 William Dodson, MD is a psychiatrist who has made his life's work diagnosing and teaching people about ADHD.
Most people think of ADHD as being about lack of focus and distractibility. But Dr. Dodson explains that it is so much more complicated that that. In fact, he explains that there are 3 features of ADHD that most people, even clinicians, don't know about. They are: 1. That the ADHD mind is an "interest-based nervous system" 2. That people with ADHD experience emotional hyperarousal 3. That people with ADHD experience Rejection Sensitivity This information is so important for people with ADHD and parents of kids with ADHD, and people who love people with ADHD to understand! Please take a moment to look over this handout from ADDitude Magazine and better yet, listen to this podcast. The podcast has much more information. Well worth your time! PODCAST: 204- How ADHD Shapes Your Perceptions, Emotions & Motivation. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/204-how-adhd-shapes-your-perceptions-emotions-motivation/id668174671?i=1000407588802 ARTICLE: https://www.additudemag.com/symptoms-of-add-hyperarousal-rejection-sensitivity/  During this time of conflict and uncertainty, one of the best ways you can help yourself and the world at large is to take the time to meditate. Develop a daily practice of reflection, self-compassion, compassion for others.
Meditation has been shown time and again through research to improve mental health and relationships. If you are new to meditation, there are two FREE meditation classes that I recommend. They only take 15 minutes a day—well worth the time! -Available for FREE only until Sunday, January 10th: Ten Percent Happier. Download the app or go to the website. https://www.tenpercent.com/challenge It’s a 21 day guided meditation course for free. If you miss that deadline, you can purchase the many courses for a fee and there are scholarships as well. -Always FREE at any time is a fantastic course by Jack Kornfield for beginners or even experienced meditators. You can find that at https://jackkornfield.com/event/mindfulness-daily/ -For more resources, look at my blog with several articles and resources on Mindfulness/Meditation : https://www.connectscounseling.com/blog/category/mindfulness May you be filled with loving kindnessMay you be safe from inner and outer dangersMay you be well in body and mindMay you be at ease and happyMay you feel kindness towards yourself and all others -adaptation of Loving Kindness Meditation  We are all experiencing some degree of fear and worry during this time. Of course we are! The world is feeling very uncertain and loved ones are at risk! But we can do a lot to help ourselves and the people around us stay calm and centered, even while we do what needs to be done. We can be brave and we can be gracious. We can be kind.We can be strong. Here are some resources to help: Ten Percent Happier: Dan Harris, correspondant for ABC News, panic attack survivor and author has created a wealth of help through free articles,podcasts, an app and Youtube videos. He interviews the most influential meditation leaders, gurus and just down right smart people of our time. He provides free guided meditations from all sorts of teachers and styles. Go to this site: www.tenpercent.com to get all the latest ways to connect with Ten Percent Happier. It's awesome!! Dr. Jud Brewer, doctor, scientist, author, and creator of apps like Eat Right Now to control cravings, Unwinding Anxiety and others is offering many free resources for learning how to use Mindfulness to help with anxiety and difficult habits during this time: https://drjud.com/coronavirus-anxiety/ John Moe, podcaster and author has created the The Hilarious World of Depression podcast filled with funny and helpful information, interviews and more on how to cope with mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety. Check it out: https://www.hilariousworld.org. Update: this podcast has been changed to DepreshMode with John Moe. Still great! Www.maximum fun.org. Jack Kornfield, beloved teacher, monk, podcaster and author has so many resources for helping us become more centered and calm and gracious! He is offering a free online class on Mindfulness as well as free weekly teachings on his Heart Wisdom podcast. He has many books in print and through audible and most can be found free of charge in the library. I can't say enough about all his wonderful teachings! Check him out here: https://jackkornfield.com  Dan Griffin, author, speaker and podcaster, says this in his article about men and depression: "Men today are awash in intense conflicting messages about what it means to be a man. And, they are finding that the things that they once took for granted as the rewards for following The Man Rules–the right job, financial security, sex, marriage, family–are not as easily guaranteed as they’d been taught."
