Exercising the Mind to Treat Attention DeficitsBy Daniel Goleman, New York Times, May 12, 2014This article published in the New York Times earlier this month has gotten a lot of attention from my patients and colleagues. I have provided a few quotes below but you can find the full article here."Poor planning, wandering attention and trouble inhibiting impulses all signify lapses in cognitive control. Now a growing stream of research suggests that strengthening this mental muscle, usually with exercises in so-called mindfulness, may help children and adults cope with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder""According to a recent report in Clinical Neurophysiology, adults with A.D.D. were shown to benefit from mindfulness training combined with cognitive therapy; their improvements in mental performance were comparable to those achieved by subjects taking medications.""Mindfulness seems to flex the brain circuitry for sustaining attention, an indicator of cognitive control, according to research by Wendy Hasenkamp and Lawrence Barsalou at Emory University."But if medications also work, why bother with mindfulness?"In a large study published last year in The Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, researchers reported that while most young people with A.D.H.D. benefit from medications in the first year, these effects generally wane by the third year, if not sooner.'There are no long-term, lasting benefits from taking A.D.H.D. medications,' said James M. Swanson, a psychologist at the University of California, Irvine, and an author of the study. 'But mindfulness seems to be training the same areas of the brain that have reduced activity in A.D.H.D.'"
Learning to Drive with ADHD
This 2 min, 18 sec video from NBC news looks at the relationship between ADHD and teen driving. Teens with ADHD are 2-4x more likely to have an accident than their non-ADHD peers. But they also go over some common-sense techniques people are using to increase safety.
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How running 'may preserve thinking skills'
BBC reports "Activities that maintain cardio fitness - such as running, swimming and cycling - led to better thinking skills and memory 20 years on" ... "even after adjusting for factors such as smoking, diabetes and high cholesterol."The article goes on to say, "People who had smaller time differences in their treadmill test 20 years later were more likely to perform better on the executive function test than those who had bigger differences."Exercise has many benefits, and one I've seen over and over again with my ADHD patients is how exercise can help reduce restlessness and improve concentration and focus. Some find that the time exercising is made up for by the improved productivity during the rest of the day.http://www.bbc.com/news/health-26841988
Adam Levine's ADHD
Adam Levine from the band Maroon 5 and hit TV show "The Voice" talks about his experiences with ADHD in Life and Style Weekly. The article also references other celebrities that have ADHD including Channing Tatum and Jennifer Aniston's fiance Justin Theroux.
A Graduate Student Beats Her Procrastination Challenge
A Graduate Student Beats Her Procrastination ChallengeThis is an excellent podcast from an excellent podcast series. The series is called "iProcrastinate" and is hosted by eminent procrastination researcher Dr. Pychyl.In this episode a listener describes how she has taken Dr. Pychyl's recommendations and applied them to her own procrastination. She provides a great summary of how she integrated a lot of different skills to help keep her on track when working. The whole series is worth listening to, but I found this podcast to be a particularly great summary.
Jet lag, sleep, and ADHD?
Continuing on the theme of sleep dysfunction, this article talks about new information on what is going on in the brain that contributes to jet lag. This is also relevant relevant to adults with ADHD because they often will have an irregular sleep cycle. Many people I work with find themselves staying up very late into the night and sleeping much of the day. The process of trying to reset your sleep schedule may have similarities to jet lag.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23880152'Molecular basis' for jet lag foundBy James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News
A Brain Wave Diagnostic Test for ADHD?
The FDA recently approved marketing of a brain wave device for diagnosing ADHD. On 7/22/13 Martijn Arns, PhD of Utrecht University in The Netherlands wrote a blog clarifying what exactly that means. Most importantly, that only in "a minority of ADHD patients (~25-30%), this measure is consistently found to deviate" from non-ADHD patients.You can read the full blog titled "A Brain Wave Diagnostic Test for ADHD? " here: http://www.chaddleadershipblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/a-brain-wave-diagnostic-test-for-adhd.html
NPR, The Colbert Report, & the Myth of Multitasking
Researchers continue to find that multitasking actually makes tasks take longer rather than help you be more efficient with your time. For people with ADHD it supports the importance of learning skills and strategies to help reduce distractibility and maintain focus. NPR had a recent broadcast on the topic and noted that, “Clifford Nass, a psychology professor at Stanford University, says today's nonstop multitasking actually wastes more time than it saves—and he says there's evidence it may be killing our concentration and creativity too.”http://www.npr.org/2013/05/10/182861382/the-myth-of-multitaskingOr for a more humorous take on the topic can watch this 5 minute video where Stephen Colbert comments on the NPR broadcast.http://www.hulu.com/watch/511789
ADHD and Sleep (or lack thereof...)
Dr. Thakkar wrote this interesting article in the New York Times about chronic sleep deficit and ADHD. A chronic lack of sleep can have such a strong effect on your ability to focus and concentrate that it can mimic ADHD. One of the most common complaints that my clients with ADHD have is their difficulty getting adequate sleep, so they're dealing with a double attention-deficit whammy. The good news is that cognitive behavior therapy can treat both of the conditions.Diagnosing the Wrong Deficit: Could what looks like A.D.H.D. be a sleep disorder in disguise?by Vatsal Thakkar, MD
CHADD medication shortage survey
I received a request from CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) asking for people to fill out a questionnaire related to an ADHD stimulant drug shortage. If you are having trouble getting stimulant medication, you can help by filling out the survey so that CHADD can better understand the extent of the shortage and relay that information to the appropriate government agencies.Information about the questionnaire can be found here. Or you can go directly to the questionnaire here. Note that the survey is only until June 12.