All Natural Hyperactivity

Can You Please Listen!!!!....




You're not paying attention."




Don't you know where you put your lunch money?"




"Stop fidgeting!"




"Don't interrupt."




Can you imagine what it would be like to hear people talk to you this way every single day?



If you can imagine it, or if it sounds just like what you're used to hearing, then you know what it's like to have ADHD. Those letters stand for a condition called attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.




Kids who have ADHD are not bad, lazy, or stupid. They have a disorder that means they may have problems paying attention or sitting still in their seats. They can also act on impulse - this means doing things without thinking about them first. Kids with ADHD may spend a lot of time in the principal's office. Sometimes they do things that cause them to get hurt. They might change their friends a lot.





Who Gets ADHD?


On average, 8-10% of kids have ADHD. That means out of 100 kids, 8 to 10 of them may have ADHD. So if your school has 300 kids, 24 to 30 of them may have ADHD. Kids who have ADHD usually start having problems in preschool. Boys have ADHD more often than girls. In fact, three times as many boys have ADHD, but no one knows why.




A kid might have a greater chance of developing ADHD if one of his or her relatives already has ADHD or another type of behavior problem. But no one is sure why anyone has ADHD, although scientists and doctors think that it probably has to do with differences in the way people's brains work. No one gets ADHD on purpose, so it isn't ever anyone's fault. And ADHD isn't contagious - you can't catch it from someone like the flu.





What Are the Signs of ADHD?



ADHD can cause kids to act in different ways, depending on who has it. Most kids with ADHD have problems concentrating and paying attention. Some kids with ADHD might also have trouble sitting still in class and waiting for their turn. They might yell out the answers before other kids have a chance to raise their hands.




Sometimes they can be disorganized, distracted, or forgetful. They might lose things and have trouble finishing assignments. They may wiggle around in their seats, move around a lot, talk too much, or interrupt other people's conversations.




It's important to remember that everybody does these things once in a while. It doesn't mean you have ADHD. Checking It Out When parents and teachers suspect that a child has ADHD, the first step is to visit the doctor. He or she may then refer the kid to a specialist like a psychologist, psychiatrist, or neurologist who knows about kids who have ADHD and other kinds of behavior problems. Part of the doctor's job is to check for other illnesses that look like ADHD but need different kinds of treatment.






If the Doctor Says It's ADHD


Once the doctor determines that a kid has ADHD, then the doctor, parents, and teachers begin to work together to find out the best way to help. Often this means starting one of the medicines used to treat ADHD, deciding how much medicine is needed, and when to give it. Children with ADHD usually only have to take their medicine once before school, but some may have to go to the nurse in the middle of the school day for medicine.Once the doctor determines that a kid has ADHD, then the doctor, parents, and teachers begin to work together to find out the best way to help. Often this means starting one of the medicines used to treat ADHD, deciding how much medicine is needed, and when to give it. Children with ADHD usually only have to take their medicine once before school, but some may have to go to the nurse in the middle of the school day for medicine.




But children who have ADHD need more than just medicine. They also need help learning how to change the way they act. Some kids with ADHD can learn to do this by using relaxation therapy or behavioral therapy. In relaxation therapy, counselors teach kids how to relax and stay calm by doing deep-breathing exercises and relaxing different muscle groups.





Behavioral therapy

helps kids with ADHD by teaching them to set goals for themselves and by using rewards to help them reach those goals. Teachers can give a kid with ADHD a reward for sitting still in class, for example. And parents can do the same thing at home, by rewarding their children for paying attention, completing their chores, or keeping track of their things. Kids with ADHD may need extra help learning how to do things other kids find easy.




Kids who have ADHD can become depressed or anxious. So for many kids with ADHD, the key to success is not only following the treatment plan from the doctor, but working to build good friendships with other kids, too. Many kids with ADHD find that their symptoms get better as they get older. Adults with ADHD can have happy lives, and they can be very successful in whatever they decide to do.





Studied by: Steven Dowshen, MDDate reviewed: May 2006






The Natural Solution To ADD/ADHD: Drugging Your Child Is NOT The Answer!!!




ADD/ADHD: What Is It?



There's often nothing more frustrating than seeing a child, or being an adolescent, who experiences learning problems, or LD (Learning Disorder) and ADD/ADHD (Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).




These children may often be out of control, over-stimulated, under-stimulated, or experience uncontrolled stimulation patterns throughout their sensorium, exhibiting behavioral patterns which are difficult to explain and which often disrupt an entire household.




Attention Deficit (and its many forms: ADD/ADHD/LD) is a dysfunction of the Central Nervous System (CNS), most specifically the Reticular Activating System, which results in difficulties of maintaining attention and concentration, learning and memory, as well as involving an inability to process and sort out incoming information or stimulus from both an child's inner (subjective) and outer (objective) worlds. It may manifest itself in undue passivity or inattentiveness, or unruly, uncontrollable, aggressive hyperactivity in an affected child.





Common Neural Processing & Behavioral Traits of an Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Child (ADD/ADHD/LD):




1: Gives up easily on tasks, assignments and self-interests.




2: Poor reality testing skills, and avoidant of reason or logic.




3: Poorly developed skills of integration, interpolation and extrapolation.




4: Poor skills of attention and concentration, unable to sustain focus of interest.




