ADHD Types: Temporal Lobe and Ring of Fire ADD

this page is a continuation from six ADHD types Overfocused ADD and Limbic ADD.

ADHD researcher, Dr Daniel Amen has used SPECT brain imaging (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) to study attention deficit and has found six different types of ADHD. Daniel Amen’s six types of ADHD make more sense than the conventional model with three types, as his model reflects real life ADHD. Determining the type of ADHD is helpful in finding the best treatment for the individual person with attention deficit and/or hyperactivity problems.

The temporal Lobe and Ring of Fire ADD types are serious disorders. Stimulant medication worsens their condition. These are not the positive ADHD personalities, above, but have Opposition Defiant Disorder (ODD) or Conduct Disorder. The inattention and hyperactivity are merely shared symptoms. A cough is a symptom shared with a common cold, tuberculosis and lung cancer.

Please remember that ADD/ADHD is dimensional and not categorical. There are overlaps between the different types as well as variations as to combinations of symptoms, which symptoms a person has and the severity of the specific symptoms.

Type 4: Temporal Lobe ADD

Symptoms:

• Inattentive and irritable
• Very impulsive.
• Aggressive, fights with a quick temper.
• Anger outbursts for little or no apparent reason.
• Often misinterpret comments.
• Experience periods of anxiety.
• Have headaches or abdominal pain.
• Have a history of head injury.
• Family history of rages.
• Defiant towards parents and toward authority.
• Dark thoughts and mood instability.
• Memory difficulties.
• Reading difficulty and poor handwriting.

SPECT Pattern: usually low temporal lobe activity plus low prefrontal cortex activity while concentrating. Low activity in the left temporal lobes leads to aggressive, violent behavior and serious temper outbursts.

Natural Treatment:

• This is a serious disorder and trying medication is justified with this type. Your psychiatrist will most likely prescribe a mixture of an anticonvulsive together with a stimulant, such as methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta, or Daytrana).
• supplement formulations, which can help memory and learning:
  • Attend two capsules per day.
  • Neuran four capsules per day.
  • Memorin two capsules a day.
• Behavior programs for oppositional behavior. There are different strategies for the two age groups:
  • in 2 to 12 year olds or
  • oppositional behavior in teens.

ADHD Health comments: This is not what is commonly referred to as ADHD. It is just that some inattention and hyperactivity symptoms happen to be shared, but the cause is not the same. This is not a personality type, but a serious disorder. People with temporal lobe problems are difficult to live with on a daily basis. Often seen in families with learning difficulties and dysfunctional emotional temper problems. This, together with the “Ring of Fire,” is the worst type of so-called ADHD types. Children who have the diagnosis of both ADHD and Opposition Defiant Disorder or Conduct Disorder have this form of ADHD. Stimulants medication alone usually worsen the symptoms, making this type more irritable.

Type 6: Ring of Fire ADD

Symptoms:

anger outbursts, oppositional, inflexibility, fast thoughts, excessive talking, and very sensitive to sounds and lights. I named it Ring of Fire after the intense ring of overactivity that I saw in the brains of affected people. This type is usually made much worse by stimulants.

• Inattentive.
• Short attention span.
• Easily distracted.
• Disorganized loses or misplaces things.
• Hyperactive.
• Extreme moodiness.
• Anger outbursts for little or no apparent reason.
• Stuck in negative thoughts or behavior.
• Worries excessively even over things that are not important.
• Holds grudges.
• Inflexible cognitive thinking.
• Obsessively compulsive about the way things ought to be done.
• Argumentative and oppositional towards parents. May even seem to enjoy arguing.
• has to have his/her own way.
• Task oriented, has trouble shifting attention or from one activity to another.
• Needs things to remain the same.
• Often is in families with addiction problems or obsessive-compulsive tendencies.

SPECT Pattern: A marked overall increased activity across the cortex. There may or may not be low prefrontal cortex activity.

Natural Treatment:

• Stimulant medication and L-Tyrosine supplements are likely to make a person with this type of ADD worse.
• Supplement formulations that help the over focussed type are:
  • Attend, for the ADHD symptoms.
  • Deprex, for the worry and anxiety.
  • Extress, for impulsivity, irritability and restlessness.
• Behavior programs for oppositional behavior. There are different strategies for the two age groups:
  • in 2 to 12 year olds or
  • oppositional behavior in teens.

ADHD Health comments: This is not the true positive attention deficit hyperfocussing personality (ADD/ADHD). This is Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) or Conduct Disorder (CO). The argumentativeness, the different brain areas affected and the different response to treatment indicates that this is a different condition and not what is normally referred to as ADHD. This type is often seen in dysfunctional families where there is an alcohol or other addiction problems.