The Burden of Adult ADHD in Comorbid Psychiatric and Neurological Disorders

This book highlights the importance of investigating for ADHD in adults with attention difficulties, poor memory and executive function impairments. The authors advocate a neurodevelopmental assessment approach in all phases of life, and explain how to perform such assessments. The identification of ADHD in adults with other psychiatric and neurological disorders will lead to a better response to treatments, and as a result reduce its social, economic and personal burden.

ADHD can no longer be considered solely a pediatric condition, as it occurs in a significant proportion of adults worldwide. However, ADHD in adults is often unrecognized and untreated. Diagnosing the disorder in adulthood is a challenge, due not only to the different clinical presentation in this phase of life, but also to the fact that other conditions may mask the symptoms. ADHD constitutes a hidden comorbidity with a detrimental impact of those affected, and a poor response (or even non-response) to several treatments.

Intended for psychiatrists, neurologists, specialists in gerontology and neuropsychology, this book is an indispensable resource for all mental health practitioners who want to optimize the treatment of patients affected by psychiatric and neurological disorders who respond poorly to standard treatments.

Stefano Pallanti is Director of INS, Istituto di Neuroscienze in Florence, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University Medical Center, CA, USA, and a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Florence in Italy, where he has been Head and Director of the Clinical Psychology and Consultation Psychiatry Unit since 2009. He is Visiting Professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Adjunct Associate Professor at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and was Full Professor at the University of California Davis in 2013 – 2014. He is a Fellow Member and the Scientific Board of ECNP, Advisory Council of the Icare4autism, member of the board of directors of the International College for Obsessive-Compulsive Syndromes and an Associate Director of the European Certificate, International Master’s Course in Affective Neuroscience at the Universities of Maastricht, Florence, Bristol and Tel Aviv. Since May 2013 he has served as a member of the board of directors for Clinical TMS Society. His current collaborative research projects are in the areas of ADHD, autism, behavioral addictions, treatment-resistant OCD, PANDAS, and neuromodulation treatments. He is Editor in chief of Archives of Behavioral Addictions (EDRA), Former Editor in chief of the American Journal of Psychiatry Italian edition, member of the Editorial Board of CNS Spectrums.

Luana Salerno is a licensed psychologist, with expertise in neurodevelopmental disorders. She provides comprehensive evaluations of individuals with attention and executive function difficulties, learning disorders, and behavioral problems, and develops individual treatment programs. She is also an expert in the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for the treatment of psychiatric and neurological disorders. She is a member of the European Network of Adult ADHD (ENAA) and participated to the new consensus statement on diagnosis and treatment of adult ADHD. She has published several articles and books chapters in the field of ADHD and other neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders, and is currently involved in several research projects regarding adult ADHD.