#trying to learn study techniques as an adult with adhd after YEARS of not knowing i had adhd and also never being “smart” in school

[j-hawthorn]

Made a note to be REALISTIC for an accountability calendar I'm making for my studies (I am BEHIND OH NO)

Gotta circle my productivity like its a startled horse I'm trying to wrangle

[sharlmbracta]

comment excerpt:

ADHD is a boon to creativity the challenge is consistency… or seemingly so. I think in general living, you need to impose structure to survive as an adult with ADHD, especially if you go no-meds like I have. I don't think that's nearly the case with creative activities though creativity is our domain, man. It's more about trusting your mind to do good exploration when you let it run free.

Everything that ever really stuck for me about music theory, stuck AFTER doing that. Not from reading and practicing but inadvertently actualizing it in my noodling, which I've come to realize is my mind's way of sorting out the information.

It's really interesting how the knowledge comes sometimes. I have been playing guitar for 20 years, largely self-taught. l've spent a lot of time pouring over different techniques and studying theory, never really feeling like I got where I was supposed to with it. I certainly enjoy what I play, but it's always felt like the understanding that other people have, escaped me.

But now, I tend to think I just never actually realized how much theory I had picked up over the years of scattershot study. Maybe I don't have the most well-rounded foundation, but my actual output on the instrument conveys to other, more learned people, an understanding that they always seem to want to know more about, like somehow I have figured out something they haven't.

My answer has always been "Well, I never practice, but I always play." Most other players l've met, are far more 'on-grid' than me, more predictable and consistent in their decisions and application of technique. You never know what I'll play, or why it actually works. One of my best friends is an incredibly talented and dedicated musician, with high mastery of guitar, piano, and especially trumpet. HE does not understand what I do half of the time, puts all of this analysis into it, trying to crack the code. He wants ME, to teach HIM what I know.

And yet, I don't even know the code. It's all impulse from my perspective. I don't know why things come together like they do. I just know that they do the majority of the time. I know enough theory to point out what worked about them — I do that sometimes, get into a mode of reverse-engineering what I play under the lens of modern theory and it helps me internalize — feed that intuition I'll need later. It's still terrifying for me to improvise in front of people, but every time I do, people tend to presume I am much more serious and studious than I have ever been — like I meant for things to work out this way, when I probably had little clue what I was going to play before I began.

It's like I am fully present when I play, just not cognizant. Maybe it's just that the strain on memory in those times doesn't permit my brain to consciously process it all, but it seems like it still does SOME kind of recall that is almost absolute. I can do anything a normal musician can do, it's just not accessed in quite the same way. I just put in the time and it worked out.

I WILL however say. It was not always that way. For the first 5-7 years I had a hyperfocus for it that just would not let go, so I would in fact practice for hours every day. Now, I worry less about it because 'm more focused on learning new stuff and being exposed to different music that inspires me to play and write more music. At some point, I found I just had the skill-born freedom wanted on tap and it just became about discovery for me.

A lot of my best skills are like that. I don't know how or why l'm good at them, or why I can randomly rattle off in-depth information I otherwise don't ever consider. I think our ADHD brains internalize things differently. It's not that we forget things, it's more as though much of the information stored in memory comes out somewhere outside of consciousness, more in the space of intuition. The problem with ADHD isn't as much one of storage as it is recall mechanisms. The better relationship I have with my intuition, the more my skills in things I want to do just seem to come to me by just following my own impulses to engage and letting my brain get whatever it thinks it needs… and just accept that I might never know that directly.

Learning with ADHD is often akin to tending to a garden and watching as the flowers bloom.

- differentbutsimilar7893

[technicallydeliciouspainter]

Food Additives: What Parents Should Know

Food additives have been used for thousands of years, ever since people realized salt could keep meat from spoiling. Today, there are more than 10,000 additives approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to preserve, package, or modify the taste, look, texture, or nutrients in foods. But increasing evidence suggests some chemicals used as food additives should be avoided―especially for children.

How do food additives affect kids?

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) policy, "Food Additives and Child Health," explains that a rising number of studies suggest some food additives may interfere with hormones, growth, and development Some may also raise a child's risk of obesity. Children may be particularly susceptible to the effects of these additives, given that they have more exposure than adults due to their size and dietary intake.

Below is a list of the most commonly used food additives and the current health concerns. This list includes indirect additives, which are used in processing or packaging, as well as direct additives that are put directly into foods.

How to reduce your family's exposure to food additives

Buy fresh or frozen. It's best to buy and serve fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables when possible.

Eat fewer processed meats. Try to avoid processed meats, such as hot dogs, ham and meats in pre-packaged meals, especially during pregnancy.

Wash plastic food containers and utensils by hand, rather than in the dishwasher. Heat can cause plastics to leak BPA and phthalates into food. Avoid microwaving food or beverages―including infant formula and breastmilk―in plastic, if possible.

Use glass and stainless steel. Especially when cooking or serving hot foods, use alternatives to plastic, such as glass or stainless steel, when possible.

Learn plastic recycling codes. Look at the recycling code on the bottom of products to find the plastic type. Try to avoid plastics with recycling codes 3 (phthalates), 6 (styrene), and 7 (bisphenols) unless plastics are labeled as "biobased" or "greenware," which means they are made from corn and do not contain bisphenols.

Wash your hands. Because chemicals from plastics are so common in items we touch throughout the day, be sure to wash your hands thoroughly before and after handling food.

Speak out. Join the AAP and other organizations calling for more research into food additives' safety, including improvements to the U.S. food additive regulatory program and retesting some previously approved additives. A recent review of nearly 4,000 food additives showed that 64% of them had had no research showing they were safe for people to eat or drink. While some change to the current law could be achieved by the FDA, some may require congressional action.

Common questions from parents about food additives

How do I find out which additives are in foods?

Additives that are put directly in foods are listed on ingredient labels, but often with their chemical names. For example, salt may be listed as sodium chloride, sugar as sucrose, vitamin C as ascorbic acid, and vitamin E as alpha-tocopherol. Artificial colors are usually listed by their numbers, such as Blue #2 or Yellow #5. However, there are also indirect additives from processing or packaging materials that are not listed on the ingredient labels. These can include chemicals from plastic, glues, dyes, paper, cardboard, and different types of coatings.

Are additives a problem in any baby products?

The FDA recently banned BPA from baby bottles and sippy cups, but the chemical is still used in some food and beverage containers. Many companies have voluntarily removed BPA from their products, but in many cases replaced it with chemicals such as bisphenol S (BPS) that may have similar health effects. In 2017, the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned the use of some phthalates in child-care products such as teething rings.

Do artificial food colors cause childhood hyperactivity?

More research is needed to better understand how artificial food colors (AFCs) may or may not impact a child's behavior. This is because much of the original research on these additives were animal studies that did not include behavioral affects. For some children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other problem behaviors, the AAP says that until we know more, it may be helpful to eliminate AFCs from their diet if they seem to worsen symptoms.

The future of food additives

Many new techniques are being researched that will improve how additives are produced. One approach is the use of biotechnology, which can use simple organisms to produce food additives. These additives are the same as food components found in nature.

Talk with your pediatrician

Although there are ways to limit the amount of potentially harmful food additives in your family's diet, stronger federal food safety requirements will help keep all children healthy.

If you're concerned about food additives, talk with your pediatrician. Your regional Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU) have staff who can also talk with parents about concerns over environmental toxins.

There are many different methods used to produce natural plant extract powder. Durning an extraction process a solvent is used to draw out the plant extracts, common solvents utilised are water or alcohol. Once the desired compounds are extracted the solvent is then removed. The plant extraction method used depends on whether specific compounds of the plant are desired to be extracted or the full range of plant compounds. Here we take a close look at the different methods of extraction.

1. LIPOPHILIC EXTACTION // Lipophilic are oil loving (fat soluble) and therefore soluble in oil. Macerated or Infused oil are Lipophilic extracts. This includes fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K), carotenoids, bisabolol and other lipophilic active ingredients. Note: Vitamin C is an extremely sensitive hydrophilic vitamin and therefore it is NOT present in plant oils, however some plant oils exhibit Vitamin C behaviours, research, I am sure one day may explain these 'effects'.

HOW IT WORKS // Plant material is added to a carrier oil. Maceration is performed as cold or warm-cold. Usually the procedure takes a few days to several weeks and the plant material is renewed several times during the maceration period. Heat or sun are applied as sources of energy. Ingredient Example // St Johns Wort Infused Oil

2. SUPERCRITICAL EXTRACTION (CO2) //Supercritical extraction uses CO2 (Carbon dioxide - an oxygen-free process) instead of organic solvents.

HOW IT WORKS // At a temperature and pressure above its critical point, a molecule will become a supercritical fluid, which is not quite a gas, but not quite a liquid. Supercritical fluids can be used under high pressure to extract a full range of phytochemical types. CO2 has a high diffusion rate that can penetrate the material quickier than liquids. It is a pure substance found in nature and is, thus, easily removed from the final extract without leaving any residue.

Among its advantages, supercritical CO2 extraction has the flexibility to extract specific compounds, and it operates at temperatures lower than expeller press and organic solvent methods. It also involves no oxygen, thus better preserving the extracted compounds.

CO2 extraction delivers the superior active properties of the plant without the use of any chemical solvents or the production of residues & impurities or issues with rancidity. Supercritical CO2 extraction is not ideal for all ingredients, this method is only applicable to materials that are lipid soluble.

A natural instant fruit juice powder is a powder made from the juice of fresh fruit and then dried into a fine powder. Fruit juice powders are basically concentrated fruit juice dehydrated by spray-drying method. Its moisture content is 1%-3%. The spray drying process is considered a conventional method to convert fruit juices to powder form. It can be used in drinks, dressings, marinades, desserts, smoothies etc. One must not get confused between fruit powder and fruit juice powder as the two are totally different. Powders are made from drying the whole fruits while fruit juice powders are made from drying the pure juice.

What is an API?

An API is defined as a specification of possible interactions with a software component. What does that mean, exactly? Well, imagine that a car was a software component. Its API would include information about what it can do—accelerate, brake, turn on the radio, etc. It would also include information about how you could make it do those things. For instance, to accelerate, you put your foot on the gas pedal and push.

The API doesn’t have to explain what happens inside the engine when you put your foot on the accelerator. That’s why, if you learned to drive a car with an internal combustion engine, you can get behind the wheel of an electric car without having to learn a whole new set of skills. The what and how information come together in the API definition, which is abstract and separate from the car itself.

One thing to keep in mind is that the name of some APIs is often used to refer to both the specification of the interactions and to the actual software component you interact with. The phrase “Twitter API,” for example, not only refers to the set of rules for programmatically interacting with Twitter, but is generally understood to mean the thing you interact with, as in “We’re doing analysis on the tweets we got from the Twitter API.”

[successfullyadhd]

im 31, and after over a decade of trying to figure out what is wrong with me, my therapist and I are finally thinking it’s ADHD. i’ve had a gut feeling about it for a while and every ADHD post is relatable. now the problem is finding an place that does adult assessments and is affordable (no insurance). do you have any tips on going through the assessment as an adult? and if i can’t afford it, and can’t get medication. how do i ever become the productive focused person i want to be? thanks.

Sorry in advance for the long post... I put the most relevant bits in bold for a TL;DR version.

 I know getting diagnosed as an adult can seem daunting, but you shouldn’t worry too much. While ADHD was once viewed as something that only affected children, it is now widely recognized as a lifelong disorder and you shouldn’t have to fear being dismissed because you weren’t diagnosed early in life. It’s extremely helpful that you have been seeing a therapist, and they also think you have ADHD. Ask them to send over their notes when you do go to the doctor.

As for how to get diagnosed - I’ll start by saying I hate the way American healthcare is set up, as medication and healthcare in general are expensive. I have to move frequently for me and my husband’s jobs (we both work in hospitality, and as the saying goes, “You have to move out to move up!”). Because most (all?) ADHD medications are a Schedule II drug (highly regulated but still legal), I have to get rediagnosed in every new state. I always bring my past history, but most doctors want to complete testing as they are monitored for prescribing stimulants and can lose their license if found to be providing this medication without ample documentation. (All of this to say - I have been through the procedure many times as an adult.) Depending on the state, some doctors also require bloodwork and an EKG to ensure you are healthy enough to receive the medication (although some will accept past test results if done recently enough.) Also depending on the state and doctor, they may have additional requirements. In Florida, my doctor wanted a multitude of tests, and asked for a sleep study to ensure the medication wasn’t causing poor sleep. In California, as part of the Kaiser HMO system, I was required to do periodic drug tests to ensure I wasn’t also using street drugs, and to check that the Adderall was in my system (as a test that I was using it as prescribed, and not selling it). Some states are much easier – Utah, Alabama and West Virginia all were able to diagnose me in one appointment and prescribed the medication same day. Last, a General Practitioner won’t typically prescribe it and will direct you to a psychiatrist. Even if you did have insurance, most don’t cover psychiatrists or if they do, it comes with a different deductible (because obviously mental health isn’t part of regular health (heavy sarcasm)). After diagnosing, you have to meet with the doctor once a month to get the prescription refilled – due to the Schedule II status, they can’t have it on an auto-refill like other medications and they need to ensure you aren’t abusing it or having negative side effects. (although the one good thing to come out of COVID is that it normalized tele-health appointments, since an in-person meeting with a doctor once a month can be difficult to schedule). Even though I have health insurance, I typically pay out of pocket $120 a month for my visit with the doctor, and after insurance and a coupon I pay $73 for two medications (Adderall & Vyvanse). I’m fortunate now to be able to afford that expense – at the times in my life where I couldn’t, I would request a 30 day supply of the more affordable pills and only take medication on days where I couldn’t function without it (such as doing large amounts of paperwork) and try to use learned behavior techniques the rest of the time, to stretch out my resources.

As far as what goes into the actual diagnosis – doctors most commonly use a questionnaire about your daily life to assess you. Here is a link to commonly-used questionnaires: https://www.additudemag.com/adhd-assessments-and-tests/.

I know I just made it seem very daunting to get diagnosed and on a medication, but I want to be honest with you about what the process looks like, and again, depending on where you live it can be done in one session. Now that is out of the way, let me give you some information that is more helpful:

If you can, skip asking a regular GP for a referral and make an appointment directly with a psychiatrist. This will save you the extra cost of the doctor’s appointment, just to be told someone else will help. Many places have low cost mental health centers and ADHD falls into that realm, so I would check out what is available in your city. Before making an appointment, confirm the following:

-          Do they diagnose ADHD?

-          Do they prescribe medication? (Therapists don’t prescribe, only psychiatrists, and some will not prescribe ADHD medication at all so it’s important to be clear that it is your intention to receive medication if diagnosed)

-          What tests do they require for diagnosing, and prescribing medication? (Some places may have more or less requirements, and it can even vary within a city or state. This way you will know if it’s something you can afford at the time.)

Talk with the doctor about your specific situation, and what medications are affordable without insurance. Adderall, for example, is past the 10 year exclusive patent and now has a generic version available. It comes in quick release and slow release, depending on your needs. You can also talk to the doctor about a prescription to both quick and slow release, so you take the correct medicine based on your needs for that day (marathon work day? Slow release that extends over the entire day. Afternoon project – quick release that lasts for four hours). Vyvanse is great but doesn’t have a generic version and is insanely expensive without insurance (to the tune of $350+). Use the GoodRX app to find deals on medication without insurance (Adderall is about $15 for a month supply with this app). There are a ton of drug options so look up the pricing during the doctor’s visit, so you can confirm that you can afford what they prescribe. Also keep in mind that getting a prescription filled is the same cost whether you get 1 pill or 30 (a fact I learned the hard way when getting a 10 pill prescription filled once.)

