Stress can affect virtually any part of the body and produce physical, mental and emotional symptoms weakening the immune system and impairing coordination and thinking ability. Stress comes from relationships, from school or work situations, and from our own expectations. How we learn to deal with stress makes a huge difference in how healthy we are. Continual stress eventually wears out our body and mind. Studies by the American Medical Association have shown stress to be a factor in over 75% of all illnesses today.
Stress is a reaction to a perceived threat. Our stress response helps us prepare mentally and physically to take protective action. These survival instincts are needed when we have real danger. Our muscle strength increases during stress by raising blood supply and oxygen to our muscles. When the blood is directed to the muscles during stress, the brain and digestive system do not get what they need to function. Under stress, electrolytes contained in the blood are dispersed throughout the body, reducing cell membrane potential in the nervous system. This makes us more hypersensitive, or alert to everything that is happening around us. This can increase the sensation of pain, making chronic pain worse. It can also make it more difficult to focus since too many stimuli are affecting us, so learning becomes more difficult.
Not all children who are overly energetic or exceptionally curious have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Neither do all busy, disorganized adults have Attention Deficit Disorder. What classifies real Attention Deficit Disorder over just being too busy is a high level of frustration. Adults and children with Attention Deficit Disorder are overly impatient to get things done, and are totally overwhelmed with anything in the environment. The whole world is too loud, too bright, too fast for them. They cannot filter out background noise, and so are affected by everything going on around them.
Many parents do not believe their child can be stressed. But children, especially infants, are highly sensitive to the emotions of their parents and caregivers. They sense fear, anger, and other emotions, and become stressed themselves, holding these emotions inside. Their young nervous systems get stressed more quickly than our adult systems, and they do not have a way of recognizing or reducing these stresses other than by crying or acting out.
We tell our children to "be tough", essentially telling them to suppress the stress or emotions they are experiencing. This causes their brain to have more trouble processing other events. They then tend to be overly disorganized with their time and their environment. They skip from one task to another, continuously finding other things that need to be done, and forgetting the current task. In children, we see this as constantly moving and getting into everything. In adults we see it as being easily distracted, forgetting to pay bills, missing appointments, always in a hurry but being late anyway. When they get too frustrated and overwhelmed, eventually they can get angry.
When we consistently suppress emotions, internal chronic stress levels grow, and various physical symptoms will appear. Sources of stress in our lives that inhibit learning come from many areas. School or work environments that lack sensory stimulation, lack movement or touch, lack communication opportunities, and lack creative play opportunities, slows the brain communication. Also TV, computer, and video games stimulate the nervous system but do not have enough physical movement included to reduce the stress that they cause. These sources of entertainment also decrease creativity and interactive communication, and increase violent tendencies. Other external sources of stress come from a lack of good nutrition, lack of water, and excess electrical fields. Stress comes from our perceptions, our mental and emotional responses to life experiences.
Stress happens when our perceptions don't meet our expectations and we don't manage our reactions. We can't change events but we can change our perceptions. Stressful symptoms include feeling rushed, bored, depressed, irritated, frustrated, anxious, short-tempered, angered, unloved, unfulfilled, and disheartened. Any of these mental and emotional symptoms are feedback to you that hormones and neurotransmitters are out of balance. When you shift your perceptions you can affect your stress reactions, thereby changing many of your physical and emotional symptoms.
Dr. Jane Oelke, N.D., Ph.D. is Naturopath and Doctor of Homeopathy in Southwest Michigan. She is the author of "Natural Choices for Fibromyalgia" and "Natural Choices for Attention Deficit Disorder". She is a professional speaker on a variety of natural health topics, and can be reached at DoctorOelke@aol.com and http://www.NaturalChoicesforyou.com
Teacher Tips: Helping ADHD Students to Perform Better in Your Classroom
Thank you to all of our professional educators who dedicate themselves to our children! We know how difficult it can be working with ADHD children, so here are your teacher tips for the week, brought to you by the ADHD Information Library and ADDinSchool.com.
