Is it ADHD or Anxiety?

Is your child suffering from ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) or is he suffering from anxiety?

First let’s define ADHD. Typically a teacher or a parent notices that the child is misbehaving and not staying focused. Whether intentionally or not, the child cannot sit still, is easily distracted, gets sidetracked, and can be hyper excitable. Usually based on these symptoms the doctor will prescribe medication based on the presumption that he needs more dopamine, the focus hormone in the brain.

Now let’s look at childhood anxiety. When a child is anxious he may act out, withdraw or shutdown especially when feeling stressed. Frequently the child will have an excessive need for control that can be expressed as a need for things being neat and orderly or done in a certain way. Children suffering from anxiety will tend to be self-critical or perfectionistic, they may have difficulty accepting change and will get overly excited when feeling pressured or insecure. Other common signs of anxiety include bashfulness, aggression, anger, unusual or unjustified fear, phobias, obsessive compulsive disorders, panic disorders and fear of social interactions.

Why do we get anxious? As a rule there is a deficiency of serotonin (the anti-stress brain hormone) or an overload of cortisol or adrenalin (the pro-stress brain hormones.) How do we get these imbalances? Sometimes it comes from a stressful childhood (family instability, death in the family, abuse, broken homes) but sometimes there is a biochemical reason. It turns out that many sufferers of anxiety have a rather common deficiency in an enzyme called Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (MTHFR for short). This critical enzyme, found in every cell of the body, is ultimately responsible for the production of serotonin. Without enough serotonin we will feel stressed, anxious and sometimes even panicked.

Could it be that the reason some children do not behave in school is that they are anxious in the classroom setting? Perhaps they are over stimulated and become anxious which in turn blocks their ability to focus. Perhaps they lack the biochemistry to be calm in a lively setting. Perhaps their brain chemistry is so challenged that they behave inappropriately.

We used to think that anxiety and stress were reserved for adults that have to cope with the vicissitudes of life. But with advanced diagnostic capabilities and an abundance of studies world-wide, we are discovering the truth. Anxiety and stress are not just due to one’s situation in life- it has much to do with one’s brain chemistry. Now, thanks to genetic testing we can solve the riddle of anxiety as it relates to our ability to cope with stress.

If you suspect that your child is suffering from an anxiety disorder the first and most important step to take is to determine if he or she has a deficiency of MTHFR. You can ask your doctor or pediatrician to do a blood test for the genetic MTHFR deficiency, (be sure to get both 677 and 1298 polymorphisms tested) or you can order a simple swab test (where all you do is rub a Q-tip on the inside of the child’s cheek and send it to the lab) from the vitabens.com website click here.
If the test is positive, begin taking the supplements to insure that he or she is getting the proper nutrients to make up for the deficiency caused by the genetic condition called MTHFR deficiency click here.

As a rule, the proper dose for young children 3 – 11 is 1 capsule of the B Healthy formula either in the morning after breakfast or after lunch; and children 12 and up will need 2 capsules of the B Healthy formula and 2 or 3 capsules of the GLA. (For more information, click here) these doses are suggestions and they may need modification. If you need help you can schedule a consultation with Dr. Rothstein by clicking here.

You can expect to see changes (i.e. more relaxed, better able to cope and in general more responsive) within a week or 2.

If you are not seeing the expected results, you will need a consultation with Dr. Rothstein to see if your child has other issues that need to be addressed.