 If you read all that and thought, Thanks but no thanks, here are some other options:

-          My psychiatrist in Florida recommended that I take Rhodiola Rosea supplements in addition to medication, as it has clinically proven positive effects on ADHD symptom control. I found it on Amazon. Omega-3 fatty acid supplements are also proven effective.

-          If you’re interested in this sort of thing, here is a super comprehensive study of various dietary supplements and behavior modifications that work or don’t work for ADHD: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4968082/

-          Practicing meditation is a great way to relax your body (increased stress, while helpful for short-term tasks, can make ADHD symptoms worse long term) and train your mind to hold onto singular, important thoughts (people’s names, why you walked into the kitchen, etc). I use the Waking Up app and love it – there are also many free options in the App Store and on YouTube.

-          Regular exercise is another great way to manage ADHD symptoms, as it gives your body a natural serotonin and dopamine boost, two important chemicals your body has trouble producing and absorbing naturally.

-          Caffeine is a great, easily accessible stimulant that has a focusing and calming effect on ADHD individuals. My doctor actually asked my parents to give me coffee each morning before school when I was a child, before we moved onto prescriptions.

-          Often, there are other factors that go along with ADHD, such as anxiety and/or depression. Getting this under control can go a long way in managing ADHD as well. I’m not sure if you have any issues with those, but it can be helpful to treat both if you do. The medication Wellbutrin is used to treat depression and also has mild stimulants, which would be helpful for both conditions. It isn’t a Schedule II drug, so you can probably ask your doctor for a 3 or 6 month prescription.

-          There are a ton more mind hacks and learned behavioral mechanisms you can try – read some of my other posts for suggestions.

Of course, I have to give the legal disclaimer – all of this is based on my personal experience, I’m not licensed in the medical field in any way and only a doctor can give you proper advice for your body and situation, and what medications will be most helpful. 😊

[shashwat26]

Study Of Music

Not only can you build up your musicianship skills to a higher level, you can also study the inner workings of music via theory, or explore the cultural riches of music within European traditions or non-Western music via music history, musicology, and ethnomusicology. Take opportunities to study the fundamentals of musical structures, including studies of areas like form, harmony, counterpoint, composition, and improvisation. With musicology, you can dive deep into the movements of music, becoming a specialist on all of the strange and wonderful facts about it, as well as the musicians and songs within it. As a field of study, Music has a lot of specializations which enable you to study techniques, history, the business aspects of the music industry, and more. If you are looking to increase your overall academic success, studying music may be the way to go. If you are like many students who struggle with anxiety and stress, try listening to some rap music when studying. Not only will certain types of music help you focus your studies, but they can help to reduce stress and get you into the study mood. Background music may help you remember new information According to a 2014 study, listening to classical music appears to help older adults do better in recall and information-processing tasks. Music may boost attention According to a 2007 study by Stanford Universitys School of Medicine, music — classical music, in particular — can help your brain more readily take in and process new information. The researchers found evidence that music could recruit your brain in such a way that trains it to better notice events and to make predictions about what may be happening. We now know that music and memory are highly linked in the brain, and music may have some benefits for learning. This evidence supports the theory that studying while listening to music is a highly beneficial practice. Perhaps one of the more compelling reasons for listening to music while studying is because it is proven that music helps to enhance cognitive function. Researchers used music pieces from 1800s to conduct a study, and found that music engaged areas of the brain involved with paying attention, making predictions, and updating events in memory (Baker). The researchers believed the selection of the music was an influence on the processing in the brain, and they revealed, The purpose of their research was to see how the brain sorts through events, but the research also revealed that musical techniques used by composers two hundred years ago helped the brain to organize the information coming into it (Baker). In studies of children aged 5–7, they found a marked improvement in motor skills, and measurable structural changes to the brains motor, auditory, and frontal regions, after just 15 months of musical training. In a 2011 study with 41 boys diagnosed with ADHD, the music playing in the background distracted some boys, but seemed to result in better performance in class for others. It may involve specializing in performing, composing, history, theory, jazz studies, music production, church music, and music technology. Methods in historical musicology include source-study (especially manuscript-study), palaeography, philology (especially textual criticism), stylistic criticism, historiography (choice of historical methods), music analysis (analysis of music in order to discover its internal consistency), and iconography.

For discussion like this visit http://trulyex.com/

[mymathmonkeyasia]

number games for children

Brain-Based Learning - What is It?

 Just between you and me, I've always thought the term "brain-based learning" was silly. After all, we don't do anything, much less learn, without using our brain. Our lives are brain-based. So what do they mean "brain-based learning"?

Naturally the answer's complicated because it means different things to different people.

The narrowest meaning refers to the work of Howard Gardner, a Harvard psychologist, and folks following him who've written books for teachers and parents.

In his book, "Multiple Intelligences," Gardner identified seven different learning styles including linguistic, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, musical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal.

For example, I always prefer to read directions instead of watching a video or trying to follow a diagram. I've got a linguistic learning style. You can find lots of learning style quizzes on the web for kids and adults.

But it's also pretty easy to figure out your learning style without taking a quiz. What do you most like to do? What do your kids like to do? Love reading? Hate reading? Like to make things with their hands? Would rather sing or play a musical instrument? Excel in sports?

Gardner's work has transformed hundreds of classrooms and taught us that we all learn in a variety of different ways. That the standard linguistic, logical-mathematical, left-brain style of teaching that has characterized school (and certainly college) doesn't work for all kids--maybe not even for most kids.

A child with ADHD behavior learns in one way. A child who has been read to since infancy learns in yet a different way. Artistic children, yet another way. Children who are predominately left-brain learn differently than children who are predominately right-brain.

Some learning styles are unique to certain kids. Using movement, such as in Brain Gym® is more universal. Moving always helps everyone learn. It's essential to effective stress-free learning. It's how we learned as infants. And movement helps us use learning styles beyond our favorites.

For some, multiple intelligences seemed overly complicated and restricting. Differentiated instruction sprang up out of that frustration. It's another variety of brain-based teaching based on individual differences and needs but broader and looser than Gardner's model.

Eric Jensen, a well-know learning specialist among K-6 teachers, uses the term "brain-based learning" from the broadest perspective. Jensen suggests that brain-based learning applies neuroscientific principles to learning and teaching. He uses these principles to evaluate everything from scent to stress, from ADHD to art. Then relates them to classroom use.

His work, although highly research based, is generally more classroom and parent friendly than Gardner's. Jensen offers resources from easy-to-read books to workshops to his annual Learning Brain Expo.

Bottom line, brain-based learning uses techniques and strategies that increase brain functioning for all kinds of different learners, all kinds of different brains.

 What Socrates Taught Us About Brain-Based Learning

Once upon a time, learning theory was limited to the imaginings of scholars. No one had any way to study what went on inside the brain during any kind of learning process. In the last twenty years, the advent of sophisticated imaging technology and massive computing power ushered in an explosion in rigorous scientific research on brain-based learning.

Long before the onset of this scientific investigation of how the brain actually learns, people all over the world have been challenging the traditional approach to educating others - the teacher-tell model.

"Teacher-tell" is an efficient means of transferring knowledge in the mind of the expert teacher into the minds of large numbers of novice students. University classrooms in every corner of the planet feature auditorium seating for students sometimes numbering in the hundreds. Students sit patiently in their seats while the teacher spews forth his or her knowledge in the expectation it will stick to the students' brains.

The teacher-tell model was based on a master/apprentice approach that some say dates back to the time of the ancient Greeks, beginning with the philosopher and teacher, Socrates. Some would argue that Socrates did not follow a master/apprentice model. Could we even today learn something about brain-based learning from the Socratic Method?

You can come up with your own set of educational math games. First, you need to identify the area of math you want to teach your kids. Once you've identified that, it will be easier to identify the materials or tools you need to make your own educational math games. Here is a list of materials and activities that you can utilize in creating educational math games.

 Cut-out activities. Starting with shapes would be a good idea.

Colorful pictures and tangible objects (like candies or chocolates - nice to subtract...) are also great materials to use in counting, adding, subtracting and other mathematical solving activities.

You can use cardboard cut from boxes or other sources to form cue cards and use them as part of a counting exercise. All you need are colorful pens to write down the numbers or math problems.

Paper and pencils. If you are creating math games for younger children, you can try recognition exercises. Ask your child to copy or draw numbers, so he or she can gain confidence in 'doing' math while she or he is learning.

If you have a computer at home, hit the web and see what online resources there are for mathematics games. Check the age range to make sure the problems and skills are appropriate and match what you are focusing on.

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[specialchan]

PLEASE READ - Struggling with Islam - ADHD via /r/islam

PLEASE READ - Struggling with Islam - ADHD

Salaam brothers/ sisters,

This post is about Islam specifically but the issues I describe below were present in almost every aspect of my life since childhood. No TL;DR on this post unfortunately as the full story is important. This will be really long so I don't expect everyone to get through it. Just for context, I'm from the UK so views may differ by location. I'm the middle child of 5 siblings, mainly grew up with the 2 older ones as there is a big gap between us 3 and the younger 2 siblings.

Note: The way my parents/ Madrassa teachers treated me as a child is no reflection on Islam. Islam doesn't teach parents to abuse anyone let alone kids. I do indeed love Islam more than anything despite past struggles. Also, this isn't a post to shit on my parents, they've given up everything for me and my siblings and raised us with love and affection. May they be granted into the highest heavens.

From a young age my parents, may Allah be please with them, always tried to instill Islamic teachings to my siblings and I. We were taught about Salah, Hijab, the Prophets lives etc. and always had an abundance of hadith books in the house which we would read. We were also sent to Madrassa to learn Quran and Islam in more depth.

However, it seemed when compared to my siblings I was the troublesome child. If we couldn't go to the mosque, my dad would lead prayers at home for the family. I would move and look around, make noises and try to distract my siblings. During madrassa lessons I would try to read Quran but always struggled. My Tajweed would often be incorrect and found reading Arabic difficult despite being exposed to it at a young age. The Quran classes were set by age group and compared to the rest of my peers I was falling behind. I was still reading the Juz Amma, they made us read before the rest of the Quran, whilst everyone else was reading other Surahs which dropped me behind.

My parents are from Bangladesh so have a very "traditional" method of parenting. They thought my disobedience and lack of focus during madrassa and prayers were because of Shaytan. I was often beaten as they attempted to "get rid of the devil". This of course never solved my issues and I would continue slacking in Islamic class and acting out during prayers so it was a constant cycle. I also, until about the age of 12, regularly wet the bed so this reinforced their idea of me being possessed. All of this, along with the fact that the Mosque teachers would always shame me for struggling with Quran and point to younger students who surpassed me, unfortunately caused me to resent Islam more and more. My older siblings completed the Quran whilst I was still there trying to finish one juz, the whole experience was humiliating.

Despite all this, I still had an intense fascination with Islam and religion in general. During the classes I was often the first to answer questions regarding Islam, these ranged from those about the Prophets to those regarding Islamic law etc. I would even debate in school with Non-Muslims about religion and consciousness with no hesitation in defending my beliefs. One of the Madrassa teachers was very receptive to my ideas and was the only one who didn't shame me, he would often comment on how he was impressed with my broad Islamic knowledge and this was despite my struggles with Arabic. Unfortunately he left and the hostility I faced from other teachers continued, I started bunking classes and taking walks around the park or anything to kill time. Classes were only 2 hours Mon-Fri so I was never waiting around too long before I could go home.

My parents finally ended my classes when I was 16 as I had to study for school exams. However, as time went by, the negative feelings towards religion grew. My parents would non-stop curse me and compare me to my siblings, even the younger ones could read / pray better than me. I then stopped praying completely, I was too old for my parents to physically beat anymore so there parenting methods stopped working. It's been many years now but Islam remains dear to me and I will practice again properly Inshallah.

Now 21 I was diagnosed with ADHD a few weeks ago, I was overwhelmed with emotion when the psychiatrist gave me his finding. I tried many things before the diagnosis to help me, I changed my diet, exercised, used noortropic supplements but nothing seemed to work. He explained that people with ADHD often struggle with focus, impulsiveness, hyperactivity etc. The frontal lobes in our brain don't work as well as they do in "normal" people, this part of the brain is responsible for things like language, attention, motivation, impulse control etc. We also produce lower levels of norepinephrine which works to increase attention and arousal, lack of this neurotransmitter can lapse in focus. All of this seemed to explain my struggles.

The psychiatrist also mentioned that children who tend to be "more intelligent" (I put quotations as I believe intelligence can't be measured), are often not diagnosed when they are young, they often get diagnosed as adults once they've done their own research. Not to rub my ego too much but this explains my case. Just as with Islamic studies, I also had a broad set of knowledge in normal academic classes. I was always in top set during school and did well in most exams, I took part in philosophy discussions and my teachers would comment positively on my understanding. I would however still get into trouble a lot, I was on report for a couple years and detention was standard after school. But y brain was creative and always though outside the box, this explains why ADHD patients are 6 times likely to start their own business and why so many famous/ successful entrepreneurs have ADHD.

The official diagnosis was bitter sweet, despite finally knowing what caused all my issues, I was angry that everything could've been dealt with better if I was taken to a doctor instead of my parents following backwards parenting techniques. I don't entirely blame them as they are not exactly educated on this topic, as an adult it's up to me to fix everything now.

I've been prescribed some drugs to promote dopamine production in my brain, this helps me focus and reduces restlessness and various other symptoms. It's been 3 weeks and I feel completely different, I now want to try read Quran again. I'll have to re-learn everything as it's been years and I've forgotten tajweed entirely but it would be good to see if it's any easier than my early days.

Please if you have children who are having problems, try to help them instead if beating as I know this is a problem in some of our Muslim communities. Mental health issues are almost entirely dismissed and put down to Shaytan misleading us. Don't push people away from Islam, treat the kids right and get them medical help if needed.

Thank you for taking time to read. All the best!

Submitted August 09, 2020 at 10:32AM by Farhan1900 via reddit https://ift.tt/2PJFqEd

[rationalsanskar]

How mindfulness and anxiety medication work together

March Mindfulness is Mashable’s series that examines the intersection of meditation practice, technology, and culture. Because even in the time of coronavirus, March doesn’t have to be madness.

I couldn’t practice mindfulness until I started taking medication to treat my anxiety. 

I never had the patience for meditation, and while I enjoyed yoga as an exercise, I usually ended practice frustrated that I couldn’t effectively clear my head.

The only habit I’ve ever been able to maintain is nightly journaling. For the past decade, I’ve diligently ended my day by dumping my thoughts into a journal. Before seeking treatment for anxiety, I used it as an outlet to vent my stress from day-to-day existence. Now, I’ve learned to incorporate mindfulness techniques before, during, and after sitting down to write — and I wouldn’t have been able to do so without pharmaceutical help. 

There’s a misconception that mindfulness can only be practiced by sitting quietly with your eyes closed. You can incorporate the skills you learn while doing mindfulness exercises into daily activities, like walking, journaling, and even eating. Meditation researcher and mindfulness pioneer Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as “the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally.” His stress reduction exercises built on linking those concepts with various types of meditation have been found to be promising treatments for anxiety and depression. 