Behavior Therapy For Children With ADHD - Behavior Plan For ADHD Students
The following is a list of 18 behavioral techniques for ADHD and managing behavior problems for adhd children from a book by Dr. Domeena Renshaw entitled The Hyperactive Child.
Fat for Attention Deficit Disorder Treatment
Hyperactivity-is it normal behavior or ADHD(http://www.mitamins.com/disease/ADHD.html)? A little over-exuberance is expected in growing children, but what about when a tendency towards impulsiveness, a lack of concentration, and sometimes excessive physical activity are carried on into adulthood? Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADD or ADHD) is defined as age-inappropriate behavior, specifically:
Discover The Best Resources For Adhd
From medical options to alternative solutions, resources for ADHD vary in their availability, variety, and mode of use and extent of effects after treatment and therapy.
Joining An Attention Deficit Disorder Support Group
Living with the effects of Attention Deficit Disorder can be overwhelming and enormously demanding. Everyday activities that are barely noticed by other people take on a whole new set of challenges when you have Attention Deficit Disorder. The impact on one?s daily life can really only be understood by those who have also experienced it. For this reason, many who suffer from this condition often find participation in an Attention Deficit Disorder Support Group to be enormously helpful.
New Information Published About Adults With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Adhd) Supports Previous Research Regarding Potentially Significa
Results from published studies and surveys showed:
- A higher proportion of adults with ADHD compared to adults without the disorder reported financial problems such as nonpayment of utilities resulting in termination, having a poor credit rating and not saving for retirement
- More adults with ADHD engaged in anti-social behavior such as stealing, breaking and entering, and were arrested and sent to jail than those adults without ADHD
People with Attention Deficit Disorder
Today, we hear about the medical condition called Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD or ADHD), and wonder if our children might just be hyperactive.
Is ADHD a Real Disease?
The vast majority of Ritalin and Adderall is given to school children to treat an alleged disease called ADHD. Children who suffer from ADHD are said to be inattentive, impulsive, and hyperactive.
Using Diet, Counseling, and Attend to Overcome ADHD
When it comes to the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or with problems of Attention, Impulse Control, Over-Activity, or Learning Problems in "the real world," there are a number of approaches to treatment that may work well.
The information in this series has either been gleaned from research on Attention Deficit Disorder - which I'll refer to as ADD or ADD, or it is from my own experience in a clinical setting.
Results of a Survey of Parents? Perceptions of the Duration of their Child?s ADHD Medication Reported at Medical Meeting
60 percent of over 100 mothers surveyed reported their child?s medication stopped working before 6 p.m.
Is it Attention Deficit Disorder or is it Tourettes Syndrome?
During the assessment process it is of great importance for the physician or clinician to consider other possible causes of inattention, impulsivity, or hyperactivity in your child (or teen, or yourself). In fact, this is probably the most important element of a good assessment.
Some Thoughts on Counseling Goals for ADHD
What should the goals for counseling be when the patient has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?
Every therapist will have their own opinions, but I'll give you some of my thoughts.
First, it is important to teach the child or teen with ADHD how to recognize problems and how to solve problems.
Why Does It Seem That There Are More Children With ADHD Than Ever Before?
Even though the percentage of people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is likely the same as in the past, there are three likely reasons why it seems that "there is more ADHD" than ever before:
First, we become more aware of problems like this as parents than we were as a children. We have grown up now and we are more concerned about these issues since we have our own children.
Intro to Medications for ADD ADHD
The most common medications used in the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder are stimulant medications. Anti-depressant medications, and even anti-convulsant medications, are sometimes used as well, though this is less common.
Can Recommended ADHD Diets Help Minimize Symptoms?
A growing number of parents are turning to diet to help ease the symptoms of their child's ADHD. More often, ADHD-related diets are used as a way to either minimize dependence on medications or as the first step to manage ADHD symptoms before turning to drugs. But how effective are ADHD diets recommended by many experts in the field?