My brother and I were talking about his disseration at his 29th birthday party. He is getting his PH.D in sociology.
He believes that all of this technology is causing ADHD.
Now- both of us have ADHD and take medication for it. I told him that we would still be ADHD even if we lived in a van down by the river without any technology.
He said we may have a gene for the disorder and technology is triggering it.
I don't know I think there were ADHD people out there long before everyday people had television.
What are your thoughts?
He believes that all of this technology is causing ADHD.
Now- both of us have ADHD and take medication for it. I told him that we would still be ADHD even if we lived in a van down by the river without any technology.
He said we may have a gene for the disorder and technology is triggering it.
I don't know I think there were ADHD people out there long before everyday people had television.
What are your thoughts?
6 comments:
oh my, you are certainly good at distracting me
I was treated with neurotherapy for ADHD in 1998, and it literally changed my life. Neurotherapy entails a biofeedback routine where you basically retrain your brain to operate at the right frequencies. There are lots of internet resources with just a quick Google search if you are interested in finding out more. But anyway, I was inspired to seek treatment when one of my professors politely asked me at the end of the term if "maybe [I] had written answers for the wrong exam" like I had several sitting on the desk in front of me and just got them mixed up or something. I was also really struggling with concentrating during research group meetings. Basically, anytime I was really engaging myself cognitively, my ability to self-regulate was going out the window even though I could manage fine if I wasn't really having to challenge myself. The neurotherapy improved things for me immediately, and they have stayed improved. I can even identify if I'm kind of wandering a bit and still think about the training (mine was before all sorts of fanciness; so, I just think about a blue dot appearing) to kind of reset myself. At the time, I think all of my work and school colleagues commented on the positive change.
Brain wave wise, both ADD and ADHD involve the peak of the brain waves being at a different frequency than the peak for someone whose brain functions standardly. In ADHD, this is made up for by increasing the intensity across all frequencies so the useful frequencies rise up to the level they would be if they were the peak. Though this leads to normal functioning at that useful frequency, it also means that the ADHD person now has a super high peak at the wrong frequency which is where the hyperactivity symptoms come from. In ADD, the peak is in the wrong place but there is no compensation; so, the person doesn't have enough activity at the useful frequency.
Medications result in a decrease in overall intensity which doesn't correct the location of the peak. That gets rid of the superstimulus for those who are ADHD but also lowers useful functionality. And for ADD, it basically just shuts everything down. Can you tell that I'm not a fan of ADHD meds?
The neurotherapy actually addresses the frequencies and helps the brain learn to correct itself.
But, neurotherapy doesn't work for everyone diagnosed with ADHD because a lot of people with the diagnosis don't fit the brain pattern associated with it. I think this reflects an overuse of the diagnosis which also leads to the seeming increase in cases, but that is just a personal opinion.
As far as the correlation to technology, I would have to do some more research to see if I bought into that, but I would guess that if you can un-program ADD and ADHD that you could also program it with feedback; so, it at least seems possible. Hmmm.
Hi Sarah and Lisa,
This was very interesting topic that you both are discussing.
Lisa, how does exercise impact HDHD or ADD, or does it at all?
Thanks!
Don
Lisa, Do you know I have never experienced writer's block or a inability to create until I started medication. However, I do see some very positive results with my meds.
I find it erie that you and I have such similar experiences. I too have been told by college professors that if I can't spell or put together sentences with punctuation during test taking skills I should fail college. Yet I worked as a writing tutor! I just could not get my thoughts together on a timed test. Secondly, one time I completed a project, did the entire thing wrong, but the professor gave me an A because of the creativeness involved.
I finally figured out I was ADD at one of my student's IEP meetings. My boss said to me,"You know you are ADD." Sure enough all of the testing said I was!
Don,
Mary Friend Shepard is doing some research on excerise and ADD. There is also a program called KEEP 57.
Sarah-
And it's those two topics that prompted my web tool - ADD/ADHD and MaryFriend Shepard.
You might want to check out the new testing device for ADHD from the BioBehavioral Diagnosics Company at www.biobdx.com
hmm...the exercise question
When I first went to the doctor for the ADHD, he took a bunch of tests and informed me I should probably have become a distracted flunky sometime long before college. The next question he asked was what sports I was in and said that in his experience they kept ADHD at bay but really thought mine was bad enough that he was surprised it had worked. I told him that I ran track and cross-country and spent enough time on it to be on university athletic scholarship. So, he seemed to think that explained it. I should touch base with MaryFriend about her work. Thanks for the info there.
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