Alternative to ADHD Drugs

posted by Mel, selected from Natural Solutions magazine Oct 15, 2009 3:00 pm
filed under: Alternative Therapies, Children, Health & Wellness, adderall, ADHD, meditaion, ritalin, TM

Alternative+to+ADHD+Drugs
Hello,
I saw this on Care2 and thought you'd like it as well.

Care2 is the largest and most trusted information and action site for people who care to make a difference in their lives and the world.
Care2.com send We hate spam. We do not sell or share the email addresses you provide.
28 comments
By Diana Reynolds Roome, Natural Solutions

Josh Goulding was diagnosed with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in second grade, after his impulsive and disruptive behavior frequently landed him in the school principal’s office. “Over several years, I was put on a whole gamut of drugs, and nothing worked well,” says Goulding, now 24. By his second year at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, Goulding was still struggling to concentrate in classes and complete his work, and his medications were causing mood swings and irritability.

The Conventional Rx: Stimulant drugs, such as Ritalin and Adderall. Almost 4.5 million children between ages 4 and 17 are diagnosed with ADHD, and nearly half of them take prescription medications, often for years. Long term, these drugs may be physically and psychologically harmful, and side effects such as sleep disturbances, poor appetite, weight loss, and mood disorders can require further medication.

The Alternative Rx: Transcendental Meditation (TM). In the first study on ADHD and TM, middle-school-age children who did twice daily nonreligious meditations for 10 minutes reduced their stress levels by over 50 percent–resulting in fewer ADHD symptoms. “TM helps children focus on a special mantra or sound, which helps the child transcend mental busyness and stress,” says Sarina Grosswald, EdD, coauthor of the study. “This allows the child’s body to completely relax and his mind to stay fully awake without effort. The results are improved behavior, grades, creativity, and inner stability.”

The Outcome: Just before turning 21, Goulding attended a talk on TM and signed up to learn the technique. First, he started sleeping better. Then, finding it easier to focus and relate to others, his grades improved. When Goulding returned to his doctor, his blood pressure was lower (it had been borderline hypertensive before he started TM) and, even after he stopped taking ADHD medications, his grade-point average continued to rise.

More on Alternative Therapies (76 articles available)
More from Mel, selected from Natural Solutions magazine (116 articles available)


28 comments
Add to Favorites Tell a Friend Share Print Facebook Digg Reddit Care2 StumbleUpon more
Select a service:
StumbleUponRedditDiggBuzz UpFacebookTwitterMySpaceMixxDel.icio.usGoogle BookmarksFavoritesCare2
sender info:
your name: your email:
recipient info:
recipient's address(es): Separate multiple e-mail addresses by a comma. You can send up to 100 recipients.
personal message
Alternative+to+ADHD+Drugs
Hello,
I saw this on Care2 and thought you'd like it as well.

Care2 is the largest and most trusted information and action site for people who care to make a difference in their lives and the world.
Care2.com send We hate spam. We do not sell or share the email addresses you provide.
related stories

Pharmaceuticals: Just Say Maybe
(4 comments)

Help Your Child Focus Naturally
(9 comments)

How Serious Is Your Clutter Problem? Quiz
(24 comments)

28 commentsadd your comment »
28 comments add your comment

Jean T. says
Oct 17, 2009 9:20 PM
I will be paying close attention to these new developments. What a great good fortune it will be if there is truly an alternative to drugging our children. If the TM Program can produce the same or better results without the harmful side effects of drugs - Bravo. Please keep covering this important topic.

send green star | flag as inappropriate

why is this inappropriate?
submit cancel Submitting...
Your report of abuse has been received and will be reviewed.
The response report you have submitted was unable to transmit. Please try your submission again or contact support.

Barbara West says
Oct 17, 2009 12:24 PM
ADHD reminds me of the same problems my son faced as a tiny child, only then (35 years ago!) they called it HYPERACTIVITY!!! Their fix for that then was Ritalin. I refused to put him on it then and no one should have to go on it now. Cut out everything ARTIFICIAL from the childs diet (ie: flavors, sweetners, colors, etc.) Connect with their teachers and set up new rules at the schools (I did it), none of these children should be out side running rampent and then expected to sit still and function. They come inside and are over-wond-springs. What they need during school times is not running around. They need to be doing something quiet and calming. I did it with my son and proved to the school that they were wrong in the way they handled children (the principal was given an award by the governor of the state for her change in curriculum for the children!). So read the labels on all the food you buy (all the artificial crap, even in canned vegetables, will shock you). You can make your childs life so much better for them and you!!!

send green star | flag as inappropriate

why is this inappropriate?
submit cancel Submitting...
Your report of abuse has been received and will be reviewed.
The response report you have submitted was unable to transmit. Please try your submission again or contact support.