But managing to incorporate these practices into daily life is especially challenging when you’re experiencing mental health shortcomings. For many living with anxiety and other mental health disorders, mindfulness or medication alone aren’t enough to manage a healthy lifestyle. When both are incorporated into a treatment plan, they can work together.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) affects 6.8 million adults in the United States, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. I’ve been anxious for as long as I can remember, but didn’t begin treating it until earlier this year. When I finally sought therapy, I thought I was just having trouble dealing with what seemed like pretty manageable stress. But the symptoms I had — constant fatigue, restlessness, insomnia, muscle tension, and an overwhelming feeling of being, well, overwhelmed — pointed to a case of severe GAD. A psychiatrist prescribed a daily dose of Escitalopram, better known as Lexapro. 

The adjustment process was a trip. I experienced appetite fluctuations, drowsiness, and a dull, persistent headache that pulsed in the base of my skull. For about a week while I increased my dose, I felt so stupid; no matter how hard I tried to, I couldn’t focus or write coherently. As I pass the six-to-eight week threshold of time for the medication to fully take effect, most of those symptoms have subsided. I don’t feel particularly changed or better, but I don’t feel the panicked, overwhelming dread that I used to. I sleep through the night now. I think more quietly — in a recent call with my therapist, I compared it to having only six trains of thought running at once, instead of 18. 

Before, my diligent journaling often spiraled into a self-pitying “brain dump,” and while I felt lighter after writing, I didn’t necessarily feel better. Journaling provided an outlet, but it also fed into my anxiety. Since starting Lexapro and regularly working with a therapist, I’ve begun using mindfulness techniques while journaling.  

I practice breath work before my nightly vent, and end entries with three observations about my body. I write about how my fingers feel holding a pen and the pressure I’m applying to the page. I write about the way I’m craning my neck and curving my back to balance my notebook on my knees. I write about the way my breathing changes when I record something that irritated me that day. I still vent, but regulating my breathing and incorporating body scanning — bringing awareness to parts of your body individually and the discomfort you may be feeling — into my nightly routine, helps release tension I didn’t even realize I was holding. 

There’s another sign of Lexapro working in my journal entries. Now that I’m relatively adjusted to it, I use more punctuation. 

“They’re called anti-depressants and not pro-happy pills.”

Dr. Ashley Covington, a holistic psychiatrist based in Los Angeles, incorporates both mindfulness and medication in treating her patients. In her practice, encouraging patients to do breath work every morning or take daily walks observing their surroundings can better their quality of life in a way that just medication can’t. In using mindfulness, “one size doesn’t fit all,” so she has her patients do “grounding exercises” that involve observing their surroundings to practice being present. Medication alone isn’t always enough for that. 

“They’re called anti-depressants and not pro-happy pills because they truly do prevent people from getting into the trenches of depression or having panic attacks, but they don’t necessarily create positive opportunities in your life,” Covington said. “That’s what you’re responsible for.” 

She told me that I probably used journaling originally as a coping mechanism to discharge anxiety. A lot of people with anxiety, including myself, tend to have a constant sense of urgency because anxiety is caused by an overactive nervous system response. When you suppress that response with medication, there’s more “space” in your head, Covington reasoned. 

“And then there’s more space to think about punctuation,” she added.

Mindfulness and medication work together 

Like me, comic and animation writer Carrie Tupper saw her quality of life improve when she began using both medication and mindfulness to manage her mental health. Before medicating, practicing mindfulness just pulled her deeper into her depressive episode.

“The journaling just made me feel like I was whining into the void, so I felt awful doing [it.] Meditation left a quiet space to realize how empty and numb I felt,” she said in a Twitter DM. “Writing lists was another opportunity to feel like I wasn’t deserving, worthy, or thankful of the blessings I had.”

People with trauma and other mental health disorders have trouble practicing mindfulness because of an especially strong fight-or-flight response. Covington called it a struggle between two parts of the nervous system: one that controls the body’s response to dangerous situations and another that reduces heart rate and regulates digestion. Those struggling with their mental health need to “train” their bodies to default to the latter, where both mindfulness and medication step in. 

Tupper sought professional help for her depression after a suicide attempt. In the five years since she began taking medication, she’s learned to incorporate mindfulness techniques into her own life that force her to be present, rather than default to stress.

“The door was jammed…And try as I might to knock the damned thing down I was trapped with this slow moving ghost.” 

Tupper compares her brain to a house: During the worst of her depression, she felt like she was “locked inside one room.” 

“The door was jammed, it wouldn’t budge,” Tupper said. “And try as I might to knock the damned thing down I was trapped with this slow moving ghost.” 

Medication was like the “key to open the door,” but when she managed to leave the metaphorical room, she realized the rest of her house was a mess. The “ghost” — her depression — still follows her and creates mess, so she needs to be consistent about cleaning. Her mindfulness techniques give her the tools to clean.

“It’s like finding a new door and opening it to a new mess to clean up, and you’re just like, ‘OMG, seriously? You messed this one up too?” Tupper explained. “And when your ghost starts acting out, the cards also help find ways to chill it out.” 

Engaging in mindful activities — like meditation — has been proven to improve executive function like memory, self control, and focus. A 2012 study published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience found that participants who meditated performed better in executive functioning tasks than those who didn’t. For those with disorders that affect executive functions, like anxiety or ADHD, Covington notes that mindfulness can be especially helpful to turn off the “busy chatter” that takes up your brain. 

“Even one minute of mindfulness like that can still help ground you, creating a little bit of presence, so that you know that when you do need to go back into work mode again you’re giving your brain that little break,” Covington said.

There’s still a stigma around medication

While self care is wildly popular, treating mental illness with medication is still stigmatized. Practices like luxuriating in bath bombs and treating yourself to a well-deserved snack are common, so why isn’t taking care of your brain culturally accepted as well? 

Writer and teacher Noah Cho agreed that if medicating came with less baggage, he probably would’ve started treatment for anxiety and depression earlier. Although he tries not to “give into” toxic masculinity, being the oldest son in a single parent household swayed him away from taking care of his mental health. 

“I grew up as the ‘man of the house’ and people expected me to be a bit more flawless.”

“I grew up as the ‘man of the house’ since my father died and people expected me to be a bit more flawless and not break down,” he said in a Twitter DM. “I was able to shed a lot of that over the years through therapy but some of it still lingered way into adulthood.” 

Cho practices mindful eating, which helps him manage body dysmorphia disorder. It helps him slow down and reassures him that he’ll have enough to eat. He’s also more patient with himself, centering himself by using apps like Headspace or going on runs. 

“But I never would have even been able to get to that point without therapy and Lexapro,” Cho said. “Which gave me the ability to actually ‘see’ what my anxiety and depression was, rather than existing as angst that I joked about or used as my personality.” 

Covington, the psychiatrist, dismisses preconceived notions that only “weak” minded people need medication. Like any other health issue, mental health should be treated, too. 

“Why make it harder on yourself if you don’t need to?” Covington said. “What are you trying to prove by resisting medication? If it’s truly going to improve your quality of life, and if it’s going to create a platform to help set you up for success, then who’s missing out?”

It’s important, however, to note that medication may not always be the answer. The United States is facing a concerning rise in overmedication, which can, at times, be harmful. 

It may not be forever, but meditation and medication work together

The longer I take Lexapro, the better I am at mindfulness. I recently began practicing yoga more regularly, and in a time as uncertain as this coronavirus pandemic, it’s been a lifesaver. I finally understand what it’s like to let myself feel present at the end of my practice. 

I’m not sure if I’ll take Lexapro for my entire life. It’s possible that I can wean myself off and live healthily without it. It’s also possible that I’ll need it forever. Regardless of whether it’s a long-term solution for treating my anxiety, it can’t be the only solution. Similarly, practicing mindfulness alone isn’t enough to manage the cluttered house that is my brain.

Covington compares taking medication to lifting yourself out of a “crisis mode.” It’ll get you back on your feet, but it may not be sustainable on its own. For that, you need mindfulness tools to stay aware of your mental state. Meditating, taking walks, and journaling can all work in conjunction.

Cleaning up a messy house can take work, but it’s less daunting when you have the tools to check in with yourself. 

If you want to talk to someone or are experiencing suicidal thoughts, text the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. For international resources, this list is a good place to start.

The post How mindfulness and anxiety medication work together appeared first on METAMORPHOSIS.

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[soniaearlyeu]

Benefits of Meditation 12 Science Based Facts

12 Scientific Reasons to Start Meditate Today.Everyone seems to say that meditation is good for your well-being, but is it real? Are all these just mere experiences of people practicing it for some few years or are there solid scientific studies that support this claim? The many blogs or forums you might have come across only mention a few benefits of meditation and do not support them scientifically. However, the benefits of different types of meditation are real and science has proved this to be true over and over again. In fact, there are at least 3,000 scientific studies on this subject. Did you know that meditating for as little as 20 minutes daily for a few weeks could change your life? Read on to find out.1. Meditation Decrease DepressionMindfulness meditation to reduce anxiety and depression. A study in Belgium’s five middle schools revealed that students who practiced mindfulness meditation program reported reduced incidences of depression. Also, there were significantly low cases of anxiety and stress. Additionally, there was a lower probability of the students developing noticeable depression-like symptoms.Mindfulness yoga training can also reduce depression symptoms in mothers-to-be as a pilot feasibility study by the University of Michigan Health System reveals. The 10-week research also found out that high-risk pregnant women bonded more with their babies in the womb during this time. Conclusion: Guided meditation reduces stress hormones we know as cortisol2. Regulate Anxiety and Mood DisordersMore than 20 randomized controlled studies from PubMed, Cochrane Databases, and PsycInfo conclude that mediation helps regulate disorders of anxiety and mood. The techniques that produce these results include Yoga, Meditation, Meditative Prayer, and Relaxation Response. The conclusion of another research is that the degree to which mindfulness meditation treats anxiety could be similar to that of antidepressant drug therapy. This is quite amazing since it could replace or reduce the use of drugs which often have side effects, an alternative and complementary medicine could be found in meditation.3. Increase Concentration of Grey Matter in the BrainHarvard neuroscientists submitted 16 people to an 8-week mindfulness course, integrating guided meditations into their everyday activities. MRI scans revealed that the concentration of gray matter increases in brain areas concerned with learning, memory, emotional regulation, having perspective, and sense of self.4. Improve Attention, Focus, and Your Ability to Work in Stressful CircumstancesThe University of California’s Katherine MacLean conducted a study concerning what happens during and after a meditation training. The results suggested that subjects can be more focused when it comes to repetitive and boring tasks and it improves your ability to focusAnother study showed that students who meditate for only 20 minutes per day improved their performance on cognitive skill tests. Even more interesting is that in some cases, they did ten times better than those who didn’t meditate. Their performance was also better on deadline stress-inducing information-processing tasks.5. Meditation Get Strength Against PainA study published by University of Montreal’s research group exposed Zen masters and non-practitioners to equal painful heat degrees while measuring the activity of their brain. They discovered that zen meditation practitioners reported less pain. This means that their minds were recording less heat. Also when it comes to chronic pain studies from mindfulness meditation has shown to have reduced chronic pain by 57 percent and has reduced it to up and over 90% Images studies have shown that mindfulness calms the brain patterns and over time this takes root and reform the structure of the brain itself, Patients did not feel pain with the same intensity and man said that they hardly notice it at all.6. A More Effective Pain Reliever than MorphineThe Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center conducted an experiment with 15 healthy volunteers that were newbies in meditation. They attended four classes of 20 minutes each. The meditation focused on the breath. There was an examination of the participant’s brain activity during pain infliction before and after the training using ASL MRI. The study’s lead author, Dr. Fadel Zeidan noted that meditation dramatically reduced pain experience and pain-related brain action. The reduction was about 40 and 57 percent in the intensity and unpleasantness of aching. This means that meditation techniques can be more effective at relieving pain as compared to morphine and other analgesics. With regularly practicing meditation you can:Improve your mental healthReduce anxietyA feel of personal growthReduce anxiety and depressionIncrease your peace of mindLower levels of stress hormonesGet a better quality of lifeMay reduce blood pressure7. Manage Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)In one study, a group of adult ADHD patients did a Mindfulness-Based cognitive therapy (MBCT). They demonstrated reduced impulsivity and hyperactivity and increased “act-with-awareness” skill. All these contributed to an overall amelioration in their inattention symptoms.8. Prepare Yourself for Stressful EventsAn All India Institute of Medical Sciences study concentrated on 32 adults who had never exercised meditation before. The results showed that if you meditated before a stressful event, there’ll be a lessening of the adverse effects of stress.9. Become More CreativeA Leiden University study demonstrated that “open monitoring” meditation exercises positively affects creativity and divergent thinking capabilities. Participants who followed the practice had a better performance in a task where they had to come up with new, creative ideas. People who practiced experienced positive emotion.10. Reduce Heart Disease and Stroke RiskIf people discovered the power of meditation, there could be fewer cases of heart-related deaths around the world. In a 2012 study, researchers challenged high-risk individuals in a group of at least 200 to either go through a diet and exercise-promoting health education class or one on Transcendental Meditation. The latter category had a 48% reduction in heart attack risk. The results showed that transcendental meditation can significantly reduce the risk for myocardial infarction, stroke, and mortality in patients with coronary heart disease. This is because the practice lowers blood pressure and reduces the effects of psychosocial stress factors. There are many other studies that point out similar conclusions and ones again show the effectiveness of meditation.11. Decrease Inflammatory DisordersA  study published at UW-Madison Waisman Centre (Spain and France) indicates that people who practiced mindfulness meditation does produce a variety of molecular and genetic effects on participants. The practice reduced pro-inflammatory gene levels, leading to faster physical recovery from stressful situations.12. Treat HIV?It is a widely known fact that HIV attacks and slowly destroy lymphocytes (CD4 T cells). However, there’s another problem called stress that many people seem to miss in HIV/AIDS patients. This issue accelerates the rate of decline of CD4 T cells. That is where mindful meditation comes in. A study from UCLA suggests that if stressed HIV/AIDS patients meditated for a few weeks, it could stop the decline of their CD4 T cells and slow down the disease’s progress. The researchers realized that those who participated in an eight-week mindfulness-based stress-reduction meditation program experienced no loss of their lymphocytes. On the other hand, the control group demonstrated significant reductions in their levels of CD4 T cells from the time the study began to the end of it. Such declines are indicators of how HIV progresses. This shows that mindfulness meditation training can significantly buffer CD4 T cell declines.ConclusionThere are so many health benefits of meditation and they’re scientifically backed. The several studies that researchers have done and published prove beyond doubt that meditate regularly works. Meditation changes and meditation improves bodies and minds So, why not try some meditation program at Yogateket, rewire your brain and start reaping the benefits?Join the online yoga community for daily meditation benefitsAt Yogateket you will find various forms of meditations and mindfulness training and we will get you started meditating in no time. lovingkindness meditation21-day meditation challengeRoot chakra meditationFocus 12 meditationDeep relaxation in yoga nidra from Online Yoga | Pranayama Meditation | YOGATEKET https://www.yogateket.com/blog/benefits-of-meditation-12-science-based-facts source https://yogateketonlineyogastudio.tumblr.com/post/181222190146

[suzannekramereu]

