Mom’s Love Good for Child’s Brain

Mom’s Love Good for Child’s Brain

This neurosciencenews.com article discusses how brain scans indicate positive and nurturing attention of mother can influence the hippocampus region of the brain to grow.  The results were derived from brain scans of the children as they interacted with their mother's in positive and not as positive interactions.  Interestingly, the mother's self-perception was more positive than the results of the children's brain scan.  Perhaps the mother's overrate their positive and nurturing qualities?  Or the child does not perceive the mother's efforts as positive and nurturing?  What do you think? 

The ABCs of ADHD: Hawaii News Channel KGMB (reported by Tannya Joaquin)

This aired on Hawaii based news channel KGMB on April 26, 2013. Comprehensive piece that discussed both adult and childhood ADHD. They interviewed Dr. Karen Tyson, who is the owner of The LD and ADHD Center of Hawaii. She provided great information about the condition and effective ways to manage the symptoms. The report followed the progress of a boy that attends a special school, Assets School of Hawaii, that provides unique and creative approaches to learning that allows students identified as gifted, dyslexic, ADHD, or other learning disorder to thrive.

Personally, Dr. Tyson is wonderful and very knowledgable!  I have heard Assets is the BEST school for children who are gifted and have various learning disorders!

View the KGMB video here:

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/category/240193/new-video-landing-page?clipId=8813670&autostart=true

http://ldcenterofhawaii.com

http://www.assets-school.net/

Hawaii News Now – KGMB and KHNL”>Hawaii News Now – KGMB and KHNL

Just CARRY ON through the challenges

Songwriters: RUESS, NATHANIEL JOSEPH/DOST, ANDREW/ANTONOFF, JACK MICHAEL/BHASKER, JEFFREY

Carry on 

Well I woke up to the sound of silence 

The cars were cutting like knives in a fist fight 

And I found you with a bottle of wine 

Your head in the curtains 

And heart like the fourth of July 

You swore and said 

We are not 

We are not shining stars 

This I know 

I never said we are 

Though I've never been through hell like that 

I've closed enough windows 

To know you can never look back 

If you're lost and alone 

Or you're sinking like a stone 

Carry on 

May your past be the sound 

Of your feet upon the ground 

Carry on 

Carry on, carry on 

So I met up with some friends 

At the edge of the night 

At a bar off 75 

And we talked and talked 

About how our parents will die 

All our neighbours and wives 

But I like to think 

I can cheat it all 

To make up for the times I've been cheated on 

And it's nice to know 

When I was left for dead 

I was found and now I don't roam these streets 

I am not the ghost you want of me 

If you're lost and alone 

Or you're sinking like a stone 

Carry on 

May your past be the sound 

Of your feet upon the ground 

Carry on 

Woah 

My head is on fire 

But my legs are fine 

Cause after all they are mine 

Lay your clothes down on the floor 

Close the door 

Hold the phone 

Show me how 

No one's ever gonna stop us now 

Cause we are 

We are shining stars 

We are invincible 

We are who we are 

On our darkest day 

When we're miles away 

So we'll come 

We will find our way home 

If you're lost and alone 

Or you're sinking like a stone 

Carry on 

May your past be the sound 

Of your feet upon the ground 

Carry on 

Carry on, carry on

Great article about ADHD

http://learningneverstops.wordpress.com/2013/04/21/stephen-conti-adhd-as-a-difference-in-cognition/

http://www.biosourcenaturals.com/essential-oil-focus-attention-deficit.htm
http://www.doterra.com

Dr. Ari Tuckman's 5-week course to develop resilience in tough times!

Happiness & Its Causes 2013

We can always be happier than we are right now!  Think and Be Happy Blog

Positive Thoughts article

  

 link to original article at ADDCA website

Positive Thoughts are a Foundation to Flourishing

February 16 2012

Research conducted by Professor Barbara Fredrickson at The Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has indicated that positive emotions hold clear benefits for supporting the creation of a more flourishing life.One of the foundational pieces for creating a flourishing life is cultivating more positive thoughts and emotions, than negative ones, on daily basis. But how much more?

