Are you tired of hearing people say that ADD/ADHD isn’t real, and that people with it just need to try harder? As you probably know, that’s just not true.
ADD/ADHD is real—we can see it in the brain.
Here are 5 facts about ADD/ADHD:
1. ADD has been described in the medical literature for over one hundred years. In 1902, pediatrician George Still described a group of children who were hyperactive, impulsive and inattentive.
2. ADD is found in every country and has been studied. We’ve seen patients from Ethiopia. One who had been expelled from his tribe for being easily distracted and impulsive.
3. Many people with ADD are never hyperactive. The non-hyperactive or inattentive ADD people are often ignored because they do not bring enough negative attention to themselves. Many of these children, teenagers, or adults earn unjust labels: “willful,” “lazy,” “unmotivated” or “not that smart.” Females, in our experience, tend to have Type 2, Inattentive ADD, and it can be devastating for their daily life.
4. The harder many people with ADD try, the worse things get for them. Brain imaging studies show that when people with ADD try to concentrate, the parts of their brains involved with concentration, focus and follow-through (prefrontal cortex and cerebellum) shut down—just when they need them to turn on.
5. Ineffective parents or teachers cannot cause a child’s ADD. However, ADD behaviors can make even the most skilled parents and teachers appear stressed and inept.
Does Your Child Suffer from ADD?
If you suspect that you or your child might have ADD, don’t wait to get help. Effective treatment does not make those with ADD different people: It removes the barriers hindering them from being the people they already are and allows them to reach their potential.
We like to think of effective treatment for ADD like glasses for people who have trouble seeing. The glasses do not change the person; they just make the person’s vision more effective.
We Can Help
Imaging changes everything. At Amen Clinics, we can help you and your loved ones overcome the stigma and suffering associated with ADD/ADHD, anxiety, depression, brain injury, weight loss, addictions, memory issues, brain fog, and other emotional and cognitive issues. If you are ready to regain control over your life or help a loved one do the same, give us a call at 1-888-288-9834 or click here to ask a question.
As marijuana continues to be legalized state after state, the use of marijuana during adolescence and early adulthood is continuing to rise. With decriminalization of marijuana occurring in U.S. states, the tide is turning on public opinion. Many people — particularly adolescents — falsely believe that marijuana is a harmless source of mood alteration.
How do you stop your kids/teens from using marijuana?
By age 14, most young adults have started developing life goals, such as going to college or pursuing a particular career. The most important thing is to encourage your kids to begin thinking about how their brain health will affect their life and their ability to reach those goals, But how?
If you tell your teen what to do, they won’t listen. If you ask the right questions and get your teen to critically think about what they want in their life, they’ll come up with their own solutions — and act on them.
Here’s a place to start:
1. Wait for a time when he/she is open to talking. Be patient — it can take weeks.
2. Don’t lecture! Establish a strong connection by demonstrating an attitude of curiosity.
3. Have them talk about their values/goals, asking open-ended questions such as:
What is most important to you?
You’ve talked about wanting to do [fill in the blank] — How does your current behavior fit with that?
4. If he/she is engaging in behaviors that don’t compliment their goals (such as marijuana/alcohol), ask:
How would things be different a year from now if you made a change?
Suppose you keep engaging in [behavior]. How will things be a year from now?
5. Listen with the intent to understand, repeat what they’ve said and give NO advice.
Using these methods, most teens will come around to their own solutions. We also show kids brain SPECT images of drug users and then asked them: “Which brain do you want?”
We Can Help
At Amen Clinics, we can help you and your loved ones overcome the stigma and suffering associated with ADD/ADHD, anxiety, depression, brain injury, weight loss, addictions, memory issues, brain fog, and other emotional and cognitive issues. If you are ready to regain control over your life or help a loved one do the same, call our brain health advisors at 1-888-288-9834 or click here to ask a question.
“It’s a natural plant! What’s the big deal?” —A common declaration among youth who believe that the effects of marijuana are harmless and that the substance shouldn’t be regulated.
Regardless of public opinion, the science is clear:
Regular recreational use of marijuana during adolescence is harmful to the brain, which isn’t fully developed until the age of 25.