Benefits of Meditation 12 Science Based Facts

12 Scientific Reasons to Start Meditate Today.Everyone seems to say that meditation is good for your well-being, but is it real? Are all these just mere experiences of people practicing it for some few years or are there solid scientific studies that support this claim? The many blogs or forums you might have come across only mention a few benefits of meditation and do not support them scientifically. However, the benefits of different types of meditation are real and science has proved this to be true over and over again. In fact, there are at least 3,000 scientific studies on this subject. Did you know that meditating for as little as 20 minutes daily for a few weeks could change your life? Read on to find out.1. Meditation Decrease DepressionMindfulness meditation to reduce anxiety and depression. A study in Belgium’s five middle schools revealed that students who practiced mindfulness meditation program reported reduced incidences of depression. Also, there were significantly low cases of anxiety and stress. Additionally, there was a lower probability of the students developing noticeable depression-like symptoms.Mindfulness yoga training can also reduce depression symptoms in mothers-to-be as a pilot feasibility study by the University of Michigan Health System reveals. The 10-week research also found out that high-risk pregnant women bonded more with their babies in the womb during this time. Conclusion: Guided meditation reduces stress hormones we know as cortisol2. Regulate Anxiety and Mood DisordersMore than 20 randomized controlled studies from PubMed, Cochrane Databases, and PsycInfo conclude that mediation helps regulate disorders of anxiety and mood. The techniques that produce these results include Yoga, Meditation, Meditative Prayer, and Relaxation Response. The conclusion of another research is that the degree to which mindfulness meditation treats anxiety could be similar to that of antidepressant drug therapy. This is quite amazing since it could replace or reduce the use of drugs which often have side effects, an alternative and complementary medicine could be found in meditation.3. Increase Concentration of Grey Matter in the BrainHarvard neuroscientists submitted 16 people to an 8-week mindfulness course, integrating guided meditations into their everyday activities. MRI scans revealed that the concentration of gray matter increases in brain areas concerned with learning, memory, emotional regulation, having perspective, and sense of self.4. Improve Attention, Focus, and Your Ability to Work in Stressful CircumstancesThe University of California’s Katherine MacLean conducted a study concerning what happens during and after a meditation training. The results suggested that subjects can be more focused when it comes to repetitive and boring tasks and it improves your ability to focusAnother study showed that students who meditate for only 20 minutes per day improved their performance on cognitive skill tests. Even more interesting is that in some cases, they did ten times better than those who didn’t meditate. Their performance was also better on deadline stress-inducing information-processing tasks.5. Meditation Get Strength Against PainA study published by University of Montreal’s research group exposed Zen masters and non-practitioners to equal painful heat degrees while measuring the activity of their brain. They discovered that zen meditation practitioners reported less pain. This means that their minds were recording less heat. Also when it comes to chronic pain studies from mindfulness meditation has shown to have reduced chronic pain by 57 percent and has reduced it to up and over 90% Images studies have shown that mindfulness calms the brain patterns and over time this takes root and reform the structure of the brain itself, Patients did not feel pain with the same intensity and man said that they hardly notice it at all.6. A More Effective Pain Reliever than MorphineThe Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center conducted an experiment with 15 healthy volunteers that were newbies in meditation. They attended four classes of 20 minutes each. The meditation focused on the breath. There was an examination of the participant’s brain activity during pain infliction before and after the training using ASL MRI. The study’s lead author, Dr. Fadel Zeidan noted that meditation dramatically reduced pain experience and pain-related brain action. The reduction was about 40 and 57 percent in the intensity and unpleasantness of aching. This means that meditation techniques can be more effective at relieving pain as compared to morphine and other analgesics. With regularly practicing meditation you can:Improve your mental healthReduce anxietyA feel of personal growthReduce anxiety and depressionIncrease your peace of mindLower levels of stress hormonesGet a better quality of lifeMay reduce blood pressure7. Manage Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)In one study, a group of adult ADHD patients did a Mindfulness-Based cognitive therapy (MBCT). They demonstrated reduced impulsivity and hyperactivity and increased “act-with-awareness” skill. All these contributed to an overall amelioration in their inattention symptoms.8. Prepare Yourself for Stressful EventsAn All India Institute of Medical Sciences study concentrated on 32 adults who had never exercised meditation before. The results showed that if you meditated before a stressful event, there’ll be a lessening of the adverse effects of stress.9. Become More CreativeA Leiden University study demonstrated that “open monitoring” meditation exercises positively affects creativity and divergent thinking capabilities. Participants who followed the practice had a better performance in a task where they had to come up with new, creative ideas. People who practiced experienced positive emotion.10. Reduce Heart Disease and Stroke RiskIf people discovered the power of meditation, there could be fewer cases of heart-related deaths around the world. In a 2012 study, researchers challenged high-risk individuals in a group of at least 200 to either go through a diet and exercise-promoting health education class or one on Transcendental Meditation. The latter category had a 48% reduction in heart attack risk. The results showed that transcendental meditation can significantly reduce the risk for myocardial infarction, stroke, and mortality in patients with coronary heart disease. This is because the practice lowers blood pressure and reduces the effects of psychosocial stress factors. There are many other studies that point out similar conclusions and ones again show the effectiveness of meditation.11. Decrease Inflammatory DisordersA  study published at UW-Madison Waisman Centre (Spain and France) indicates that people who practiced mindfulness meditation does produce a variety of molecular and genetic effects on participants. The practice reduced pro-inflammatory gene levels, leading to faster physical recovery from stressful situations.12. Treat HIV?It is a widely known fact that HIV attacks and slowly destroy lymphocytes (CD4 T cells). However, there’s another problem called stress that many people seem to miss in HIV/AIDS patients. This issue accelerates the rate of decline of CD4 T cells. That is where mindful meditation comes in. A study from UCLA suggests that if stressed HIV/AIDS patients meditated for a few weeks, it could stop the decline of their CD4 T cells and slow down the disease’s progress. The researchers realized that those who participated in an eight-week mindfulness-based stress-reduction meditation program experienced no loss of their lymphocytes. On the other hand, the control group demonstrated significant reductions in their levels of CD4 T cells from the time the study began to the end of it. Such declines are indicators of how HIV progresses. This shows that mindfulness meditation training can significantly buffer CD4 T cell declines.ConclusionThere are so many health benefits of meditation and they’re scientifically backed. The several studies that researchers have done and published prove beyond doubt that meditate regularly works. Meditation changes and meditation improves bodies and minds So, why not try some meditation program at Yogateket, rewire your brain and start reaping the benefits?Join the online yoga community for daily meditation benefitsAt Yogateket you will find various forms of meditations and mindfulness training and we will get you started meditating in no time. lovingkindness meditation21-day meditation challengeRoot chakra meditationFocus 12 meditationDeep relaxation in yoga nidra from https://www.yogateket.com/blog/benefits-of-meditation-12-science-based-facts

source http://yogateket.weebly.com/blog/benefits-of-meditation-12-science-based-facts

[bonnieespinozaeu]

Benefits of Meditation 12 Science Based Facts

12 Scientific Reasons to Start Meditate Today.Everyone seems to say that meditation is good for your well-being, but is it real? Are all these just mere experiences of people practicing it for some few years or are there solid scientific studies that support this claim? The many blogs or forums you might have come across only mention a few benefits of meditation and do not support them scientifically. However, the benefits of different types of meditation are real and science has proved this to be true over and over again. In fact, there are at least 3,000 scientific studies on this subject. Did you know that meditating for as little as 20 minutes daily for a few weeks could change your life? Read on to find out.1. Meditation Decrease DepressionMindfulness meditation to reduce anxiety and depression. A study in Belgium’s five middle schools revealed that students who practiced mindfulness meditation program reported reduced incidences of depression. Also, there were significantly low cases of anxiety and stress. Additionally, there was a lower probability of the students developing noticeable depression-like symptoms.Mindfulness yoga training can also reduce depression symptoms in mothers-to-be as a pilot feasibility study by the University of Michigan Health System reveals. The 10-week research also found out that high-risk pregnant women bonded more with their babies in the womb during this time. Conclusion: Guided meditation reduces stress hormones we know as cortisol2. Regulate Anxiety and Mood DisordersMore than 20 randomized controlled studies from PubMed, Cochrane Databases, and PsycInfo conclude that mediation helps regulate disorders of anxiety and mood. The techniques that produce these results include Yoga, Meditation, Meditative Prayer, and Relaxation Response. The conclusion of another research is that the degree to which mindfulness meditation treats anxiety could be similar to that of antidepressant drug therapy. This is quite amazing since it could replace or reduce the use of drugs which often have side effects, an alternative and complementary medicine could be found in meditation.3. Increase Concentration of Grey Matter in the BrainHarvard neuroscientists submitted 16 people to an 8-week mindfulness course, integrating guided meditations into their everyday activities. MRI scans revealed that the concentration of gray matter increases in brain areas concerned with learning, memory, emotional regulation, having perspective, and sense of self.4. Improve Attention, Focus, and Your Ability to Work in Stressful CircumstancesThe University of California’s Katherine MacLean conducted a study concerning what happens during and after a meditation training. The results suggested that subjects can be more focused when it comes to repetitive and boring tasks and it improves your ability to focusAnother study showed that students who meditate for only 20 minutes per day improved their performance on cognitive skill tests. Even more interesting is that in some cases, they did ten times better than those who didn’t meditate. Their performance was also better on deadline stress-inducing information-processing tasks.5. Meditation Get Strength Against PainA study published by University of Montreal’s research group exposed Zen masters and non-practitioners to equal painful heat degrees while measuring the activity of their brain. They discovered that zen meditation practitioners reported less pain. This means that their minds were recording less heat. Also when it comes to chronic pain studies from mindfulness meditation has shown to have reduced chronic pain by 57 percent and has reduced it to up and over 90% Images studies have shown that mindfulness calms the brain patterns and over time this takes root and reform the structure of the brain itself, Patients did not feel pain with the same intensity and man said that they hardly notice it at all.6. A More Effective Pain Reliever than MorphineThe Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center conducted an experiment with 15 healthy volunteers that were newbies in meditation. They attended four classes of 20 minutes each. The meditation focused on the breath. There was an examination of the participant’s brain activity during pain infliction before and after the training using ASL MRI. The study’s lead author, Dr. Fadel Zeidan noted that meditation dramatically reduced pain experience and pain-related brain action. The reduction was about 40 and 57 percent in the intensity and unpleasantness of aching. This means that meditation techniques can be more effective at relieving pain as compared to morphine and other analgesics. With regularly practicing meditation you can:Improve your mental healthReduce anxietyA feel of personal growthReduce anxiety and depressionIncrease your peace of mindLower levels of stress hormonesGet a better quality of lifeMay reduce blood pressure7. Manage Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)In one study, a group of adult ADHD patients did a Mindfulness-Based cognitive therapy (MBCT). They demonstrated reduced impulsivity and hyperactivity and increased “act-with-awareness” skill. All these contributed to an overall amelioration in their inattention symptoms.8. Prepare Yourself for Stressful EventsAn All India Institute of Medical Sciences study concentrated on 32 adults who had never exercised meditation before. The results showed that if you meditated before a stressful event, there’ll be a lessening of the adverse effects of stress.9. Become More CreativeA Leiden University study demonstrated that “open monitoring” meditation exercises positively affects creativity and divergent thinking capabilities. Participants who followed the practice had a better performance in a task where they had to come up with new, creative ideas. People who practiced experienced positive emotion.10. Reduce Heart Disease and Stroke RiskIf people discovered the power of meditation, there could be fewer cases of heart-related deaths around the world. In a 2012 study, researchers challenged high-risk individuals in a group of at least 200 to either go through a diet and exercise-promoting health education class or one on Transcendental Meditation. The latter category had a 48% reduction in heart attack risk. The results showed that transcendental meditation can significantly reduce the risk for myocardial infarction, stroke, and mortality in patients with coronary heart disease. This is because the practice lowers blood pressure and reduces the effects of psychosocial stress factors. There are many other studies that point out similar conclusions and ones again show the effectiveness of meditation.11. Decrease Inflammatory DisordersA  study published at UW-Madison Waisman Centre (Spain and France) indicates that people who practiced mindfulness meditation does produce a variety of molecular and genetic effects on participants. The practice reduced pro-inflammatory gene levels, leading to faster physical recovery from stressful situations.12. Treat HIV?It is a widely known fact that HIV attacks and slowly destroy lymphocytes (CD4 T cells). However, there’s another problem called stress that many people seem to miss in HIV/AIDS patients. This issue accelerates the rate of decline of CD4 T cells. That is where mindful meditation comes in. A study from UCLA suggests that if stressed HIV/AIDS patients meditated for a few weeks, it could stop the decline of their CD4 T cells and slow down the disease’s progress. The researchers realized that those who participated in an eight-week mindfulness-based stress-reduction meditation program experienced no loss of their lymphocytes. On the other hand, the control group demonstrated significant reductions in their levels of CD4 T cells from the time the study began to the end of it. Such declines are indicators of how HIV progresses. This shows that mindfulness meditation training can significantly buffer CD4 T cell declines.ConclusionThere are so many health benefits of meditation and they’re scientifically backed. The several studies that researchers have done and published prove beyond doubt that meditate regularly works. Meditation changes and meditation improves bodies and minds So, why not try some meditation program at Yogateket, rewire your brain and start reaping the benefits?Join the online yoga community for daily meditation benefitsAt Yogateket you will find various forms of meditations and mindfulness training and we will get you started meditating in no time. lovingkindness meditation21-day meditation challengeRoot chakra meditationFocus 12 meditationDeep relaxation in yoga nidra source https://www.yogateket.com/blog/benefits-of-meditation-12-science-based-facts source https://yogateket.blogspot.com/2018/12/benefits-of-meditation-12-science-based.html

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Efficient Strategies For Grass Fed Organic Whey Canada Uncovered

In Restaurant Trends, What Comes After Farm-to-Table? Sourcing local produce is one thing. Now, chefs are redefining ‘farm-to-table’ by overseeing the growing themselves. On the plate, the results are radically fresh. Plus: a guide to next-level restaurants near you IT BEGAN for Matthew Accarrino, the chef at SPQR in San Francisco, when he grew weary of sifting through farmers’ markets, vying with other chefs for the same carrots and tomatoes. Truly unusual produce, he realized, wasn’t sold this way—it wouldn’t make financial sense for a farmer. So he started ordering and buying directly from farms, but he struggled to come up with crops to request. Then, in 2011, he got to know a regular diner at SPQR named Peter Jacobsen, who owned a small farm in Yountville, Calif. Copyright ©2018 Dow Jones & Company , Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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How To Start Reaching Your Real Fitness Potential

There are many parts of fitness. It has to do with your diet, going to the gym, using certain products and developing good habits. When it comes to getting fit, there are a lot of different options. In this article, you can learn a lot about fitness, which can help you get your body functioning healthy. You may want to consider getting a couple of sessions with a private trainer when establishing your workout routine. A quality trainer can help you figure out your goals and assess your strengths and weaknesses so they can develop the best fitness program for you. A lot of people are intimidated by the gym, so make sure an advantage by hiring a personal trainer to help assist you along the way. This will put you on the way to a good start to a fitness plan you can commit to. Pay for your gym membership in advance to make sure you utilize it. Paying in advance may guilt you into going more often. However, you should only do this if you're struggling to get yourself to workout. Proper walking form is vital when working out to reduce injury. Walk with your back straight and your shoulders down. Keep your elbows at right angles as you swing your arms. Additionally, keep your arms opposite your feet. Each step should involve allowing your heel to land on the ground first followed by rolling the rest of your foot forward. If you'd like to improve your muscle mass, then you should do less reps, but lift a greater amount of weight. Choose a muscle group to start with, perhaps the chest or the biceps. Start by lifting light weights to warm up. A weight that allows you to perform 15 to 20 repetitions is about right. Next, increase the weight and do a smaller set of 6-8. Add five more pounds to the weight and repeat the third set. Crunches aren't going to give you a six pack, no matter how many you do. You can build strength on your body by building your abs, but you won't really burn too much fat in the process. If you desire to have six-pack abs, it's necessary to reduce your overall body fat by following an excellent diet and workout routine. When lifting weights, remember that more repetitions with lighter weights will add more muscle mass than doing fewer reps with heavier weights. It may seem like the ability to lift more is most important, but the goal is to see who can go longest without needing to give up. This is a very popular technique among many professionals. Set a schedule for yourself if you're having difficulty committing to exercising. You should try working out a few days a week. It is important that you follow your schedule. If you need to miss a workout day, make it up by scheduling another replacement day where you work equally hard. In summary, there is so much to learn and educate yourself about the world of fitness While there are a few basic rules that have to be followed, every exerciser has a wide array of options to customize his or her fitness routine. Are you ready to get into great shape?

