Sleep Disorders and ADHD

Abstract

Mike was a 51-year-old man who was seen for a follow up visit after I had assessed him for ADHD a year earlier. He was doing fairly well with his dose of Adderall and an antidepressant. In our conversation he mentioned that his wife was still bothered by his snoring. I had recently attended a sleep disorder workshop and his chance comment caught my attention. A subsequent evaluation at a local sleep disorder clinic revealed that Mike had severe obstructive sleep apnea. His sleep doctor told Mike that because of his significant family history of heart disease, he was at risk for early death, if his sleep disorder had not been treated. This case experience increased my own interest in sleep disorders and made this a routine area of clinical inquiry in all my evaluations of children and adults. Over the past two years, I have made dozens of referrals to sleep disorder specialists who have diagnosed sleep apneas, narcolepsy, and disrupted sleep cycles in patients initially referred for ADHD assessment.