What Research Says
A review article further emphasized legitimate reasons for concern, suggesting that recreational use of marijuana increases an adolescent’s risk for anxiety and depression; addictions; disruptions in cognitive development; brain changes that can stretch well into adulthood, including impaired activity in the areas that govern alertness, awareness, learning, memory and inhibitory control; and overall lower IQ.
Long-Term Risks of Marijuana
The long-term risks of using recreational marijuana are even greater for adolescents with ADD/ADHD because the cognitive issues are magnified in those with already-low prefrontal cortex (PFC) function. At Amen Clinics, we call the PFC the brain’s “executive center” because it regulates impulse control and keeps us focused on the outcome of our decisions.
What Can Parents Do?
The most important thing is to teach them to love their brains, so they would never want to do anything to hurt it. Respect and a genuine connection. Teens don’t want to be lectured or given unsolicited advice. This approach encourages rebellion. Developing autonomy is a teen’s #1 objective, so if you pressure them to change or to problem-solve before they are ready, they will reject everything you say.
You must lovingly and patiently guide them into making the decision not to use drugs and alcohol on their own.
Let Us Help
We can help you and your loved ones overcome the stigma and suffering associated with ADD/ADHD, anxiety, depression, brain injury, weight loss, addictions, memory issues, brain fog, and other emotional and cognitive issues. If you are ready to regain control over your life or help a loved one do the same, give us a call at 1-888-288-9834 or click here to ask a question. Research detailed in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics indicates that children with mild traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and ADD/ADHD are more likely to have a moderate disability than children without ADD/ADHD.
What Research States
Patient records of 48 children with ADD/ADHD who had sustained a mild TBI were compared to a control group of 45 age-matched patients without ADD/ADHD who had also sustained a mild TBI:
• 25% of the patients with ADD/ADHD demonstrated a moderate disability and 56% were completely recovered within an average follow-up period of 24.9 weeks
• 2% of the control group without ADD/ADHD demonstrated a moderate disability and 84% were completely recovered within an average follow-up period of 7.2 weeks.
What a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Tells Us
According to these findings, children with ADD/ADHD who sustain a mild TBI experience a greater level of disability and need (on average) more than three times as long to recover.
These findings beg the question: Are rehabilitative efforts less effective for children with ADD/ADHD and TBI?
With this question in mind, the study authors make the following recommendations:
• Rethink letting children engage in sports and hobbies with increased risk of sustaining a TBI (football, soccer, hockey, boxing, cheerleading, riding a bike without a helmet).
• Physicians treating mild TBI cases in children with ADD/ADHD may need to adjust treatment plans, as more intensive treatment and longer rehabilitation may be required.
• Families of children with ADD/ADHD with mild TBI should be counseled accordingly about expected outcomes.
More evidence that the brain is both delicate and resilient!
We Can Help
At Amen Clinics, we can help you and your loved ones overcome the stigma and suffering associated with ADD/ADHD, anxiety, depression, brain injury, weight loss, addictions, memory issues, brain fog, and other emotional and cognitive issues. If you are ready to regain control over your life, give us a call at 1-888-288-9834 or click here to ask a question.
An exciting study from MIT, published in the journal, Brain, looked at brain activity differences using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in adults who had recovered from typical childhood ADD/ADHD and those who had not.
What Does This Mean?
The study participants were scanned in a resting, or unfocused state to reveal the basic functional architecture of the brain. Researchers looked for activity differences within the default-mode network: a network of brain regions that are active when the brain is not focused on visual stimuli from the outside world.
The default-mode network is believed to generate spontaneous thoughts during daydreaming; its activity is associated with self-reflective thought, retrieving memories, creativity, envisioning the future, and gauging others’ perspectives.
Researchers found that adults who had recovered from childhood ADD/ADHD showed a distinctive synchrony of activity in the default-mode network.
“Their brains now look like those of people who never had ADHD,” said Aaron Mattfeld, the study’s lead author.
ADD/ADHD
Those who still had ADD/ADHD did not show synchrony within the default-mode network—meaning they stayed in daydreaming mode—perhaps contributing to intensified problems with forethought and judgment.
Additionally, when people without ADD/ADHD perform tasks that require focus, the default-mode network is automatically suppressed while the task-positive network takes over, allowing the person to successfully carry out goal-oriented tasks. If this reciprocal relationship degrades, the ability to focus declines.