In this episode of his podcast, The Man Rules, Dan interviews Dr. Terry Real, expert on men and relationships, author of several books including I Don't Want to Talk About It, a revealing book about men and depression. It's no surprise to hear that men are drawn to anger as a way to deal with depression. Typically men are socialized and possibly genetically predisposed to want to take action when they feel strong emotions. So when the underpinnings of depression come along--sadness, shame, fear--men often turn to anger or contempt, which fuels action and also feel much better in the brain. The problem, of course, is that anger and contempt are not very helpful in relationships and often end up isolating men from the people they love--which causes more depression! This interview and Terry Real's book explain how this difficult pattern came to be, the impact on relationships and men's lives in general, as well as how to heal. Definitely worth the time to listen to and read about! Here's the PODCAST--Episode 104.  Are you tired of saying "I should really do that" or "I should really quit doing that"? Yes, you are! I know you are! We all are!
We all have something that we want to do: start a regular exercise routine, eat more vegetables, join a social club, whatever it might be. And we all have that habit we want to break--I won't even name them! In How To Start New Habits That Actually Stick, by James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, we learn about the 4 Stages of a habit, the Habit Loop, and how to create new habits and get rid of unwanted habits. The article is very straightforward and easy to follow. Take a look--create a new habit, ditch an old one! For a link to more great articles, go to jamesclear.com/articles  This article, When and How to Negotiate with Your Kids, from the website The Successful Parent, is a great resource for information on how to help children learn to communicate effectively. The article starts off describing why to use negotiation:
"Negotiation is a valuable tool to use with your kids because helps them develop some important skills. Most notable are:
Those are good skills for kids--and adults--to learn! It's a quick and easy read, worth the time to read and definitely worth the time to learn how to do with your kids!  Do you know someone who needs help figuring out how to get help for depression, anxiety or other problems? Here is a great episode of the Hilarious World of Depression Podcast June 8 2018 Episode How to Get Help
John Moe, humorist and writer, (and Federal Way, WA native!) talks with Dr. Ken Duckworth, Medical Director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness to get practical advice on the various ways to get help for emotional and psychological concerns. For more information on the Hilarious World of Depression Podcast (a great podcast!), here's an article from the Huffington Post. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple ITunes or Stitcher or pretty much anywhere you get podcasts.  From Mindful Magazine A Meditation on Working with Anxiety by Bob Stahl March 28, 2018 Anthony/Jess/Adobe Stock Are you feeling upset, anxious, jumpy? Here is a great audio meditation that can help you calm your body and your mind. It uses Mindful Self Inquiry. The article says: "Mindful self-inquiry is an investigation into the nature of one’s own mind and being. That inquiry looks into physical sensations, emotions, and thoughts that may be contributing to stress and anxiety". Click HERE for the article and audio file.
 Most of us start out our lives breathing correctly, with our stomachs rising and falling with each breath.
Unfortunately,as we grow up, most of us start to un-learn this natural breathing as life becomes full of stress and our bodies become less relaxed. The problem with this is that we NEED this natural, soothing way of breathing to keep us healthy. Breathing into our stomachs, rather than into our chests, allows for deeper breath and tells our brain that we are OK. That message signals to our brain to shut off the stress reaction. It allows more oxygen to get to the thinking part of our brain, the cortex, so that we can think more clearly. You can see how important it is to be able to breathe correctly when we are in a difficult but not life threatening situation, one where we want to be able to think critically. Situations, for example, where we are in a conflict with someone we care about, or when our emotions are coming on too strong. We want to be able to turn off the Danger! Danger! signal and be able to respond from a relaxed and thoughtful place. In order to be able to return to this natural way of breathing, we need to practice Belly or Diaphragmatic Breathing. Click HERE for a good article on how Diaphragmatic Breathing works. Practice this breathing technique when ever you can, several times a day, until it feels easy and normal. Click HERE for a video that explains exactly how to do it. I often recommend evaluations for children or adults who are struggling at home, work or school. I think knowing strengths and weaknesses can make a huge difference, whether you are considering asking for accommodations or just want to find out what will work best with your or your child's learning style and temperament. Here are some good articles from Understood.org and APA which will help you understand the language, options and process!
Understanding Psychological/Educational Evaluations Evaluation Terminology: Types of Special Education Evaluations Evaluations and Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) Private Vs. School Testing for Learning Disabilities Private Evaluation: What You Need to Know |
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