What an ADHD Diagnosis Means for Your family.

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The Moment

Having a child wasn’t supposed to be so difficult.   I suppose these may be the thoughts” of many parents as they walk out the pediatrician’s office with the official “ADHD diagnosis”.  “What will this mean for our family…. what do we now …. Can we afford to get help for our child?  These are only a handful of the questions parents are faced with – when they receive the news.  Getting the official ADHD Diagnosis for your child can cause you to feel a myriad of emotions.  Grief, fear, sadness, anger, jealousy, betrayed, denied, shameful, – only a sample of the feelings that can spiral through your veins .If you are  a parent that’s just received the news, I want to reassure you that you’re not alone in these feelings or thoughts.    The best recourse is to be informed and plan the best you can for your family.

Parent and Child

Living with ADHD means that families will be faced with children that exhibit more behavioral, emotional, and educational challenges. As a result, a lot of money, attention and energy are spent towards that particular child at the expense of other children within the home. The family‘s emotional health can be compromised by the increasing demands and stress of phone-calls, conflict, developmental delays, sibling rivalry etc.  Your marriage will be tested and foremost, your patience and unconditional love for  your child will be tested.

A chronically stressful environment can  contribute to the deterioration of  your mental and emotional health as parents.  A stressful parent is not as objective or as patient in dealing with new problems or challenges.  If not attended to, your parent-child relationship can be strained leading to additional emotional and mental health concerns for your child such as self-esteem and confidence issues. .

OPTIONS:  Get parenting training and seek therapy for yourself. Self-care is extremely critical when the demands on your life are weighty and it mirrors to your  child that we all need help and that he/she is no exception.

Siblings

Many times, the victims of ADHD are the siblings of the children who have been diagnosed.  Living with a brother or sister who struggles with emotional control, impulsivity, inflexible thinking- can cause challenges most siblings are not prepared for. As a result, siblings have to contend with disruptive behavior, aggressive episodes (be in verbal or physical), pitying the sibling, attention seeking behavior and so forth.  Siblings often describe their family life as “chaotic”, “exhausting”, and “overly focused on their sibling”. It can be extremely unpredictable for siblings because they never know what’s going to  happen next.  Siblings often have to step in to do extra caretaking for an ADHD sibling, so sometimes they develop resentment.

OPTIONS: Be vigilant and sensitive  about the emotions of the other children. Seek help for them as well and allow them to feel frustrated, angry or even hateful – for a moment. They are allowed to feel whatever they want to feel but the goal is to move past it and problem solve.

ADHD Diagnosis can shake up your family, but it doesn’t have to be a bad thing.  Problems provide opportunities for problem solving and everyone grows from that.

If your child has recently been diagnosed with ADHD, and you are concerned or overwhelmed, give us a call, we can help.

Positive Kids 866-503-7454

 

 

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