The Research Findings
The MIT researchers will use these fMRI findings to investigate how medications act on the brain’s default-mode network, in effort to better target treatment for the 40% of ADD/ADHD people who do not respond well to the first drug they receive.
Yet again, the use of brain imaging has paved the way for more targeted treatment plans for people with ADD.
We Can Help
Learn more about signs of ADD in adults and take our free online ADD questionnaire to determine if ADD is likely, and if so, what type.
ADD is not a single or simple diagnosis and no one treatment method will work for everyone. At Amen Clinics, we can help you understand how your brain works and will work with you to create a targeted, more effective treatment plan that goes beyond the use of stimulant medications alone. Call us at 1-888-288-9834 or click here to ask a question.
What do think of when you hear the word “stress?” Probably something negative. And, yes, stress is, like so many things in life, a two-edged sword in the sense that, in some settings, stress keeps us alert and enhances some aspects of performance. Yet chronic stress is the dark flip side, and typically arises in situations involving emotional pressure, which an individual feels they have no control over or escape from.
Chronic Stress & Bullying
For many people, chronic stress begins in childhood with being bullied. Scientists have discovered that getting picked on, or bullied, not only impacts emotional and social functioning, but can also have biological consequences that stretch into adulthood.
What Research Says
In fact, in a multi-university study, researchers found that c-reactive protein, a biomarker (or telltale biological signal) of low-grade inflammation, was significantly higher in individuals who had been bullied and remained so into adulthood. Elevated c-reactive protein is a risk factor for various chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease.
As most of us know from our own school days, children who “stand out” in any way are appealing targets to bullies. Among those who attract the attention of bullies are classmates with ADD/ADHD. In an article titled Bullying at School: Is Your ADHD Kid a Victim?, child psychologist Steven Richfield noted that, “It is heartbreaking to learn that your attention hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) child has become the victim of a bully. And unfortunately, some children are at greater risk of being bullied because of their ADHD.
An inappropriate, or impulsive remark blurted out for the entire class to hear can attract the attention of a bully. And an impulsive retort by the ADHD student to a bully’s provocation may escalate the situation.”
ADD & Bullying
Amen Clinics has spent decades studying and analyzing ADD, and has helped many children with the condition who have been bullied. We have found that impulsive outbursts by those with ADD oftentimes serve as a way for them to get an emotional reaction out of others, sometimes angry, that provide them with needed brain stimulation.
Of course, no child with ADD truly enjoys or welcomes being bullied or stressed out. The solution? Get a handle on the ADD; that is, change and heal the sufferer’s brain.
It is important to note that ADD is not a single brain problem with a “one size fits all” remedy.
We Can Help
At Amen Clinics, we can help you and your loved ones overcome the stigma and suffering associated with ADD/ADHD, anxiety, depression, brain injury, weight loss, addictions, memory issues, brain fog, and other emotional and cognitive issues. If you are ready to regain control over your life, give us a call at 1-888-288-9834 or tell us more online.
Why does it seem like there are never enough hours in the day? From day to night, work to family, personal goals, and endless to-do lists, we’re a nation of on-the-go people. We all want to be more productive, but that requires more focus and more energy, especially with a child with ADD.
Here are 10 positive ways to guide behavior of ADD children:
1. Relationship is key.
With a good parent-child relationship, almost any form of discipline will work. Relationships require two things: time and willingness to listen.
2. Teach children from your own real–life experiences.
3. When a child meets your expectations, be sure to notice him or her.
If you never reinforce good behavior, you’re unlikely to get much of it.
4. Notice the behaviors that you like in your child ten times more than the behaviors you don’t like.
This teaches them to notice what they like about themselves, rather than grow up with a critical self-image.
5. Children live up to the labels we give them.
Be careful of the nicknames and phrases you use to describe your children.
6. Never discipline a child when you’re out of control.
Take a time-out before you lose your cool.
7. Remember the words, “firm but kind.”
Try to balance them at the same time.
8. Have swift, clear consequences for broken rules, enforced in a matter-of-fact and unemotional way.
Nagging and yelling are extremely destructive, ineffective, and tend to be addictive for the ADD child.