5: Difficulties in short term and long term memory acquisition and management.




6: Difficulty in making up their mind, or making choices without undue anxiety.



7: Poor planning abilities, unable to follow through consistently or complete tasks.




8: Difficulty in differentiating between competing, extraneous stimulation.




9: Easily distracted from tasks, conversations or social interactions.




10: Often over-stimulated and over-sensitized to their surroundings.





11: Poor listening skills, often interrupts others, abruptly changes topic.





12: Overly excitable, reactive and easily perseverating from one situation to another.




13: Inability to manage emotional responses, temper tantrums.




14: Easily frustrated, emotionally labile/unstable leading to immediate changeable moods and behavioral inconsistencies.




15: Often hyperactive, fidgety, overwhelmed with feelings of restlessness.




16: Inability to maintain appropriate social conduct, often disruptive in school.




17: Experiences difficulty in following instructions and guidance.




18: Impatient, continuing difficulties in delaying gratification.




19: Overly demanding, may become self-destructive and aggressive.




20: Poor sleep patterns, often not rested, angry or despondent upon rising.

If 8 or more of the above listed traits are continuously persistent in your child's behavior, then it is recommended that you see your child's pediatrician for possible ADD/ADHD diagnosis.
































Attention Deficit is a limiting metabolic dysfunction of the Reticular Activating System, the center of consciousness that coordinates learning and memory, and which normally suppliesAttention Deficit is a limiting metabolic dysfunction of the Reticular Activating System, the center of consciousness that coordinates learning and memory, and which normally supplies
the appropriate neural connections necessary for smooth information processing and clear,
non-stressful attention. When neural building materials are lacking, demand for further connectivity cannot easily be fulfilled, interfering with the efficient processing of information,
and frustrating the ADD/ADHD/LD child.




In other words, neural "hardware" remains in limited production (there's not enough of it),
and supply cannot keep up with the demand (increasing stimulus or "traffic") for new neural connections within the Central Nervous System (CNS). Demands for new learning, memory,
and the management of information processing cannot be satisfied, and the insufficient "connections" result in existing neural pathways being repeatedly overworked and over stressed, often resulting in complete gridlock or shutdown so that nothing gets processed thereafter. This, most noticeably, generates frustration, bewilderment and behavioralblems in the Attention Deficit child.





The Reticular Activating System and its connections.


At the center of consciousness, attention and learning.The Reticular Activating System appears to be intimately involved in the neural mechanisms which produce consciousness and focused attention, receiving impulses from the spinal cord and relaying them to the Thalamus, and from there to the Cortex, and back again in a feedback loop to the Hippocampus/Thalamus/ Hypothalamus and participating neural structures in order for learning and memory to take place. Without continual excitation of cortical neurons by reticular activation impulses, a child is unconscious and cannot be aroused. When stimulation is enough for consciousness but not for attentiveness, ADD or LD results. If too activated, a child cannot relax or concentrate (and is over-stimulated or hyperactive) often resulting in ADHD.





How Does This Limitation Affect A Child's Perceptual Abilities?



Although Attention Deficit starts in the brain, it really involves the entire sensorium (vision, smell, touch, hearing, etc.) as well as the inner world of cognition and emotion. When deprived of the required number of neural connections needed to process the "traffic" smoothly, competition between various stimulus results. Overly competitive stimulation from multiple external and internal sources (too much visual stimulation, too much sound stimulation, too many internal feelings and emotions, etc.) can cause undue frustration, irritation, aggression and anxiety. When the limited neural network is overly taxed in this regard, it becomes unable to "tune in" or focus on some stimulation, while "tuning out," or "turning down" (attenuating) other stimulation.




This lack of ability to focus on some particular stimulus while attenuating others, creates undue "noise" in the perceptual systems within the brain. For the Attention Deficit child, this perceptual "neural-noise" is so overly noxious and continuous that it appears to be competitively assaultive, crippling any attempt to concentrate on one stimulus while attenuating others. Feelings of helplessness and anxiety are often overwhelming, forcing an Attention Deficit child to look for ways in which to survive the assaultive nature of their world.




A number of strategies are possible, but two are generally the most common and most easily documented. The first is that of an ADHD child. ADHD's are hypothesized to have ample supplies of Acetylcholine and clear, lipofuscin-free, unobstructed Cholinergic pathways, allowing them to actively compete and overwhelm the intrusive messages. Thus, an ADHD child attempts to operate at a "noisier" level (becoming intensely hyperactive), trying to "shout-down" the crowded array of competing stimulation within their brain.




ADD's and LD's are hypothesized to have low Acetylcholine levels and adverse lipofuscin populations within the Cholinergic neural pathways, making a competitive response more difficult and trying. For both an ADD and LD child, it becomes so "noisy" that it becomes necessary to shut down all processing of the senses altogether, avoiding and deflecting all stimulation. The incessant cacophony of "neural-noises" produces a powerfully competitive "numbing," almost hypnotic agent, and an ADHD child simply "gives up" to the competitively powerful undifferentiated "white-neural-noise" being generated by their sensorium because the neural-thresholds of the sensorium have over-fired and can no longer be sustained. Thus, unlike another child (children), the ADD and LD child simply "shut-down" and "tune-out," producing high Theta and/or Alpha brain waves (see brain maps below).