Garrick S. says
Oct 17, 2009 11:25 AM
For those of you unfortunate enough to believe in the "disorder" theories with the $big$ $fat$ $catch$, I have news for you. Patholigizing "irrational" normal behavior and giving it a "disorder" label does nothing to treat the cause and thus reverse the "issues". ADHD does not exist in Truth. It exists as a handy term to capitalize and control. Kids and adults have issues, no doubt, but treated with diet, lifestyle, key communication, peaceful family meals, conscious parenting, sunlight, etc., to completely harmonize one, without any side effects in the mind and body, or residual disbelief in oneself. Not believing in oneself is dire for any being. Do we realize this as a society? Our minds are so malleable. Look at how TV and advertising manipulate minds. Now the minds have morphed to correspond with the trillion dollar racket of psychiatry---which helps to destroy lives. Yes---helping to destroy lives! Crippling and impairing for life. Just because we don't hear this in circulation amongst the morphed masses doesn't mean it isn't a shining huff on a horn. Our artificial right/wrong mentality, in concert with "dis-"orders, creates an idea within someone that something is really negative. This is false, as right/wrong has been artificially implanted into us. We also change, and grow to accomodate our life. This is natural, folks. The answers will be found by confronting each and every situation, NATURE RUNNING ITS COURSE, THROUGH DIFFICULTY AND ON TO HARMONY.

send green star | flag as inappropriate

why is this inappropriate?
submit cancel Submitting...
Your report of abuse has been received and will be reviewed.
The response report you have submitted was unable to transmit. Please try your submission again or contact support.

Hans H. says
Oct 17, 2009 10:09 AM
I'm convinced that the drugs are very dangerous and destroy lives.
Quote from FDA announced June 28 that Ritalin and other methylphenidate drugs had been linked to "visual hallucinations, suicidal ideation, psychotic behavior, as well as aggression or violent behaviour". Nothing was said about suicides or suicide attempts.

The narcotic drug Ritalin has been withdrawn from the Swedish market for 37 years - since the abuse catastrophe in the 60-ties. But Swedish psychiatrists have in recent years demanded the right to prescribe Ritalin and other stimulants to children - with the false pretence that the narcotic drug for children with the diagnosis ADHD would work as insulin for persons with diabetes. The expert child psychiatrist at the MPA has led the campaign; he has assured the public there are no serious short-term or long-term side effects from stimulant treatment of children.
source:http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/view_press_release.php?rID=9094
Search for "Ritalin suicide " see for your self.
There are other drugs like Prosac and newer ones, the ingredients are very similar and but the names change after some years.
Check out this website:http://www.adhd-information-exchange.com/ADHD-Medications.html
Click on the different Meds.
I did read it and It is shocking.

send green star | flag as inappropriate

why is this inappropriate?
submit cancel Submitting...
Your report of abuse has been received and will be reviewed.
The response report you have submitted was unable to transmit. Please try your submission again or contact support.

Kristine V. says
Oct 17, 2009 6:26 AM
It's making me sick to read that some or you folks out there don't think ADHD is a real condition.
Do you have any children that have been diagnosed?? Do you know what it's like to live with a child that is hyperactive and innatentive??
I have been living a holistic lifestyle since I was 19 years old. I have a son with ADHD, and since then have realized i am ADD.
I look at my family history, and think that my father might have it also.
Yes, I do believe vaccines are toxic and it scares the s@#t out of me, but I believe ADHD is hereditary.
I will try meditation for my son when he gets older. I have tried OM-ing with him, but it usually lasts for 10 deep breaths, and finishes with lots of giggles, myself included.
In the meantime adderall and lots of healthy foods seem to be working marvelously. I don't mind being skinny either!!!!

send green star | flag as inappropriate

why is this inappropriate?
submit cancel Submitting...
Your report of abuse has been received and will be reviewed.
The response report you have submitted was unable to transmit. Please try your submission again or contact support.

Genevieve H. says
Oct 17, 2009 3:57 AM
My daugther had ADHD, anyway, all the symptoms of what is called ADHD, but it seems to have eased itself with puberty. I have read that some of the reason for the lack of concentration and the hyperactivity in some people comes from the fact that some connection between the neurons in the frontal lobes are not yet formed for those people. With puberty, some of those connections are made finally and most of the symptoms go away, but not all.
Anyway, I think too that a lot of that problem comes also from the fact that modern education and society wants to make everybody the same, wants to fit a round peg into a square hole or vice-versa. If someone is not like everyone else, he/she gets labeled as having a disease, or disorder. Isn't that scary to live in such a society ? It sounds a lot to me like something you would read in Brave New World or 1984....
So I'm sure TM is a good way for people to regain their autonomy and refuse being medicated and put into a mental straight jacket.

send green star | flag as inappropriate

why is this inappropriate?
submit cancel Submitting...
Your report of abuse has been received and will be reviewed.
The response report you have submitted was unable to transmit. Please try your submission again or contact support.