9. Do not yell at, hit, or berate an ADD child.
The more emotionally intense you get, the more they will make you get emotionally intense.
10. Parents need time for themselves.
Parents who are drained do not have much left that is good for their children.
We Can Help
ADD is not a single or simple diagnosis and no one treatment method will work for everyone. At Amen Clinics, we can help you understand your brain and create a treatment plan that is targeted to your brain’s unique needs. We have identified 7 types of ADD—and each requires a different treatment plan because of the diverse brain systems involved. Each of the ADD subtypes has its own set of symptoms as a result of the abnormal blood flow patterns in the brain, but for the most part, they all share the same core symptoms.
To learn more about ADD/ADHD, you can begin with our ADD Type Test. Take the 4-minute confidential test to discover you, or your loved one’s ADD Type and get a personalized overview on what to do about it.
Our Care Center is experienced in addressing your concerns and helping get you or your loved one on the path to wellness. Call us today at 888-288-9834 or tell us more online to schedule an appointment.
Although most people are aware of how unhealthy soft drinks are, American youth and adults continue to consume more per capita than any other country.
Compelling evidence showing why conventional soft drinks don’t belong in the hands of young children came from a study published in the Journal of Pediatrics, titled, “Soft Drinks Consumption is Associated with Behavior Problems in 5-Year-Olds.”
What Research Says
Researchers assessed 2,929 5-year-old children enrolled in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a prospective birth cohort that follows mother-child pairs from 20 large U.S. cities.
Of the 2,929 5-year-olds researched:
• 52% were boys
• 43% consumed at least 1 serving of soft drinks per day
• 4% consumed 4 or more servings of soft drinks per day
The Findings
The most alarming findings were in the group of children who drank 4 or more soft drinks per day. These children:
• Were more than 2 times as likely to act out aggressively, get into fights and destroy the property of others.
• Scored higher on the attention problems scale than those who drank less than 4 servings of soft drinks daily.
Additionally, children who drank 2, 4 or more soft drink servings daily also demonstrated withdrawal behaviors, as compared with children who did not consume soft drinks.
Aggression & Soft Drinks
This study’s findings positively linked aggression, attention problems and withdrawal to soft drink consumption in young children. Even after adjusting for sociodemographic factors, maternal depression, intimate partner violence in the home, and paternal incarceration, any amount of soft drink consumption resulted in higher aggressive behavior scores as compared to those who did not consume soft drinks.
What Can You Do?
At Amen Clinics, we know that children (of all ages) LOVE treats. Instead of traditional soft drinks, we suggest a brand called Zevia, which is made from natural ingredients and sweetened with stevia, a much healthier no calorie sweetener.
We Can Help
If you would like to overhaul your family’s dietary habits, schedule a consultation at Amen Clinics. Let our years of experience, creativity, and positive, motivating attitude help you create brain-healthy menu plans that your family will love. Our therapists and coaches are available for consultations both in-person and over the phone. Call us today at 888-288-9834 or tell us more to schedule an appointment. Comprised of around 80% water, the brain is very soft, with a consistency similar to soft butter or custard. It’s protected by a hard skull and surrounded by fluid, yet there are many bony edges and ridges inside the skull; some of them as sharp as knives. These ridges can easily damage the brain during head trauma.
Sports & Your Brain
We must reiterate that your child’s brain was not created to withstand all the bell-ringers and hard knocks from tackle football, soccer headers, and hockey, among others.
If you love your child’s brain, and especially if you have a child with ADD or learning problems, please educate them about risk-prevention and if possible, don’t let them play these brain-injuring sports. The symptoms of a brain injury can be very similar to the symptoms of ADD or ADHD, therefore it’s most important to get a proper diagnosis when you notice that something is wrong.
Unquestionable Proof
Not only did we conduct the world’s largest study on brain damage in NFL players, more than 4,500 former players sued the NFL, seeking concussion-related compensation and alleging that the NFL concealed the risks of long-term brain damage. The settlement was $765 million dollars – yet the NFL will neither admit liability nor that the players’ injuries were caused by football.
From 2009-2012, Amen Clinics performed the world’s largest brain imaging and rehabilitation study on active and retired professional football players because we had a high suspicion that many players suffered with the effects of chronic traumatic brain injury (TBI).