Some Advice On Speedy Plans Of Canada

3, 2015, the photo of Alan lying dead on the beach appeared in newspapers around the world. Canada, which was in the throes of a federal election campaign, was linked to the boy in initial media reports that mistakenly stated his family’s application to come to Canada had been rejected. “I need urgent responsive lines,” a staffer at the Canadian embassy in Beirut asked of the Immigration department. Communications staffers immediately went into damage control. Emails that began early in the morning went back and forth, discussing media lines aimed at correcting the public record — the Kurdi family had not been rejected by Canada — while also highlighting the commitment of Stephen Harper’s Conservative government to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees. One bureaucrat tried to move the conversation away from message control, stressing the “need to focus on the migrant issue” and asked them to consider naming Alan Kurdi in the government response. “Doesn’t matter how many thousands, a three (year-old) boy is dead,” wrote Jean-Bruno Villeneuve, assistant director of media relations for Immigration. But the ensuing conversations only became more bureaucratic. Transcriptions of every media report and copies of every news story were shared among the staffers, as well as the increasingly frustrated requests from journalists, still awaiting the government’s official response. Meanwhile, communications staffers worked on a draft statement and continued to loop more and more departmental heads into the conversation, asking for input and approval on wording. Here and there, a word would be changed, and the newly revised draft would have to once again be circulated for approvals, which were required at the deputy minister level of multiple departments and from the Privy Council Office, the bureaucratic arm of the Prime Minister’s Office. Finally, at about 4 p.m.

For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/04/29/alan-kurdi-photo-left-canadian-government-scrambling-emails-reveal.html

Vitamin Tips, Tricks And Techniques You Need

Most people understand that supplements can aid them in achieving health goals. But, most people are unaware that they don't have enough of them. In order to reap the benefits of these nutrients, some basics must be understood. Continue this article to understand the basics. Calcium helps you have stronger bones. Taking vitamin D with calcium will help with the body's absorption of the calcium. This vitamin can be obtained through food, supplements and sunlight. Any one of these helps you get more calcium into your system. At a time when health care is expensive, promoting good health is important and adding daily vitamins is a good start. For just a few dollars a month, you can reduce the visits to your doctor by improving your health with vitamin and mineral supplements. Riboflavin, also known as vitamin B2, is found in bananas, dairy products and asparagus. If you don't get enough, you may have scaly skin and cracked lips. Patients who get enough riboflavin may face a decreased risk for developing carpal tunnel syndrome, cancer, anemia, and cataracts. We may want to eat as healthy as we can but it's hard on a budget. Learn all you can about vitamins and minerals, and use the knowledge to boost your immune system and start leading a better life. Getting enough vitamins and minerals is growing in importance. Canned and packaged goods on grocery store shelves lose nutrients during processing. A simple multivitamin can do a lot to boost your nutrition. If you're postmenopausal, don't consume prenatal vitamins. Many women who are not pregnant take these vitamins in order to help grow their hair and nails. They actually have too much iron for those past menopause and can be dangerous to take. Many fruits and vegetables are rich with Vitamin C, but citrus fruits are abundant with it. Most people are unable to receive all of the vitamins and minerals they need, so supplements are a great way to make up for that. This vitamin is potent and can help with treating skin infections, acne, stomach ulcers, gum disease, and colds. If that's not enough, studies have proven that vitamin C also helps those with dementia and ADHD. If you're tempted to take your kid's gummy vitamins, make sure you take several. Adults' vitamin needs are higher than children's so one is generally not enough. Just don't take too many since that is not good, either. Manganese is a wonder vitamin that should be taken regularly in the recommended dosages. Manganese heals wounds quicker and helps bones form. It also boosts metabolism of protein, cholesterol, and carbs. This is something you can find in teas, both black and green, most whole grains, almonds, and many beans. If you are on a specific diet that does not allow for foods containing manganese, you can always purchase it in the vitamin aisle of your favorite store. It is important to know how vitamins and minerals may interact with your medicines. Some interactions can even be life-threatening. Let your doctor know about supplements you take or plan on taking to see if it is okay to combine with your prescription medication. Learn about adverse effect of medications with your vitamins from the doctor or pharmacist. Eating vegetables steamed or raw is the ideal method. Vitamins can be lost when food is cooked. If you need to cook vegetables, steaming is a good way to change their texture without getting rid of nutrients. Vegetables that have been frozen are still ideal as long as they aren't overcooked. After reading through this advice, you certainly feel more knowledgeable about vitamin supplements. You now understand they are necessary for a healthy life. Apply the information as soon as possible. Using this information will make your life more enjoyable and healthier.

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The Nuts & Bolts For Establishing Core Criteria Of Iso Xp Grass Fed Whey

Some Simple Guidance On Fundamental Factors Of Grass Fed Whey Protein Canada

Home » Protein beverage maker secures $8 million investment Protein beverage maker secures $8 million investment Iconic Protein ready-to-drink protein beverages are made using dairy protein from grass-fed cows in New Zealand. SANTA MONICA, CALIF. — Iconic Protein, maker of protein beverages made with grass-fed dairy, has raised $8 million in a funding round led by private equity firm KarpReilly. Bill Moses, co-founder and former chief executive officer of KeVita, also participated in the round and will join Iconic Protein as the company’s executive chairman. Launched in 2013, Iconic Protein offers a line of ready-to-drink protein beverages that are made using dairy protein from grass-fed cows in New Zealand and are free from hormones, antibiotics and preservatives. The drinks, available in Café Au Lait, Chocolate Truffle and Vanilla Bean flavors, contain 20 grams of protein and 130 calories each. “Iconic has distinguished itself as a leader in the fast-growing protein drink space with the use of clean animal protein, incredible velocity at shelf and an audience that reaches far beyond the typical protein beverage consumer,” said Allan Karp, co-founder of KarpReilly. “There is an enormous market opportunity for Iconic’s better-for-you, New Zealand grass-fed dairy protein offering, and we are excited to work with their team to take the brand to the next level.” Bill Moses, co-founder of KeVita, and Lance Collins, founder of Core Hydration, Bodyarmor and Fuze Beverage, participated in the funding round. Iconic plans to use the funding to build out its senior leadership team and invest in product innovation, the company said. Iconic’s retail partners include Sprouts, Wegmans, H-E-B and Rouses Markets. Additional investors in the funding round include Lance Collins, founder of Core Hydration, Bodyarmor and Fuze Beverage, along with Gunnar Lovelace and Nick Green, founders of Thrive Market. 

For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/10592-protein-beverage-maker-secures-8-million-investment

Great Ideas For A Fitness Plan That You Can Love

You need to start somewhere if you are interested in getting fit, and you have taken a great first step. This article offers great advice and useful tips to help you get started on your journey. If you value success, follow the advice laid out here in order to heighten fitness and get the most you can for your health. Grow your own garden. Gardening and yard work are more demanding than you would think. There is weeding, digging and there's also a whole lot of squatting going on. If you do not enjoy gardening, there are a wide variety of other things that can be done at your own home to remain in good physical condition. Maximize your results by varying your workout activities. Someone who usually uses an indoor exercise bike can bike around on the streets in their neighborhood. The different kinds of stress that the different exercises put on the body will yield different results. The body can only keep on improving when it is constantly challenged with new and different routines. Simple push-ups can actually tone your triceps. Well, not quite average. Instead of the traditional style, a nice angle at roughly 45 degrees with your palms is much better practice. This particular pushup tones and strengthens your triceps more effectively than other types of exercises. Keep a daily fitness diary. Record your daily work outs, and be sure you add in all the extra exercises you do each day. You can tell how far you have walked in a day if you use a pedometer through the day. This written record will prove invaluable in tracking your progress on your fitness journey. Running helps your body out immensely, but if you do not follow certain guidelines, it can damage your body extensively over a long period of time. In order to prevent negative consequences, spend one out of every six weeks running half of what you usually do. When you only run half of a normal session, it gives your body time to repair itself. People often try to do abdominal exercises on a daily basis. Actually, this isn't an ideal practice for this particular muscle group. Abdominal muscles should have recovery like all other muscle groups. Because of this, allow approximately 2 or 3 days for your abs to rest after a hard ab workout. Your run should consist of three parts. Begin running slowly, and work gradually up to the pace at which you usually run. During in the last third, try running quicker. Doing this will increase your levels of endurance, allowing you to run a little longer every time you go for a run. Aim past the hole on straight putts if your preferred fitness sport is golf. Try about 17 inches. You will not have divets in the grass from people walking in this area. The thicker blades in this area will slow down your ball and keep it from rolling so far. When first starting out any fitness routine, it is best to begin slowly. Focus on familiarizing yourself with breathing techniques and performing different exercises properly. This allows you to enhance and improve without injuring yourself or hindering yourself due to improper breathing. If your child's school participates in fitness programs, volunteer for these events to be a good role model for your children when it comes to fitness. Showing a personal interest in exercise can encourage your child to be more involved in healthy activities. Success through fitness always starts with a well constructed plan. The advice from this article will help you create your own personal fitness plan. If you're not sure where to start, don't get discouraged. The tips you have read here should help you on your journey.

An Updated Analysis Of Swift Plans For Canada

���We can’t relitigate projects every time a new government comes into place,” McKenna said, referring specifically to the change in government in British Columbia that resulted in the province shifting positions on the Kinder Morgan pipeline. “It does not create investor certainty, nor does it really help protect our environment.” McKenna is facing pushback from the provinces on multiple fronts right now. In addition to B.C.’s staunch opposition to Trans Mountain, Saskatchewan is also heading to court to try to avoid having to impose a price on carbon pollution. WATCH: Saskatchewan files constitutional reference case over carbon tax The province is asking the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal to rule on the constitutionality of the federal government’s carbon tax legislation. Ottawa has maintained it can force the provinces to come up with a plan to impose some kind of levy by the end of the year. McKenna noted that 80 per cent of Canadians already live in a province with a carbon tax. READ MORE:  Albertans are least likely in Canada to believe Whey Protein in climate change Asked if the systems of government in Canada are somehow broken, the minister denied that’s the case. “I think Canada’s working fine. The federal government is going to look after the national interest,” she said. “In the same week, we have Saskatchewan saying we don’t have jurisdiction to put on a price on pollution, which we do. We have the province of B.C. saying we don’t have jurisdiction to approve major projects like pipelines, which we do.” McKenna said her focus will remain on speaking directly to all Canadians, trying to convince them that the Liberals are able to balance the environment and economic considerations. But a series of audits released just last week by environment commissioner Julie Gelfand revealed that Canada still isn’t doing enough to ensure it will meet international commitments on biodiversity and sustainable development.

For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit https://globalnews.ca/news/4172556/kinder-morgan-carbon-tax-catherine-mckenna/

Want To Know All About Vitamins? Learn More Here

It's not easy to reach your health goals. You need to make sure that you do the right things in life and that means learning more about your health. In order to get started, check out the following tips concerning vitamins and nutrients. Your bones rely on calcium to grow and stay strong. You need to have lots of vitamin D to absorb calcium, though. You can get vitamin D through food, of course, as well as supplements or just spending time in the sun. Each of these things is a good way to make sure your body will absorb calcium. To get more B2 vitamin into one's diet, eat foods like diary and bananas. Too little riboflavin, also called vitamin B2, can cause cracked lips, scaly skin, and reduced hemoglobin and red blood cells. Riboflavin has been proven to help prevent anemia, cataracts, and cancer. Nowadays, minerals and vitamins are very important. You can find these anywhere and they are very beneficial to your health. A good multivitamin supplement can help to replace these lost essential nutrients. Do not take any prenatal vitamins if you are already past the age of menopause. Non-pregnant women often take these types of vitamins for their nails and hair. While this is generally safe, they are not a good idea for post-menopausal women since they contain more iron than necessary. Vitamin C is in many citrus fruits and other vegetables and fruits. If you don't get enough in your diet, a supplement is best. This will help to reduce ulcers, acne and infections. If that's not enough, studies have proven that vitamin C also helps those with dementia and ADHD. If you prefer the taste of children's vitamins, chew on two or three. Adults need more vitamins than children do, so one gummy won't do you much good. Do not take too many though, as this can have adverse effects. In today's fast paced world, many people rely on fast food restaurants. This results in vitamin deficiencies. To help ensure you are receiving the nutrients your body requires, consider taking a multivitamin. Not every person can absorb B12 effectively, and this is truer as you grow older. You may eat a lot but absorb very little. It's a good idea to have a doctor test your B12 levels so that you can figure out whether or not you need to get shots. Eat vegetables steamed or raw. Cooking your vegetables can actually deplete the levels of vitamins within them. When choosing to cook vegetables, steaming is always the best option. When vegetables are flash frozen, they have very high nutrient content. Don't waste this by overcooking. Eat your veggies steamed, or even better, raw. Other methods of cooking can get rid of some of the vitamins. If you are preparing vegetables, it is important that you steam them the right way to get a good taste without losing out on essential vitamins. Frozen vegetables are also wonderful to include in your meals. You can make the most of vitamins and minerals in your life. It is now time to put the wheels in motion. The best way to effect change is to dive in headfirst.

[boliybola]

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Picking Out Level-headed Products In Grass Fed Whey Protein Canada

Extracted from the most potent part of the coconut, Levels MCT (Medium Chain Triglycerides) Oil is packed with brain-charging Caprylic (C8) and Capric (C10) fatty acids that are quickly digested and converted into fat-scorching energy.* A foundation for physical and mental stamina, Levels MCT Oil can prolong energy levels, improve cognitive focus, support digestive health and accelerate the metabolism.* Levels MCT Oil is crafted from only one ingredient, Non-Gmo Project Verified Coconut Oil. It contains no solvents, no palm oil, no soy, no gluten and no chemical additives. Levels MCT Oil can be consumed in a variety of ways. It can be added to tea or coffee, or blended with smoothies and juices for a long lasting energy boost.* MCT Oil can also be used to substitute traditional oils in salads. Levels MCT Oil is unflavored, odorless, and tasteless. Each bottle is 32oz and contains 63 tablespoon servings. “From the outset, product excellence has been an obsession of our company; it’s a foundation we continue to build upon and refine every day. We are excited to bring such a great product to our customers. Our commitment to them will always be, active lifestyle provisions on another level,” said the Levels product team. Levels Provisions continues to raise the standards for taste and quality in the sports nutrition category. Founded in 2016, Levels Provisions Whey Protein has become the leading brand on Amazon for grass-fed whey protein powders in the US.