Professor Frederickson has conducted research focused on ratios of positive to negative thoughts and emotions. In 2005 Fredrickson and Losada published an article in American Psychologist to suggest that positivity ratios above about 3-to-1 and below about 11-to-1 are what humans need to flourish. Basically, it takes allot more work to overcome the negative thoughts whcih create stress on the health of our bodies and brains. To learn more about the wonderful work Barbara Fredrickson is doing go to: http://www.unc.edu/peplab/home.html

ADHD and common comorbid disorders

The prevalence of comorbidity with mental disorders is high.  The presence of one disorder can exacerbate another.  Of course, various factors need to be considered when diagnosing or treating disorders including heritability (family history) and other situational factors that can encourage the 'expression' of a particular disorder.  An example would be if a woman has a family history of diabetes.  She has several family members that suffer from diabetes, including her brother and both parents.  However, despite the genetic propensity for diabetes, she is the only family member that has not developed it thus far.  She believes it's because she lives a healthy lifestyle by working out daily, eating healthy, and managing her stress effectively.  Does this mean she will never develop diabetes?  No, she could still develop diabetes despite her efforts, but she is doing all she can to prevent the onset if possible.

In other words, we may influence the onset or severity of a heritable condition like depression through specific means such as diet, exercise, and cognitive training.  Do you think the same applies to ADHD or Asperger's syndrome?   ADHD and comorbidity.

Great book by Melissa Orlov and Edward Hallowell.

Couples' Seminar with Melissa Orlov - The ADHD Effect In-Depth

The adult with ADHD can feel overwhelmed and exhausted from trying to keep up with everyone else.  The funny thing is that everyone else often perceive the ADHD adult as lazy because that person finds it difficult to complete tasks, remain focused, etc.  The result: an ADHD adult with low self-esteem that finds it hard to make any relationships work for the long term.  Why?  Because the ADHD adult, at first, is exciting to their partner.  The ADHD adult is spontaneous and energetic, which can make them fun to be around....for a time.  After the initial 'honeymoon' glow wears off, the ADHD adult and their partner is left with unfulfilled promises that cause severe stress in the relationship.   

Melissa Orlov has written a book that speaks to the ADHD adult and the ADHD adult's partner!  This book can help dispel and explain the misconceptions and offer solutions to problems that may have appeared insurmountable. This book is not just for ADHD adults and their partners, but also for parents, siblings, friends, and family of ADHD individuals.  The insight gained from reading this book can be invaluable to the person who has to interact with a loved one with ADHD and may help to mend broken relationships and prevent further damage from this condition that is so misunderstood.  

ADHD and stimulants

ADHD can affect people differently.  It depends on the type of ADHD symptoms a person is struggling with.  Also, symptoms can exacerbate situations based on how the individual is feeling at the moment.  Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a condition that affects school-aged children through adulthood with symptoms ranging from difficulty sustaining attention to hyperactivity (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). 

Treatments vary for ADHD, but the most predominant treatment is the use of psychostimulant medications such as methylphenidate, also known as Ritalin (Graziano, Geffken & Lall, 2011).  However, in spite of the successful history Ritalin to manage ADHD symptoms, it is still unknown how or why methylphenidate works for this condition (Novartis, ND).   Methylphenidate is a form of amphetamine that affects the part of the brain that controls impulsivity, hyperactivity, and lack of focus.  This drug has been used for decades to manage ADHD-like behaviors. 

In their research,  Graziano, Geffken, and Lall (2011) employed parent-rating scales to measure the effectiveness of methylphenidate with children diagnosed with ADHD.  The results suggested that stimulant medication, such as methylphenidate, appears to relieve the hyperactive and impulsive symptoms of ADHD in school-aged children, allowing them to display improved cognitive functioning, such as longer sustained attention, as compared to subjects taking non-stimulant medication (Graziano, Geffken, & Lall, 2011).  

Although Novartis clearly states that the effectiveness of Ritalin on ADHD symptom management is unclear, the outcome appears to be very obvious.  Subjects observed while taking stimulant medication displayed noticeably improved cognitive skills as opposed to before the administration of the medication.  However, the behavioral assessments completed by parents and teachers seem to correlate stimulant medication to improved symptom management for ADHD individuals. 

References:

American Psychiatric Association (2000).  Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4^th ed., text rev.). Washington, DC: Author.

Graziano, P.A., Geffken, G.R., & Lall, A. S. (2011).  Heterogeneity in the pharmacological treatment of children with ADHD: Cognitive, behavioral, and social functioning differences. Journal of Attention Disorders, 15(5), 382-391.  Doi: 10.1177/1087054710367772

Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation (2010).  Ritalin Prescribing Information.  East Hanover, NJ: Author.