Lynx C. says
Oct 16, 2009 11:15 PM
I should probably know better than to try and read anything about ADHD on this site - or at least than to read the comments. The range of irrational, kneejerk reactions, and the inaccurate information being spread, is really maddening.

If people would take the time to actually read up on the medical research surrounding ADHD, there is plenty of evidence that it is a perfectly real condition, and affects adults as much as kids. It doesn't magically go away when you grow up. There are distinct differences evident in brain scans of people with and without ADHD, and researchers are starting to get a fairly good picture of the brain chemistry involved (mostly centering around dopamine).

The majority of ADHD adults I know - including myself - do take medication for it. And guess what, it doesn't destroy your creativity, turn you into a zombie, or really make you into any sort of a different person than you already are. It just gives you a little more control over your mental processes and helps you concentrate better, by increasing the dopamine levels in your brain, which affect alertness and attentiveness. Most of the common medications for ADHD have a long history of safe use. Adverse reactions can happen, as with anything (including natural remedies!), but they're relatively rare.

However, medication is only one tool, not a magic solution. That's why exercise, nutrition, meditation and other complementary therapies are well worth exploring. It's not an either/or choic

send green star | flag as inappropriate

why is this inappropriate?
submit cancel Submitting...
Your report of abuse has been received and will be reviewed.
The response report you have submitted was unable to transmit. Please try your submission again or contact support.

LISA S. says
Oct 16, 2009 10:18 PM
I work w/ kids that have ADHD,some OCD, high funtioning autistics and Asperger's syndrome. I belive that any focused energy is a good thing. I never learned to do TM myself (I really should meditate)but most likely it would be a positive tool in their lives. I recommend Social Cognitive Skills groups for these kids as well. And obviously if medication helps your child then I would never negate it. But some (once weekly) form of group skills or therapy should always be done as well for any true understanding and 'practice' in making appropriate choices for themselves in schoolwork or socially.
Medication alone does not teach behavior and I have seen kids 'weened' away form their meds as they learn to understand and take control of their own unique personality and choices that they make.

send green star | flag as inappropriate

why is this inappropriate?


Leslie Buford says
Oct 16, 2009 2:22 PM
ADHD has always been around. Children with ADHD just dropped out of school early. Many went on to have careers in hands on professions such as farming, building, etc. But our world has changed, for better or worse... a child who does not finish high school now has few opportunities to live a comfortable, successful life. Educational settings and approaches do make a difference, but medication also plays an important role. Due to more knowledge and better diagnostics, many more people (children and adults) can find out why they struggle to pay attention (or to control their moods, as in bipolar disorder) and receive treatment that makes their lives better. The statistics on untreated ADHD and bipolar disorder are quite alarming... suicide rates, death from overdose or drunk driving, and imprisonment occur at a much higher rate among that population. So, if the meds work, and the side effects are tolerable, it doesn't matter to me whether the guys who produce them are evil or not... treat the disorder. Then maybe one of our bipolar, adhd kids will grow up to be the doctor or businessman or political leader who manages to fix our broken health care system.

why is this inappropriate?
submit cancel Submitting...
Your report of abuse has been received and will be reviewed.
The response report you have submitted was unable to transmit. Please try your submission again or contact support.

Cheryl R. says
Oct 16, 2009 2:10 PM
Pharmaceuticals-NO WAY! I learned the hard way that pharmaceuticals destroy lives. They are drugs, no better than street drugs. Before you try pharmaceuticals, try all the alternatives, like meditation, yoga, exercise, support groups, therapy, art therapy, being in nature, dietary changes, eliminating toxins from your body and environment, etcetera. Drugs are toxic, and they cause permanent brain damage. Don't let the doktors fool you. They're just out for money. They are liars and thieves and they don't care what harm befalls you. They're a bunch of money hungry sadists.

Comment

My nephew is ADHD and his Mom says there is a demonstratable difference in his behavior when he is on Ritalin. I have witnessed it myself, as he is calmer, more able to focus, watch TV, etc. that he just couldnt do before. He also follows directions better on Ritalin, and will look you in the eye when you talk to him. It does affect his appetite, and can affect his sleep if give too late in the afternoon.