For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit https://www.projectnosh.com/food-wire/2018/levels-provisions-launches-mct-oil/

Solid Advice To Help You Reach Your Health And Fitness Goals

If you want to be in better health you should go ahead and do it! Don't avoid getting started today. Exercise doesn't have to disrupt your life, either. You can begin your fitness routine by learning a few simple routines from the article below. Many people spend time at the gym lifting weights and working on the machines in an attempt to get toned muscles. Instead, you can practice six simple exercises in order to build muscle and burn fat. Walking will help to increase fitness and is a fantastic workout. To increase the fitness benefit, take each step with your heel before your toe. This gives your calves more of a workout. You should also work out the arms by only flexing at the elbow. Counting calories is always a solid approach to getting fit. Being aware of the number of calories you consume each day is important, as it is the main factor in whether or not you will lose weight. Your fitness program will get really productive if you limit your calorie intake to your maintenance level and increase your calorie usage by working out. To build the strength in your legs with an easy exercise, try doing wall sits. Find a place that is large enough for your body. Then position yourself about eighteen inches away from the wall, with your back to it. Lean back with your knees bent until the length of your back meets the wall. Keep bending your knees until you reach a point where your thighs and the floor are parallel. You will be in a seated position, but without a chair. Maintain this position until you can no longer stand. "All crunches, all the time" is not the proper motto to follow if you want washboard abs. Abdominal exercises will strengthen your muscles, but they won't burn off your belly fat. To get a six pack, you'll need to lower your body fat percentage through diet, cardio, and strength training. Are you looking for ways to get more impact from your workouts? Research has show that strength can be increased by about twenty percent if you stretch. Take 20 to 30 seconds to stretch your muscle in between each exercise sets. To improve your exercise routine, sometimes all it takes is a basic stretch. If you perform repetitive movements, try counting backwards from your desired total. This will allow you to keep track of the number that you are on and also provide more motivation. Make sure to schedule exercise into your day around the meals that you eat. If you are busy at lunchtime, you may end up choosing something unhealthy, like fast food or snacks from a vending machine. If you keep a schedule you will be able to plan what you eat and when you exercise. These tips and advice may become the first steps on your way to a fit and healthy lifestyle. No matter if you are already working out, these tips can help you get on the way to being a fit person. Remember that you're never going to finish with fitness and that there are always new things to discover.

A Basic Overview Of Vital Details Of Canada

WATCH: U.S., UK and France launch airstrikes in Syria The United States, United Kingdom and France launched missile strikes on Syrian facilities on April 14 in response to a chemical weapons attack in Douma a week earlier that killed dozens. The coalition countries blamed Syria’s Russian-backed president, Bashar al-Assad , for the atrocity. Both chlorine and sarin were reportedly used in the regime attacks on the rebel-held city. READ MORE: Trudeau supports U.S.-led military action after Syrian chemical attack ISIS has also conducted chemical attacks. CNN, quoting U.S. officials, reported last year that ISIS had formed a “chemical weapons cell�� in Syria to help defend its strongholds. The possibility that ISIS foreign fighters could return to Canada with chemical weapons know-how was raised by federal officials in drafts of the 2017 Public Report on the Terrorist Threat to Canada . WATCH: How the RCMP deals with terrorist fighters returning to Canada The draft reports, obtained by Global News under the Access to Information Act, cited the issue repeatedly. But all mentions of the issue were cut from the final version of the Public Safety Canada report released last December. An editing note in one draft said the Privy Council Office had called the section on chemical weapons “speculative” and said that ISIS was “more proficient in TATP,” a high explosive. This image released early Sunday, April 8, 2018 by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets, shows a child receiving oxygen through respirators following an alleged poison gas attack in the rebel-held town of Douma, near Damascus, Syria.

For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit https://globalnews.ca/news/4153194/returning-isis-chemical-weapons-risk-internal-government-documents/

Vitamin Tips, Tricks And Techniques You Need

Are you completely satisfied with your health right now? Are you still able to maintain a high enough energy level like you have always had in your life? Can you get out of your bed with no trouble? Is your body fit and strong? If not, taking a multivitamin with minerals can help. Read on to enhance your knowledge in this important area. Working out is not enough for getting in shape; you also need to take vitamins. The right nutrients will make it easier to burn fat and build muscle. Make sure you are eating a diet that is healthy and balanced to ensure it includes adequate vitamins and minerals. You should eat fruits and veggies at least five times a day. You should also have adequate amounts of lean protein. If you can't do this, you should try supplements to get some your vitamins and minerals. Do you want to be healthier? Eat more minerals and vitamins. This will save you money as you won't need to visit the doctor as much. Sometimes, we just can't schedule in a good meal. You can maintain a healthy body by taking supplements, which will allow your body to operate at peak performance to burn fat, digest food, and expunge toxins. Vitamin A is very important to maintaining a healthy immune system while lowering the chances of heart disease, and improving your vision. Large amounts of Vitamin A can be toxic, which means keeping to the daily recommended amount. Carrots, squash and leafy greens are great sources of vitamin A. There is an increasing reliance on the use of supplements for missing vitamins and minerals. Canned and packaged goods on grocery store shelves lose nutrients during processing. A good multivitamin supplement can help to replace these lost essential nutrients. Vitamin C can be found abundantly in citrus fruits as well as other fruits and vegetables. Vitamins and minerals taken in supplemental form are perfect to eliminate any deficiency you may have. Vitamin C boosts the immune system to fight off such diverse problems as the common cold, skin problems, acne, infections, gum disease and more. Also, studies show that vitamin C helps people with Alzheimer's, dementia and ADHD. If you prefer the taste of children's vitamins, chew on two or three. Children need less vitamins and minerals than adults, so one will not give you all the nutrition you need. Don't err on the side of excess as this can be detrimental. Fresh produce is less processed and therefore, better for you overall health than canned fruits and vegetables. You may need to add a quality supplement to your diet, too. Consider boosting your intake of manganese. It strengthens bones and boosts wound healing. Manganese also improves your body's ability to metabolize cholesterol, protein, and carbohydrates. A cup of black tea or a handful of almonds can provide you with this nutrient. You can also buy manganese supplements at the drugstore or on the Internet. Vitamin B12 does not always absorb well as you get older. Though you may take a lot, you may not absorb any at all. You should get yearly tests to make sure you have adequate B12 levels. Eat raw or steamed veggies. Vitamins can be lost when food is cooked. If you want to cook veggies, steam them. You can still get vitamins from frozen veggies, but be sure to avoid overcooking them. If you have been plagued by depression, perhaps you need more vitamin D, magnesium and omega 3 fatty acids. Omega-3 is perhaps the most popular supplement available, and there is a good reason for that. It keeps the brain healthy, among many other benefits. You can help maintain a relaxed body with a magnesium supplement. Today might not be great, but tomorrow can be amazing. Use the right mixture of vitamins to improve your health. Start as soon as you can so you can begin feeling better.

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This Is How To Increase Your Attention Span: 5 Secrets From Neuroscience

New Post has been published on http://foursprout.com/happiness/this-is-how-to-increase-your-attention-span-5-secrets-from-neuroscience/

This Is How To Increase Your Attention Span: 5 Secrets From Neuroscience

***

The human brain is the most amazing thing in the universe. It got us to the moon, built the pyramids, cured smallpox… And it also can’t seem to go 6 minutes without checking Facebook.

How long can college students focus without switching to something fun like social media or texting?

5 minutes. Tops.

From The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World:

Regardless of age, students were able to stay focused and attend to that important work only for a short period of time—three to five minutes—before most students self-interrupted their studying to switch to another task.

And that was under lab conditions when they were specifically instructed to focus as long as they could on something they were told was important. Yikes.

Our attention spans are evaporating. Focus is a lot art. Research shows we check our phones up to 150 times a day — about every six to seven minutes that we’re awake. In fact, we’re so distracted we’re walking into things.

From The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World:

According to one report in Scientific American, data from a sample of 100 US hospitals found that while in 2004 an estimated nationwide 559 people had hurt themselves by walking into a stationary object while texting, by 2010 that number topped 1,500, and estimates by the study authors predicted the number of injuries would double between 2010 and 2015.

Still with me? Good. (Sorry — after those stats, I really do need to ask.) So how do we steal back our attention spans? Luckily, some experts have answers…

Adam Gazzaley is a neuroscientist and a professor in neurology, physiology and psychiatry at University of California, San Francisco. Larry Rosen is professor emeritus of psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills. Their book is The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World.

Okay, grab your Ritalin. Let’s get to it…

  Attention Span 101

First off, stop blaming technology. It’s not your phone’s fault; it’s your brain’s fault. Tech just makes it worse. Our brains are designed to always be seeking new information.

In fact, the same system in your grey matter that keeps you on the lookout for food and water actually rewards you for discovering novel information.

From The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World:

The role of the dopamine system has actually been shown to relate directly to information-seeking behavior in primates. Macaque monkeys, for example, respond to receiving information similarly to the way they respond to primitive rewards such as food or water. Moreover, “single dopamine neurons process both primitive and cognitive rewards, and suggest that current theories of reward-seeking must be revised to include information-seeking.”

Okay, fine — but if your brain is so good at seeking out new info, why is it so terrible at follow through?

Because the information-seeking part is way stronger than the “cognitive control” part that allows you to complete tasks.

From an evolutionary standpoint, realizing there was a lion behind you was far more important than sticking to whatever task you were busy with before Simba showed up.

From The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World:

Our cognitive control abilities that are necessary for the enactment of our goals have not evolved to the same degree as the executive functions required for goal setting. Indeed, the fundamental limitations in our cognitive control abilities do not differ greatly from those observed in other primates, with whom we shared common ancestors tens of millions of years ago…

And focusing isn’t the only activity that taxes our grey matter. fMRI studies of the brain show ignoring irrelevant stimuli is not a passive process.

Just like noise-canceling headphones need batteries, your brain has to expend precious resources in order to filter distractions around you. So doing the same task is harder in environments with more tempting or annoying stimuli.

(To learn more about the science of a successful life, check out my bestselling book here.)

Alright, you know a little more about how your brain works. So how do you go about increasing your attention span? First step: don’t waste what little you have…

  1) Stop Multitasking

Juggling multiple activities not only divides your attention among the tasks — but you also pay a cognitive “penalty” on top of that to manage the switching.

This results in more errors and makes things take longer than they would have if you had done them each separately.

From The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World:

…if the two goals both require cognitive control to enact them, such as holding the details of a complex scene in mind (working memory) at the same time as searching the ground for a rock (selective attention), then they will certainly compete for limited prefrontal cortex resources… The process of neural network switching is associated with a decrease in accuracy, often for both tasks, and a time delay compared to doing one task at a time.

Oh, but some folks are still going to fight me on this one: But you don’t understand, I’m really good at multitasking!

Oh, really? If you think that, you’re actually the worst at it.

From The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World:

…it has been shown that people who believe that they are good at multitasking actually tend to be those who do the worst on laboratory tests of multitasking, leading the study authors to conclude that “participants’ perceptions of their multi-tasking ability were poorly grounded in reality.”

Yes, you probably feel good when you multitask. But feeling good and efficiency are not the same thing. Multitasking meets your emotional need to do something new and exciting… while also slowing your brain down and increasing errors.

From The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World:

…the reason behind the constant task switching is a desire to feed emotional needs—often by switching from school work to entertainment or social communication—rather than cognitive or intellectual needs.

You wouldn’t even try to lift 5000 pounds. You know your body can’t do it. So stop thinking you can efficiently multitask. You now know your brain can’t do it.

(To learn how to stop checking your phone, click here.)

Okay, so what’s the single most powerful way to actually increase your attention span?

  2) Exercise

Strengthen your body and you strengthen your brain. In fact, cognitive control is measurably better after just a single exercise session.

From The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World:

Boosts in cognitive control abilities occur even after engagement in a single bout of physical exertion, as assessed in healthy children and those diagnosed with ADHD, with benefits extending to academic achievement. Interestingly, it seems that the impact on the brain is greater if an exercise program is also cognitively engaging. Similar training benefits of acute and chronic exercise on cognitive control have been shown in both young adults and middle-age adults. There is also a very large body of research on the cognitive benefits of physical exercise in older adults.

And while we’re discussing things physical, let me confirm what should be obvious: get your sleep. While just one exercise session boosts cognitive control, just one bad night’s sleep reduces it.

From The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World:

…even a single bad night’s sleep can impair cognitive control and how ongoing sleep deprivation can have severe and long-term consequences.

(To learn how to best use exercise to strengthen your brain, click here.)

Exercise makes you brain healthier and that sharpens cognitive control. But what’s the most direct way to improve your attention span?

  3) Meditate

Focus on your breath and when your mind wanders, return your attention to your breath. That’s meditation in a nutshell. Guess what else that is?

Attention training.

From The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World:

Results indicated that participants exhibited improvements in selective attention compared to those in a control group who did not train over the same time period. This study was consistent with findings from previous research that showed expert meditators excelled on selective attention tasks compared to nonmeditators. Over the years more evidence has accrued that meditation techniques improve cognitive control, including sustained attention, speed of processing, and working memory capacity.

Start with a minute a day. Will you see enormous effects from that? Nope. But it sure will stop you from telling me “I don’t have time to meditate.”

Eventually build up to a habit of 20 minutes a day and you’ll start to see why everyone keeps yakking about how great it is.

(To learn more about how to meditate, click here.)

I know, I know: exercise is hard. And, frankly, meditation is harder. So what’s a way to improve cognitive control as passively as possible?

  4) Call Your Mother Nature

Exercise and meditation both strengthen your attention muscles. Spending time in nature recharges those muscles when they’ve been exhausted.

The effect is so powerful that merely looking at a picture of nature had restorative effects.

From The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World:

A 2008 paper described a significant improvement in their working memory performance after the nature walk, but not after the urban walk. Similar beneficial effects of nature exposure have been shown to occur in children with ADHD and young adults with depression, and amazingly even in response to just viewing nature pictures.

Ever get to the end of a day and think, “I don’t want to make any more decisions”? Treat yourself to a Google Image search for “nature.” Yes, it’s that simple.

(To learn the seven-step morning ritual that will make you happy all day, click here.)

You’ve strengthened your attention with exercise and meditation. You’ve given your cognitive control a recharge with nature. What’s another angle for boosting focus?

  5) Reduce Interference

You can improve your ability to focus by changing your brain or changing your behavior. And it’s best if you do both. We talked about changing your brain. And the best way to change your behavior is to make sure that anything which might distract you is far away.

Simply put, make your environment as boring as possible when trying to focus. Research shows even having a phone in the room can be distracting.

From The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World:

A recent study by Professor Bill Thornton and his colleagues at the University of Southern Maine demonstrated that when performing complex tasks that require our full attention even the mere presence of the experimenter’s phone (not the participant’s phone) led to distraction and worse performance. In the same study, the presence of a student’s silenced phone in a classroom had an equally negative impact on attention.

If at all possible, “batch” all email checking, texting and social media into three pre-designated times. Then turn off all notifications.

From The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World:

Results indicated that when participants—a mixture of college students and community adults—checked only three times a day they reported less stress, which predicted better overall well-being on a range of psychological and physical dimensions.

And taking breaks is not only okay, but beneficial. Try gradually extending the amount of time between breaks to further build those attention muscles, Hercules.

(To learn how to stop being lazy and get more done, click here.)

Okay, we’ve learned a lot. Let’s round it all up and learn how to pay more attention when it matters most — in your relationships…

  Sum Up

This is how to increase your attention span:

Stop multitasking: You wouldn’t try to lift 5000 pounds. Your body can’t do that. Don’t try to do your best work while checking email, texting, and posting to Instagram. Your brain can’t do that.

Exercise: You know it’s good for your body. Guess what? Your brain’s part of your body. (Shocking, I know.)

Meditate: Simply put, meditation is attention training.

Call your mother nature: Looking at a picture of a tree is like a deep tissue massage for your brain.

Reduce interference: Remove anything from your environment that might distract you. Batch email and social media. Extend the time between breaks to build your attention muscles.

Having your phone out doesn’t just distract you from work — it also reduces empathy and harms your relationships.

From The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World:

…the mere presence of any phone reduces closeness, connection, and conversation quality as well as reducing the extent to which individuals feel empathy and understanding from their partners, all of which negatively affects our relationships with others.

