Category: Big picture

For an ADHD group, from overview to optimization

Understanding ADHD

Video: What is ADHD? https://www.understood.org/en/articles/what-is-adhd

Videos: https://howtoadhd.com/

Cutting-Edge Research Sites on ADHD:

https://www.ohsu.edu/school-of-medicine/center-adhd-research

https://mcgovern.mit.edu/research-areas/adhd/

Cool Comics: https://www.adhddd.com/comics/

Multitasking

A decade of data reveals that heavy multitaskers have reduced memory

Research Study on Media-multitasking and cognitive control across the lifespan: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-07777-1

From the study’s conclusion section:

“Collectively, the findings suggest that higher levels of media-multitasking are associated with better multitasking performance (as assessed in cognitive tests), but only for individuals aged ~ 7 to 29 years.”

“Interestingly, in our data the sign of the relationship between multitasking costs and multi-media use also changes with age from positive in young participants to negative in older participants, suggesting that the demographic composition of participant groups may have significantly influenced the pattern of results observed in previous studies.”

Dopaminizing

Book: THE WILLPOWER INSTINCT by Kelly McGonigal

Podcast:

Ted Talk (See First Part on Reward Substitution):

Optimal Brain Functioning, Setting Up for Effective Self-Regulation

Talks at Google (see first intervention)

Article: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/what_is_the_best_diet_for_mental_health

Video (see the two on exercise): https://brainrules.net/video-tutorials/

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Twitter, Trolls, and Tips

While thinking about the ways we’ve responded to our pandemic (mask vs. no mask, cooperate vs. resist), I ran across a Twitter post on shruggers vs. stockpilers and then watched the first part of the latest Trolls movie, where trolls split up by music genre. After, I saw an article declaring we’ll soon have two “classes” of individuals:  the protected and the vulnerable. Ack! So much division! It inspired me to come back to my blog to share some tips for responding to uncertainty. They are from D. Mosquera and K. Steele out of the Institute for the Study of Trauma and Personality Disorders (sigh…more categories…so many categories).

kids-5056458_1280

Tip 1: Avoid listening to/reading news constantly and especially before bed.

Instead schedule a time to update, once or twice a day (max), and stick to facts vs. sensationalism.

Tip 2: Set up a daily routine

Sleep, Hygiene (you’ll likely feel better), Healthy Eating, Exercise, Outside Time, Connection (but maybe avoiding the Neil Diamond kind), Mindfulness, Hobbies

Tip 3: Focus on tasks that depend on you and consider that staying home may be heroic (I’d add without judging others who do otherwise as bad)

Tip 4: Stay present-oriented

One day at a time, One week at a time. Find humor, playfulness, interest, and meaning where you can.

I hope these tips help. Here’s something to remember that also may, especially when our minds want an “us vs. them” of one sort or another…that I got from Tara Brach:

The Buddha said, “Our fear is great but greater yet is the truth of our connectedness.”

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Stepping over dollars to pick up pennies: What works for optimal cognitive functioning

Hot news out of Israel (Bar Ilan University) and Los Angeles (UCLA):  There’s a way to increase cognitive functioning among children with ADHD that is FREE and leads to BIGGER change than other non-chemical interventions.

What is this magic they speak of? Exercise.

Researchers searched through studies published between 1980 and 2017 on various non-pharmacological interventions for cognitive functions among children with ADHD and narrowed these down to the most trustworthy studies. One of the requirements the researchers had was that the study included an objective measure of cognitive functions.

They examined the effects of several non-pharmacological interventions–neurofeedback, cognitive-behavioral therapy, cognitive training, and physical exercises (aerobic)–and found all the interventions associated with desired changes. Physical exercise, however, rose to the top with the largest average effect size. Granted 18 studies across four interventions is small; however, the results are consistent with tons of research on the association between exercise and optimal physical, emotional and cognitive functioning.

The study.

So this is what my title is about…we often step over the dollars of optimal functioning and well-being to pick up pennies. The dollars are regular physical exercise (aerobic), enough sleep, and healthy eating. The pennies are the skills, strategies, games we may play with ourselves (fun or otherwise) that we often seek instead. The pennies matter; I’m just suggesting you pick up the dollars first.

My two cents. Or dollars. : )   

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The Future and Finances

The “golden years.”
https://quincemedia.com

With ADHD, you’re likely to give up a bigger reward for a smaller one if the smaller one comes NOW and the bigger one LATER. NOW wins time after time. Why? Partly because our future selves are strangers to most of us, and we feel little for them. What do we owe this stranger? For many of us it turns out, “Nothing.” We see this when it comes to money. Specifically, saving it.

I know this can be a bleak subject, but part of the remedy is facing reality. Let’s start with the state of the union on this. I, for one, was blown away.

In the U. S., post-retirement we live 17-20 years on average, and over 50% of us have less than $25,000 saved for these years. This means, apart from social security, over half of us have less than $123/month to live out our “golden years.” More like copper years, right? See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3764505/.

Sure, for some, this is a continuation of pre-retirement poverty (it’s hard to save living hand to mouth), but for many this goes back to the present winning over the future. At a great cost.

With ADHD, the cost is likely to be higher. Recent research examining the financial status of adults with and without ADHD (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31343233) went beyond confirming prior research noting bad financial news, on average, for those with ADHD. The researchers looked at some of the reasons why this is the case. That is, why less income, less savings, and more debt?

Here’s what they found. Compared to adults without ADHD, adults with it reported more often buying on impulse and more often using “an avoidant or spontaneous decision-making style” (e.g., I will avoid looking at my bank account before buying). On top of this, adults with ADHD scored lower when given measures of financial competence and capacity (e.g., being able to evaluate financial problems and understand bank statements).

But there is good news is. If you struggle with money, things can be better.

Here are some antidotes to an impoverished future (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3764505/):

1) Episodic Future Thinking, or EFT (https://tonyalippert.blog/2019/03/19/what-gets-us-to-change/),

2) Focus on the “cool” versus the “hot” aspects of what you want NOW (e.g., on the color and shape of a cinnamon roll versus the anticipated taste),

3) Sinking your ships by giving yourself no way out (or in) by, for example, leaving money at home when you are out and about apart from what’s needed–no credit cards, Apple Pay, etc.–on hand)–see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPQhj6ktYSo starting where Dan Ariely talks about self-control contracts for more–, and

4) Connect to your future self (https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/best_possible_self).

For more examples on the above antidotes, go to https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3764505/.

Here’s a toast to your future self! And to your present one who cares.

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ADHD and Attentional Interference from Competing Brain Networks

As prior research out of MIT (Go, Go, Go and Slow, Slow, Slow?), research out of Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) recently examined the coordination between two brain networks:  the task positive network(s) and the default mode network. These networks have largely opposite functions. In the first–task positive network(s)–there’s increased activity when we have a particular task that demands focus, letting us start and sustain attention on the task. In the second–the default mode network–there’s increased activity when we have no particular task to do. In adults without ADHD, per the MIT research, these two networks cooperate:  When it’s time for one to get on stage, the other fades into the background. In adults with ADHD, these networks are uncooperative and can compete for attention at the same time.

vibrations-545138_1920In kids with ADHD, according to the results of the OHSU study (here), we see the same lack of coordination/cooperation between the networks as compared to children without ADHD, with this lack of coordination between networks increasing with age.

The result? Mixed signals. Attentional interference. Or, as the researchers put it, decreased attentional control. A reminder that behavior reflects brain activity, coordinated or otherwise.

Of interest, the OHSU researchers found that the brains of female children overall, with or without ADHD, showed more coordination between the opposing networks than the brains of male children.

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