Does My Child’s Love of Electronics and Sugar Signal Potential Addictive Behavior or ADHD Risk?
This post is part of a series where our team of child mental health professionals answer real questions submitted by readers like you. It deals with subjects related to ADHD and addiction. Please take care when reading.
We recently received a question from a parent wondering about their child’s love of sugar and electronics. Below is the question, and a response from one of our child mental health experts:
“I’m wondering if I should worry about addiction to electronics and the meltdowns that happen because of it. I’m also noticing what appears to be addictive behavior related to treats and sugar, and wondering if we should be thinking about a possible ADHD early intervention. Any advice?”
- C., Minnesota
Thank you for reaching out.
Electronics, sugar and treats are examples of rewards. You are right that some children are fully capable of getting extremely absorbed in online activities or other electronic games, and can be distraught when asked to stop these. This includes children with ADHD, who can get bored easily and do tend to seek and respond to highly rewarding things even more than other children. It is also true that children with ADHD can be emotionally impulsive, which means that they move into meltdown modes very fast and sometimes very dramatically. If you’re interested, here are a few common signs of ADHD.
One recommendation with the electronics and other treats is to be clear in advance of allowing them that there are boundaries.
For instance you can say: “You can have two pieces of candy today. If you ask for more, I will say no until tomorrow, when you can have two pieces of candy again.” Or “See this clock? When it reaches this spot, it will be time for you to stop your game. Do you want me to give you a 5-minutes or a 1-minute warning - or both - to let you know that time to stop is close?”
Sometimes when you start being this clear and very firm, kids go through a brief period (usually days at most) of being even more distraught when not getting the reward they want. This is normal and usually gets better if you stay firm. Gently ignore the meltdowns and don’t budge on the plan that everyone knew about.
For ADHD: if your child has been diagnosed with it or if you suspect he has it, we definitely recommend early intervention to help your son not accumulate the type of shame/sense of being out of control and inadequacy that comes with ADHD symptoms and can lead to even more problems as your child age. You can talk to your son’s primary care provider and also remember that Little Otter can provide all the resources you need to deal with this issue.
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