So what can we do to improve the amount of attention we pay to those we care about — and how much attention they give us in return? Try a game of “cellphone stack.”

At the beginning of your next meal out with friends, everyone stacks their phones at the end of the table. If someone grabs their device before the check arrives, they pay the entire bill. You’ll be much more focused on your friends — or it’ll be the most expensive text message you’ve ever sent.

So stop multitasking, start exercising and meditating, get out in nature and reduce distractions. It’ll boost your attention span, sharpen your work, and reduce stress. And I guarantee it’ll improve your relationships. Your friends will love all the attention you’re showing them…

Or they’ll love that you keep buying them dinner.

Join over 320,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email here.

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The post This Is How To Increase Your Attention Span: 5 Secrets From Neuroscience appeared first on Barking Up The Wrong Tree.

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Know about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Overview Experts suggest that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects an estimated 8 percent of school-aged children, and about two-thirds of children diagnosed with ADHD continue to show signs of the disorder into adulthood. ADHD interferes with your ability to regulate motor activity (hyperactivity), control key behaviors (impulsivity) and focus on tasks (inattention). When the hyperactivity is not present, the condition is sometimes called attention deficit disorder (ADD), although the more accurate term is ADHD-inattentive type. By current estimates, more than two times as many boys as girls are affected by ADHD, but the ratio appears to become more even by adulthood. Overall, women and girls may exhibit fewer of the typical symptoms associated with ADHD in boys. For example, girls with ADHD are more likely to be reserved than hyperactive. They tend to be less defiant and more compliant than boys and men with the condition. Like boys and men with ADHD, however, women with the condition may have difficulty completing tasks and remaining organized. Instead of being tested for ADHD, they're often dismissed as flighty or spacey. Thus, because girls are less likely to disrupt class—the kind of behavior that often brings boys with the condition to medical professionals' attention—girls are less likely to get diagnosed with ADHD. Consequently, many girls and women do not get the help they need. Often, girls' self-esteem suffers as they encounter academic problems in school. They may have difficulty with interpersonal relationships as well as social challenges. These secondary difficulties may result in depression, anxiety disorders, problems sleeping, self-harmful (cutting) behaviors and/or abuse of alcohol or other substances. Furthermore, girls with ADHD are at greater risk for early pregnancy, promiscuity and sexually transmitted diseases. A recent study following girls for 10 years showed significantly higher risk for suicide attempts and self-injury compared to a comparison group. Once diagnosed, many women recall painful or difficult childhood experiences in school that were likely to have been linked to ADHD but attributed at the time to other causes, such as laziness or lack of ability. This misattribution can itself lead to significant damage to self-esteem and self-confidence, resulting in demoralization. Causes of ADHD Although no one knows for sure what causes ADHD, the condition does run in families, suggesting a strong genetic component. Children who have a parent with ADHD are at an increased risk for ADHD themselves. And twin and adoption studies confirm a high degree of genetic connection with this condition. For identical twins, there is a strong chance the other twin has it. Again, this "family resemblance" appears strongly related to genes rather than social factors. Many researchers around the world are now investigating various genes that may contribute to the development of ADHD in families. It is unlikely a single gene is responsible, but undoubtedly many genes, operating interactively with one another and with environmental risks. A smaller percentage of cases of ADHD are due to environmental or nongenetic biological risk factors, including premature birth, low birth weight; prenatal use of alcohol, tobacco and/or cocaine; and exposure to lead, which can alter brain development in the fetus. Infections and complications during pregnancy can also increase the chances that a baby will eventually develop ADHD in childhood. Additionally, some postnatal problems, such as chronic low levels of lead, recurrent ear infections or severe head trauma, can result in ADHD. For years, ADHD was thought to be a disruptive behavior disorder that most experts intuitively believed involved some brain abnormality. With the development of more sophisticated brain scanning techniques, it is now known that people with ADHD do have anatomical differences in their brains, as well as differences in the biochemical balance that controls everything from mood to impulses. Brain imaging studies show differences in ADHD brains in several areas: differences in dopamine receptors in specific areas of the brain differences in total brain volume and brain volume of specific areas of the brain differences in the brain networks that are used to solve specific tasks differences in the rate of maturation of frontal/prefrontal areas of the brain Children with ADHD show a pattern of delayed maturation of certain regions of the brain compared to their peers without the disorder. These regions of delayed development are involved with controlling motor behavior, impulse control and attention levels. The conclusion is that slower brain development is a characteristic of ADHD brains and may explain the delay in development of emotion/impulse control and organizational skills. Another biological component of ADHD has to do with levels of certain neurotransmitters in the brain. Adults with ADHD who have never received any medication have lower amounts of receptors for the neurotransmitter dopamine in key subcortical regions linked to motivation and reward than do adults without the disorder. In fact, stimulant medications used in the treatment of ADHD help balance levels of dopamine, improving symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. ADHD is not caused by many environmental triggers commonly believed to be associated with the disorder, such as too much TV, food allergies, eating too much sugar, problematic home life, poor teaching or schools or permissive parenting. Still, it is essential to realize that the home environment and the school setting are extremely important in managing ADHD—and that ineffective parenting and educational settings can exacerbate the symptoms and lead to additional impairments. Diagnosis Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most prevalent chronic neurobiological disorder in children. Once thought to affect only children, it is now recognized as a disorder that most often continues into adulthood and presents unique issues for girls and women. Common symptoms of ADHD can include: failing to give close attention to details or making careless mistakes difficulty sustaining attention to tasks appearing not to listen when spoken to directly failing to follow instructions carefully and completely losing or forgetting important things feeling restless or fidgeting talking excessively or blurting out answers before hearing the whole question ADHD is a serious diagnosis that can have a tremendous negative impact on your life, work and family. It may require long-term treatment with counseling and medication, so it's important that a health care professional carefully evaluate all symptoms to rule out other conditions that could cause similar symptoms or behaviors. For instance, stress can cause symptoms similar to those seen in ADHD, such as forgetfulness or feeling overwhelmed and disorganized. However, reactions to stress are usually temporary, subside when the stressful events pass, and are not present in a chronic fashion since childhood. Symptoms caused by ADHD are persistent, chronic and unchanging since childhood or early adolescence. The diagnosis itself, however, must be approached very carefully and shouldn't be done during a time-limited office visit with a pediatrician or other medical doctor. Improper treatment from misdiagnosis or failure to obtain treatment because of a missed ADHD diagnosis can both have significant, long-term consequences. To reach an ADHD diagnosis in children, health care professionals use diagnostic criteria published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV-TR) and consider information from other sources. For example, interviews with the patient, the patient's family and, in the case of children, information provided by caregivers and teachers who see the child regularly can provide a picture of the patient's behavior and learning styles. Diagnosing and treating adults is challenging. The diagnostic criteria, with their emphasis on school behavior and performance, are designed to make the diagnosis in children, not adults. Hyperactivity, for instance, tends to diminish by adulthood, although other symptoms, such as inattention, may appear worse because of mounting adult responsibilities. The following informal checklist further describes behaviors in adults that may be the result of ADHD. An individual having chronic problems since childhood with many of these symptoms may require further evaluation: I am constantly trying to get organized, but can never seem to get or stay there. I often feel that I talk too much or impulsively blurt things out. I often feel overwhelmed. I make impulsive purchases and decisions. I frequently misplace personal items. I start one thing but never finish it because I am distracted by something else. I am frequently late. I am a procrastinator. I often make careless errors and oversights during the day. I often pay bills late and have difficulty managing my money. There are three primary subtypes of ADHD: predominantly hyperactive-impulsive, predominantly inattentive and combined hyperactive-impulsive and inattentive. The DSM-IV lists these other signs of ADHD, many of which apply to children in the classroom: Inattention Those who are inattentive find it difficult to keep their minds on any one thing and may get bored with a task after only a few minutes. They may, however, give effortless, automatic attention to activities and things that are highly engaging, like video games. But they may have difficulty with deliberate focus, conscious attention on organizing and completing tasks, responses to repetitive materials or mastery of challenging information. Hyperactivity-impulsivity Hyperactivity: Those who are hyperactive always seem to be in motion and have trouble sitting still. They squirm in their seats or roam around the room. Or they might wiggle their feet, touch everything or noisily tap their pencils. They may be fidgety or try to do several things at once, bouncing around from one activity to the next. They report an internal sense of restlessness and the need to continually move around. Impulsivity: Those who are overly impulsive seem unable to curb or weigh their immediate reactions, thoughts and behaviors before acting. As a result, they may blurt out inappropriate comments or physically attempt something without thinking it through. This could apply to taking tests in school as well as participating in potentially dangerous behaviors. Their impulsivity also makes it hard for them to wait for things they want. This leads to poor frustration tolerance and temper outbursts. Not everyone who is overly hyperactive, inattentive or impulsive has an attention disorder. Nor does everyone with ADHD exhibit all behaviors associated with the disorder. It's important to realize that during certain stages of development, it may be normal for children to be inattentive, hyperactive or impulsive, and that these behaviors at these stages don't fit an ADHD profile. For example, preschoolers typically have lots of energy and run everywhere they go, but that doesn't mean they are hyperactive. And many teenagers go through a phase when they are messy, disorganized and reject authority. This phase doesn't necessarily persist as a lifelong problem with attention, organization and/or impulse control. Because everyone exhibits some of these behaviors at times, the DSM-IV contains very specific guidelines for determining when the behaviors indicate ADHD. Specific symptoms must appear early in life, before age seven, and continue for at least six months. In children, they must be much more frequent or severe than in others the same age. Above all, the behaviors must create a real handicap in at least two areas of a person's life, such as school, home, work or social settings. However, it's important to know that the inattentive type of ADHD may not be diagnosed until age nine or 10, the age when symptoms of inattention become noticeable and problematic because school demands have increased. So if your behavior or your child's doesn't impair work, friendships or other relationships, you probably won't be diagnosed with ADHD. Nor would a child who seems overly active at school but who functions well elsewhere. Health care professionals also consider the following questions during an assessment for ADHD: Are these behaviors excessive, long-term and pervasive? That is, do they occur more often in you or your child than in others the same age? Are they a continuous problem rather than a response to a temporary situation? Do the behaviors occur in several settings or only in one specific place? The health care professional pieces together a profile of behaviors, based on all available information, and then considers: Which ADHD-like behavior patterns listed in the DSM-IV are apparent? How often and in what situations? How long have they been going on? How old was the child/adult when the problem(s) started? Are the behaviors seriously interfering with school, friendships, activities or home life? Are there any other related problems? Is there a parent with ADHD symptoms? The answers to these questions help identify whether the hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention are significant and long-standing. If so, a diagnosis of ADHD may be made. Other conditions may occur with ADHD, making it more difficult to arrive at a clear diagnosis. Women and girls with ADHD, for example, are more prone to depression than men and boys with ADHD. A serious but treatable mental disorder, depression can disrupt all areas of your life, including mood, sleep, appetite, relationships, and the ability to think clearly. If you think you're suffering from depression, it's critical that you get a diagnosis and proper treatment. Left untreated, depression can be life-threatening, given the risk of suicide that accompanies the disorder. Anxiety is another common condition seen in those with ADHD. Some children with ADHD, for example, feel tremendous worry, tension or uneasiness, even when there's nothing to fear. Because the feelings are scarier, stronger and more frequent than normal fears, they can affect the child's thinking and behavior. Children with ADHD are also more likely to have achievement problems than children without the disorder, even if they don't have a full-blown learning disability. ADHD is not in itself a learning disability but learning disabilities commonly occur with ADHD. But because it can interfere with concentration and attention, it can make it doubly hard for a child to do well in school, creating lifelong frustrations. A very small number of people with ADHD have a rare disorder called Tourette syndrome. People with Tourette syndrome have tics and other involuntary movements like eye blinks or facial twitches they can't control. Some may grimace, shrug, sniff or bark out words. Fortunately, these behaviors can be controlled with medication. The effects of ADHD extend far beyond the classroom, often wreaking havoc on everything from educational budgets to sibling relationships. In 2005, the CDC reported that the educational cost of ADHD was about $36 billion to $52 billion annually. Children with ADHD use more mental health services, have more frequent emergency department visits and have higher rates of pedestrian, bicycle and driving accidents than children without ADHD. All of which places extreme stress on their parents. It doesn't matter if the child with ADHD is male or female; parenting either is equally stressful. Overall, mothers of children with ADHD report significantly higher levels of parenting stress than mothers of children with other chronic disorders, and they're more likely to become depressed. Parents of children with ADHD are also more likely to experience increased absenteeism and decline in productivity in the workforce than parents of children without the disorder. The annual cost to the economy in terms of lack of productivity, unemployment and related issues linked to ADHD is measurable in many billions of dollars. Of course, ADHD also places tremendous strain on relationships and places marriages at higher risk for divorce. Learning how to manage children with ADHD effectively and consistently is a major component of most treatment plans. Some research looks at the concept of executive function (EF). This involves the ability to organize, sequence a task, shift from task to task, prioritize, plan and anticipate, and hold information in your memory as you consider multiple factors when making a decision. Some researchers consider executive dysfunction inherent to ADHD, while others consider it a separate category as defined by neuropsychological test results. Children and adults with ADHD plus EF deficits show more academic and life impairments that those with ADHD without EF dysfunction. ADHD medication, although helpful for ADHD symptoms, has much less beneficial effect on EF symptoms. Skills-based therapies are more useful in these cases. Getting a Diagnosis Several types of health care professionals are qualified to diagnose and treat ADHD. For children: Child psychiatrists are physicians who specialize in diagnosing and treating childhood mental and behavioral disorders. A psychiatrist can provide therapy and prescribe any necessary medications. Child psychologists are also qualified to diagnose and treat ADHD. They can provide therapy for the child and help the family develop ways to deal with the disorder. But psychologists are not medical doctors and must rely on physicians for medical exams and prescriptions. Neurologists, physicians who work with disorders of the brain and nervous system, can also diagnose ADHD and prescribe medicines. They will likely be involved with any brain imaging tests. But unlike psychiatrists and psychologists, neurologists usually do not provide therapy for the emotional/organizational aspects of the disorder. Family physicians receive training to provide continuing and comprehensive medical care, health maintenance and preventive services to patients of all ages. When it comes to ADHD, they can diagnose the condition, prescribe medications and, in some cases, provide counseling. Pediatricians are physicians who have specialized training in treating children's illnesses. Like family practitioners, pediatricians may or may not have specialty training in or experience with ADHD. Because ADHD is most prevalent in children, it is likely that a pediatrician will have experience in the ADHD screening process and can help rule out (or identify) medical conditions similar to behavior or learning patterns of ADHD. Pediatricians can also provide referrals to local ADHD specialists. Developmental and behavioral pediatricians specialize in behavior and development in children. Serving as a liaison with primary care physicians and other medical specialists, developmental and behavioral pediatricians serve as key members of a multidisciplinary team. They provide comprehensive developmental, medical and behavioral assessments; education for parents and professionals regarding various medical/developmental diagnoses; and medical management of ADHD and other neurobehavioral disorders. For adults: Psychologists, psychiatrists, neurologists and primary care physicians may also diagnose and treat ADHD in adults. But not all health care professionals are trained and skilled in identifying or treating ADHD in adults. Within each specialty, individual health care professionals and mental health professionals differ in their knowledge of and experience with ADHD. So when selecting a health care professional, it's important to find someone with specific training and experience in diagnosing and treating the disorder and distinguishing coexisting psychiatric disorders. Treatment An effective treatment plan will help