity psychiatrist with clinics in multiple states and a huge online following.

But in reporting this episode, we found that “ring of fire” ADHD isn’t recognized by mainstream science. Nor are brain scans approved by the FDA as a diagnostic tool for ADHD.

Our guest today, clinical psychologist Roberto Olivardia, PhD, explains why he believes Dr. Amen’s approach is unethical — and how it may lead to real harm for patients seeking answers.

For more on this topic

• Listen: Why there’s no “gold standard” for adult ADHD tests
• Listen: The ADHD content economy: How algorithms and incentives turn help into grift

For a transcript and more resources, visit Hyperfocus on Understood.org. You can also email us at hyperfocus@understood.org.

Listen to Everyone Gets a Juice Box, a new podcast from Understood.org where host Jessica Shaw has honest talks with parents raising kids who learn and think differently.

Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rae has a lifelong misconception about her dyscalculia turned on its head. And she learns why labels don’t mean limits.

For more on this topic

• Listen: Kids are at a breaking point, and school policies might be to blame
• Listen: The uncertain future of special education in the United States
• The discrepancy model: What you need to know

For a transcript and more resources, visit Hyperfocus on Understood.org. You can also email us at hyperfocus@understood.org

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Listen to Everyone Gets a Juice Box, a new podcast from Understood.org where host Jessica Shaw has honest talks with parents raising kids who learn and think differently.

Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Last fall, I heard something that floored me: The tests we have for ADHD in adults don’t work very well.

As an adult with ADHD, I think about this all the time because our diagnosis is so stigmatized and so misunderstood. It’s overdiagnosed. It’s underdiagnosed. Everybody has it. Nobody has it.

If only there were a silver bullet or some test that could definitively say yes or no.

So, I asked the two Chicago School faculty members who got me thinking about this after their presentation at the CHADD conference last year: Jessica Rosenfeld, a clinical psychologist, and Reneh Karamians, a neurorehabilitation psychologist.

They explained why adult ADHD diagnosis is so difficult, and how new scan technology holds promise for spotting ADHD in the brain.

For more on this topic

• Listen: Is ADHD genetic? We asked a Harvard scientist
• Listen: Understood Explains: ADHD in adults

For a transcript and more resources, visit Hyperfocus on Understood.org. You can also email us at hyperfocus@understood.org

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Listen to Everyone Gets a Juice Box, a new podcast from Understood.org where host Jessica Shaw has honest talks with parents raising kids who learn and think differently.

Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.