The results of our NFL study were very clear:
• A very high percentage of our players had evidence of TBI patterns on their SPECT scans and showed symptoms of it – there was a high rate of depression, dementia, obesity, and ADD-like symptoms among them.
• 81% of the players complained of attention problems and showed concentration problems on the psychological testing that we performed.
The good news came from the second part of this study, where we taught players how to care for their brains and gave them specific nutritional supplements.
• 80% of our players experienced significant benefit, including improvements in mood, attention, motivation, and sleep.
This shows that even those who have suffered brain injury can still have hope – as there is a very high potential for recovery on a brain-smart program.
Treatment is Possible
Nobody knows exactly how many blows to the head it takes to cause problems, yet studies have shown that it takes longer for children to recover from a second concussion if it follows soon after a first, and that once someone has a concussion they’re more likely to experience more.
Many brain injuries go untreated because the person did not lose consciousness, so keep an eye out for these symptoms and seek medical attention right away if you suspect trauma:
• Feeling drowsy or having a hard time waking up.
• Not thinking clearly, feeling spacey, or acting confused.
• Headache or the feeling of pressure in the head.
• Memory and mood changes.
We Can Help
At Amen Clinics, we want to help you and your children heal brain injuries before they affect your life. Call us today at 888-288-9834, or tell us more about your concerns. Brain trauma can cause significantly decreased function in a person’s brain. Even though we have seen that brain damage can be reversed to some degree, for the best quality of life, a never-damaged brain is by far the best option.
At Amen Clinics, we have the largest database of brain scans relating to behavior. We once treated a 42-year-old woman who had failed six alcohol treatment programs. Her impulse control was virtually zero. She could not even be given a prescription for any medication because she would take them all at once. When we initially asked her if she had ever had a brain injury, she said no. But when we asked her again, she remembered that she had been kicked in the head by a horse when she was 10 years old. Her brain SPECT scan showed severe damage to her prefrontal cortex (PFC).
When the PFC shows damage, most people are in serious trouble. Without the high thinking, and executive functions offered by the PFC, this woman had virtually no “supervisor” in her head.
What Research Says About Concussions
This is why new research about the average teenager’s risk of concussion is so concerning. The way they treat their brain today has lifelong implications.
Research shows that one in five teenagers will suffer a concussion, even if they don’t play sports; and the risk rises dramatically if they drink, smoke pot or play a contact sport.
A traumatic brain injury is defined as a head injury that knocked the teenager out for at least five minutes or resulted in overnight hospitalization.
The study involved students in grades 7–12. Here’s what the researchers found:
• Over 20% of teenagers said they had a concussion in their lifetime.
• Nearly 6% said they had suffered at least one concussion in the past year alone.
• 63.5% of concussions in boys were related to sports; 46.9% of concussions in girls were related to sports.
• Teens who drank alcohol, even if just occasionally, were five times more likely to suffer a concussion in the last year than those teens who didn’t drink alcohol.
• Teens who smoked marijuana more than 10 times in the last year were three times more likely to suffer a concussion in the last year than those teens who didn’t smoke marijuana.
Consider This
A person doesn’t have to be knocked out or hospitalized to have suffered a concussion. If a concussion or traumatic brain injury in this study was measured as a 5-minute blackout or hospitalization, then 20% is a very conservative figure.
It is likely that teenagers sustain a higher rate of traumatic brain injury than this study discovered.
What Brain Injuries Can Tell Us
We have treated people who have suffered from brain injuries they did not think were serious until they saw their SPECT scans. These were often unreported and untreated.
These people can suffer from cognitive, mood, and behavior problems.
They don’t understand why, they just feel they are messed up. As in the case of the woman who was kicked in the head by a horse, after many questions from us, they’ll remember a childhood knock to the head or a “ringer” they suffered in a sports match. Brain SPECT studies will show decreased blood flow to these previously injured parts of the brain and, depending on the location of the injury, can have dramatic impact on behavior, temperament and cognitive power.
We Can Help
At Amen Clinics, we know that brain trauma is not a function of not trying hard enough, being lazy, or not having enough willpower. We will work with you to address your specific brain type. Learn more about how Amen Clinics can help, or contact us today at 888-288-9834 or tell us more online.