you cope with ADHD, whether you or your child is the one with the diagnosis. For adults, the treatment plan may include medication along with practical and emotional support. For children and adolescents, it may include providing an appropriate classroom setting and accommodations, as well as medication and helping parents understand and manage the child's behavior. Treatment for ADHD may involve medication, behavioral/psychological counseling, educational/workplace interventions or a combination. Three medications in the class of medications known as psychostimulants, or stimulants, seem to be the most effective in treating ADHD in both children and adults. These are: Methylphenidate (e.g., Ritalin, Concerta, Metadate, Methylin, Daytrana). Methylphenidate is available in brand name and generic tablets,capsules and liquid. Daytrana is a methylphenidate transdermal patch approved for treating ADHD in children aged six to 12. Dexmethylphenidate (Focalin, Focalin XR) Dextroamphetamine-amphetamine mix (Adderall, Adderall XR). Dextroamphetamine(Dexedrine, Dextrostat, Concentra). Lisdexamfetamine (Vyvanse) Stimulant medications, when used with medical supervision, are usually considered safe. Stimulants seldom make children with ADHD "high" when taken as prescribed. Because these medications are stimulants, there is no sedating effect. However, restlessness and fidgetiness may decline leaving the person feeling "calmer." Ultimately, the stimulants help children control their hyperactivity, inattention and other ADHD-related behaviors. Stimulant drugs are available in both short-, medium- and long-acting forms. The short-acting forms last for about four hours, medium-acting forms for about 6 hours and long-acting forms last 8 to 14 hours. Stimulants do carry the risk of abuse and addiction. However, abuse and dependence with ADHD stimulant medication are more likely with short-acting forms. To reduce chances of substance abuse, make sure you or your child is getting the right dose of stimulant medication at the needed time of the day. Do not put your child or adolescent in charge of his or her own medication. Keep medication locked in a childproof container at home. If a school time dose is needed, don't send supplies of medication to school with your child; instead, deliver medication to the school nurse or health office yourself. Although sudden deaths have occurred in children on stimulant medications, a recent extensive review of sudden death in children and adolescents on stimulant medication concluded that stimulant medication poses no increased risk for sudden death, cardiac arrest or stroke compared to children and adolescents not on these medication. Always review medication packaging information, and talk to your health care professional about this potential risk. Heart screening questions to assess any risk should be asked before starting any ADHD medication. Additionally, stimulant medications have been associated with a slightly reduced growth rate in some children, although the extent of this appears to be a half inch on average. Other potential side effects, such as weight loss, problems sleeping and tics, should be carefully weighed against the benefits before prescribing the medications. Preexisting tics may or may not worsen with stimulant medication. Most side effects can often be handled by reducing the dosage. Atomoxetine (Strattera). The first non-stimulant medication approved to treat ADHD, Strattera is classified as a selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor. It works by blocking norepinephrine in the brain, thus leading to greater amounts in the synapse when the medication is used. Overall, Strattera has been shown to lead to significant improvements in individuals with ADHD, but the benefit may be less substantial than stimulants. Strattera has been linked to rare side effects that include liver problems as well as the increased risk of suicide, according to the FDA. Call your health care professional right away if you or your child experiences yellowing of the skin or eyes (jaundice), unexplained flu-like symptoms or dark-colored urine, or if you or your child has thoughts of suicide or a sudden change in mood or behavior, especially at the beginning of treatment or after a change in dose. Strattera is not classified as a controlled substance like the other ADHD medications (i.e., the stimulants), although it is a prescription drug. Unlike stimulants, refills can be provided on prescriptions. Side effects include: decreased appetite, upset stomach, nausea or vomiting, and fatigue. In addition, some of the most common side effects in adults are problems sleeping, dry mouth, dizziness, problems urinating (more so in males) and sexual side effects. Other additional medications are sometimes used to treat the condition if stimulants don't work completely or if the ADHD occurs with another disorder. These medications are not approved for the treatment of ADHD, yet many have been shown effective in at least some studies. For example, clonidine (Catapres) and guanfacine (Tenex), medications normally used to treat hypertension, may be helpful in people with ADHD who have tics and/or insomnia as a result of ADHD medications or who experience aggression as part of their condition. Clonidine can be administered either by pill or skin patch and has different side effects than stimulants, including rash (from the patch), constipation,nervousness and sedation. Other medications not FDA-approved for ADHD but that may be prescribed include the antidepressants nortriptyline (Pamelor, Aventyl) and bupropion (Wellbutrin). Antidepressants may temporarily increase risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior in people up to age 24, according to the FDA. Short-term studies in children and adolescents with major depressive disorder and other psychiatric disorders showed an increased risk of suicidal thoughts in those taking antidepressants, during the initial weeks of treatment. Although this effect is rare, anyone considering the use of an antidepressant in a child or adolescent must balance this risk with the need for the drug. Also, health care professionals should observe their patients closely for any increased risk of suicide or unusual changes in behavior. Families and caregivers should also closely watch patients. Medication won't cure ADHD; it will just control the symptoms while you're taking the medication. For instance, stimulants have only immediate benefits, so once a dose wears off that day, the symptoms return. Also, although the medications may help you pay better attention to and complete your work, they can't increase your knowledge or improve your (or your child's) academic skills. As the expression goes, "Pills don't teach skills." The medications alone can't make you feel better about yourself or cope with problems. These issues require other kinds of treatment and support. Psychosocial Treatment Although ADHD primarily affects a person's behavior and cognition, the disorder has broad emotional repercussions. Scolding is the only attention some people with ADHD ever get while growing up. They may have few positive experiences to build their sense of worth and competence. Facing the daily frustrations that can come with having ADHD can make people fear that they are strange, abnormal, lazy or stupid. Often the cycle of frustration, blame and anger has gone on so long it becomes incorporated into one's self-concept. In such cases, mental health professionals can help adolescents and adults with ADHD develop new skills, attitudes and ways of relating to other people. Often successful treatment will help a person separate the disorder (ADHD) and its symptoms/impairments from the individual and their innate strengths and potential. In group counseling, people learn that they are not alone; other people with ADHD have similar experiences, and there are people who want to help. Support from group therapy can be complimented with individual therapy to address specific life issues. Very often, ADHD symptoms and inconsistent performance adversely affects personal relationships. Family and marital therapy with a professional aware of ADHD can be helpful in changing the communication pattern. Several types of therapy are available, with different therapists preferring different approaches. Knowing something about the various types of interventions makes it easier to choose a therapist. Psychotherapy works to help people with ADHD like and accept themselves despite their disorder. In psychotherapy, patients talk with the therapist about upsetting thoughts and feelings, explore self-defeating patterns of behavior and learn alternative ways to handle their emotions. As they talk, the therapist tries to help them understand how they can change. However, people dealing with ADHD usually want to gain control of their symptomatic behaviors more directly. The following interventions can provide that kind of help. Behavior therapy, used with children and adolescents, involves providing parents with education about ADHD, teaching them to use regular and consistent rewards and punishments with their children and coordinating efforts with teachers at school. Indeed, for children and adolescents, behavior therapy and medication are the only two evidence-based interventions that consistently lead to improvement in symptoms and impairments. Cognitive-behavioral therapy helps you work on immediate issues. Rather than helping you understand your feelings and actions, it supports you directly in changing your thoughts and behavior. The support might be practical assistance, like learning to think through tasks and organize work or changing a repetitive negative thought pattern. Cognitive therapies have not been found to be very helpful for children and adolescents, but for adults, results are promising. Social skills training helps children and adults learn new behaviors, specifically social behaviors. Impulsive behavior can be intrusive and abrasive in interactions. In social skills training, the therapist discusses and models appropriate behaviors and helps the patient practice the new behavior. It is essential that clear limits are set in the social skills groups; otherwise, children may model maladaptive behaviors from one another. Support groups connect people who have common concerns. Many adults with ADHD and parents of children with ADHD find it useful to join a local or national support group. Many groups deal with issues of children's disorders, and even ADHD specifically. Ineffective or unproven alternative treatments The following treatments have NOT been scientifically shown to be effective in treating people with ADHD: restricted diets (although recent studies from the United Kingdom do show small effects of certain food additives on hyperactive behavior) allergy treatments medicines to correct problems in the inner ear megavitamins chiropractic adjustment and bone realignment treatment for yeast infection eye training special colored glasses herbal supplements essential fatty acids yoga and meditation Neurofeedback, also known as biofeedback, is a promising intervention, not completely supported by definitive studies but with some recent investigations yielding support for improvements in attention and behavior. Be cautious about pursuing complementary and alternative treatments that are not supported by scientific research and/or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Although single positive studies often receive media attention, it is important that such findings be replicated. Until sound, scientific testing shows a treatment to be effective, families risk spending time, money and hope on fads and false promises. Managing Your Life as an Adult with ADHD Here are some practical steps you can take to manage your life with ADHD from ADHD expert Kathleen Nadeau, PhD. Give yourself a break. High expectations are deeply ingrained in many women. Identify your strengths and perform those tasks. Identify your weakness and either find a compensatory skill or ask someone else to perform these tasks. Psychotherapy can help capitalize on strengths while limiting the impairments in areas of weakness. Educate your partner about ADHD and how it affects you. Your partner may be angry or resentful about a less-than-organized lifestyle. If your partner understands this as a disorder, he or she may be more understanding and accommodating. Reassign household responsibilities based on skill strength. Strategize how to make your life at home and work more accommodating. Try to create an "ADHD-friendly" environment in your home and work. If you can approach your ADHD with acceptance and good humor, tensions will decrease and you'll save more energy for the positive side of things. Simplify your life. Look for ways to reduce commitments so you're not always pressed for time. Learn how to better prioritize tasks to avoid overcommitment. Choose supportive friends. Many women describe friends or neighbors whose houses are immaculate, whose children are always clean, neat and well-behaved and who make them feel terrible by comparison. Try to avoid situations that lead you to impossible expectations and negative comparisons. Build a support group for yourself. For example, ask a friend who understands your condition to keep you company while completing a task that is always difficult for you. Build in daily breaks. This is essential when you have ADHD, especially if you're raising children. Make them routine so that you don't have to keep planning and juggling. For example, arrange for a regular babysitter several times a week. Eliminate and delegate. Look at things that you require of yourself at home or on the job. Can you eliminate some of these things? Can you hire someone to do some of them? Get help for premenstrual or menopausal symptoms. They may be severe in women with ADHD. Managing the destabilizing effects of your hormonal fluctuations is a critical part of managing your ADHD. Make lists and encourage other family members to list and record activities, responsibilities and events. Try to create a central family calendar with all activities for everyone to check. Online calendars may facilitate this. Avoid scattering information on multiple pieces of paper that can get lost. Create filing systems or organizational systems that work for you. Color coding folders is a fast visual way to identify what's in them. Set up autopay for bills, provided you have money and won't overdraw accounts. Don't let yourself be overwhelmed at home or at the office by mountains of paperwork: sort, file or discard. Prevention According to current medical research, there is no known way to prevent most ADHD. There are some pre and post-natal risk factors that can be addressed: avoid alcohol and tobacco when pregnant, avoid a premature birth if possible and avoid lead exposure to the child. Facts to Know It is estimated that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), also known as attention deficit disorder (ADD) when present without hyperactivity, affects 8 percent of U.S. school-aged children, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Follow-up studies of children with ADHD find that the vast majority will continue to suffer impairments through adolescence, and 60 percent through adulthood. Many girls and women suffer the effects of ADHD and do not get the help they need. Once diagnosed, many women recall painful or difficult childhood experiences in school that were likely caused by ADHD, but at the time were attributed to laziness or lack of ability. Low self-esteem is the outcome of chronic criticism and is common among women with ADHD. ADHD, once called hyperkinesis or minimal brain dysfunction, is the most common psychiatric condition among children. More than two times as many boys as girls are affected in childhood; however, in adults it's almost equal proportions. ADHD can be mild, moderate or severe. An ADHD diagnosis is more difficult to identify in women and girls because they tend to be less hyperactive, less defiant and more compliant than boys (though this is not always the case). The absence of disruptive behavior can delay identification. ADHD has a very strong genetic component. Children who have a parent with ADHD or another mood or behavioral disorder are at an increased risk. Still, as with other conditions with a strong genetic liability, the quality of life and the provision of strong parenting and quality schooling can greatly influence any long-term outcomes. Like all chronic medical conditions, there are no cures for ADHD. Treatment for ADHD may involve medication, behavioral/psychological counseling, educational interventions or a combination. Medication can help to control the core symptoms: hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention. But more often, there are other aspects of the problem that medication won't alleviate. Even though ADHD primarily affects a person's behavior and cognition, having the disorder has broad emotional repercussions. Currently, ADHD is a diagnosis made in people who demonstrate chronic and persistent symptoms across a number of settings. Although people identify with some of these symptoms at different times in their lives, ADHD is a disorder starting in childhood that usually persists into adulthood. Childhood onset (or early adolescence, in the case of the inattentive type) is the cornerstone of the diagnosis. There is no such disorder as "adult-onset ADHD," although some adults with this condition may not have been diagnosed as children. Key Q&A I have trouble focusing on tasks and often feel overwhelmed during times of extreme stress. Does this mean I have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)?Not necessarily. Stress can cause symptoms similar to ADHD, such as forgetfulness or feeling overwhelmed and disorganized. Reactions to stress are usually temporary and subside when stress subsides. These symptoms should not be confused with ADHD symptoms or behaviors, which are long lasting and persistent. Are bad parenting skills to blame for ADHD?No. ADHD is a complex neurobiological disorder that affects learning and behavior. Too much TV, poor home life, poor schools or teachers, food allergies or excess sugar do not cause ADHD. International research demonstrates the presence of ADHD in children regardless of culture and parenting. Still, how a family responds to their child's ADHD may go a long way in shaping the child's ultimate outcome. Biology is not destiny. Does ADHD only affect children? I think I recognize some symptoms in myself.No. Until recent years, adults were not thought to have ADHD, so many adults with ongoing symptoms have never been diagnosed. There has been a recent increased awareness of adult ADHD, however. About half of children with ADHD continue to have impairments through adulthood. The recent awareness of adult ADHD means that many people can finally be correctly diagnosed and treated. What causes ADHD?Scientists are not sure what causes ADHD, although genetic and neurobiological factors are clearly involved. Health care professionals stress that because there is no known cause, it is far more important for a woman and her family to move forward with treatment and identify ways to manage her lifestyle in areas affected by ADHD than to search for a cause. Can stimulant medications be abused?Although stimulant medications are recognized as a safe and effective treatment for ADHD when taken as prescribed, these medications, like many others, nonetheless do have the potential for abuse. Stimulant medication has been misused by people without ADHD. They take these medications to increase alertness and focus but also to gain a "high." Substance abuse and dependence does not develop in people who take their medications as prescribed. You should discuss the risks and benefits of stimulant medication with your health care professional. If you have a history of substance or alcohol abuse, this should be discussed with your physician to choose the right course of treatment and medication. My relationship with my husband has suffered because of my ADHD. Is there anything I can do?Yes. Because adult women often suffer for many years without help for their ADHD, their personal relationships can become strained. Health care professionals usually recommend counseling for women and their families, along with medication treatments. A therapist can assist you and your family in finding better ways to deal with your ADHD and reduce the frustration of the non-ADHD spouse/family member. Is ADHD a learning disorder?No. ADHD is a specific psychiatric disorder that can occur with a coexisting learning disorder. Learning disorders do not, in general, improve with medication. Intelligence and ADHD are separate entities. People with ADHD can have a broad range of IQs. Regardless of IQ, most ADHD individuals feel frustrated at not living up to their potential because of the impairments. Read the full article