How ADHD Ruins Your Relationship—And What You Can Do To Fix It

Even though we've made a lot of advancements and discoveries in the medical field in recent years, we still have a long way to go. According to recent studies, at least one in ten kids in America will be diagnosed with an attention disorder. ADHD is something we hear about all of the time. The big question is why has it skyrocketed so suddenly these past few years? The fact that ADHD has become a virtual epidemic makes this issue even more pressing. Unfortunately, that only scratches the surface of the real problem at hand. With so many people being diagnosed, we've become really reliant on pharmaceuticals to ease the symptoms.

So you can pretty much imagine our surprise when reading author John Gray's new book Staying Focused In A Hyper World which promotes the idea that while medication does work wonders, it isn't the only option. In fact, John Gray even takes it a step further by saying that there's actually a less inexpensive (and way more effective) method to combating ADHD—and that's through dieting.

As someone who is so well known as a love and relationship guru, we get that it may seem a bit farfetched for him to have done so much research on this fragile—not to mention incredibly controversial—topic. But that's the thing. When it comes to relationships, mental health is one of the most important factors that we need to take into consideration. 

John Gray couldn't have said it any better than when sitting down with YourTango's Senior VP Melanie Gorman. Hearing him discuss just a few of the shortcomings that our society has when it comes to handling mental health today really put everything into perspective. He stresses that the point that because we are "all being overstimulated" (including our children), it's impossible for us to "maintain that focus on the relationship or shift our focus appropriately."

If you're wondering how this correlates to relationships, think about it like this. When ADHD has such a huge impact on someone you love, it can also seriously affect you and your own mental health. According to John Gray, it can "[change] our brain. For our children, it creates ADHD. For our relationships, it causes us to have short attention spans. We're not listening to each other; we're more stressed. We often lose interest in our partners and move on." Honestly, that lack of focus is just one of the many reasons why so many kids are diagnosed with ADHD today, are overmedicated and then have trouble forming relationships later on in life.

Reading his book seriously makes us question why we immediately turn to medication in order to deal with ADHD instead of trying to lessen its affects on our body and mind in a more natural way. And if you're still curious about why an author who is known for his love and relationship advice is researching ADHD, watching the video will help everything fall into place.