Mindfulness and ADHD
It seems obvious, as a main issue in ADHD is an inability to pay attention, that an attention-building technique should be helpful. The problem, though, is if people with ADHD will actually be able to sit down and do it!
The UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center is dedicated to the scientific investigation and promotion of Mindful Awareness — the moment-by-moment process of actively observing physical, mental and emotional experiences, as a means of stress reduction and improving well-being. They specifically relate the use of mindfulness techniques to ADHD.
It seems obvious, as a main issue in ADHD is an inability to pay attention, that an attention technique should be helpful. The problem, though, is if people with ADHD will actually be able to sit down and do it! The center therefore makes its programme as user friendly as possible, starting with five-minute seated meditations, or mindful walking exercises.
While the word meditation may have religious connotations, the process of observing your own thoughts and feelings can be performed by anyone with any religion or none. The whole idea is to focus on breathing in and out, and when thoughts arise, label that “thinking” and go back to your breath. The key is accepting that the mind will wander, but not jumping straight on the train and going wherever your thoughts take you.
This process of noticing thoughts and feelings, labelling them and returning attention to the breath can be done, of course, throughout the day and should be, in order to get lasting results. Eventually it may become a habit, and the background awareness, the place in which the feelings, thoughts and sensation arise, takes up more space in our attention, giving us a calmer base, a steady place with which to “check in” and ground ourselves.
Early findings from the centre’s research, involving 25 adults and eight adolescents, half of whom had the combined (both inattentive and hyperactive) form of ADHD were very promising, with significant improvements recorded, and participants satisfied with the programme. Research results also suggest that brain activity and dopamine levels may vary between those who meditate regularly and those who do not.
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This article was last reviewed by on Wednesday, 21st November 2007. You can leave a response below.
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http://counsellingresource.com/features/2007/11/21/mindful-awareness-adhd/
17th January 2008
It’s about time that the truth about ADD and ADHD be told. We are the brightest of the bright. Unfortunately we ended up in schools where the majority of the teachers, with their cognitive deficiencies intact, assumed the same curriculum could be applicable to students with individual needs. Perhaps if we received the high mental stimulation that we so badly craved, instead of bland raw facts, that at best dulled our creative potential, we wouldn’t be besieged with the problems we battle daily. We were taught to color inside the lines. We could have thrived. We have the potential for greattness. Until schools change the curriculum, one that’s not unidimensional, and teachers recognize that children have different needs, we will continue to have children, and our children’s children, suffer with coping skills throughout their lives, and be subject to labeling and considered to be underachievers. I would call this reverse evolution.
We need to embrace our diagnosis and prove to the world, that with sheer determination, encouragement, and support, there is nothing to stand between us and attaining life long goals.