Steven Bartlett

Did you not like itchy things?

Did you cry more?

Were you more sensitive when your parents would go out for the night?

Were you more sensitive when your mom would go to work?

Or were you more sensitive when you were left at nursery school?

And they're probably going to say yes.

I would guarantee, almost guarantee they wouldn't say no because people with ADHD are people who are sensitive.

Sensitivity is an amazing strength if it's met with sensitivity.

If you have a sensitive child – so what does a sensitive child look like?

If you have multiple children, then you know, because the first thing I'll do when I give a public talk is I'll say, okay, everybody here, who has a sensitive child?

And I describe, okay, sensitive child is a child who cries more, is harder to soothe, is more clingy, doesn't like you leaving them, has a harder time separating, has a harder time going to sleep and being left to sleep on their own, is sensitive to things like noise and smells and touch and

It's a stimulant.

And so what stimulants do is they can cause great anxiety.

They can cause panic attacks.

In adolescents, they can cause growth issues.

So I have patients who come to me, young men who didn't grow.

Because they were put on stimulants when they were young.

So in terms of the consequences of using stimulants, the jury is still out, but we know that they cause growth issues, they cause panic attacks, they cause anxiety disorders, they cause depression.

They're quite life-saving for some people in terms of having a...

Because there's so much stress in modern life and there's such a need for people to perform and be successful in their careers and in school and get good grades.