Meditation: does it help with ADD or ADHD?

[Anonymous]

I am wondering if there are any studies that have been done to examine the effects of meditation on ADD or ADHD symptoms? I would love to do a study on this, as I work as a counsellor in a college, and see many students with ADD and ADHD. For myself, I have scored very high (answering yes to all) on the inattentive questions, but as an adult I think I’ve learned to control my impulsivity and somewhat my restlessness…..

REPORT ABUSE

[Ivriniel]

I’m sorry, but your question is confusing me. Are you asking if there have been any studies to test the effectiveness of the commonly perscribed ADHD meds? Because if that’s your question, the answer is a resounding yes. Doctors don’t just randomly start prescribing stuff.

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

I have tried meditation before, but for me it makes my mind race even more. I felt very awkward that I couldn’t even meditate properly, and usually before I was done attempting it I would be pacing around. Yoga was more meditative for me. I have heard that chanting is good, but I would start daydreaming and forget what was going on.

Now to answer your question about studies… I don’t know. I know it is very commonly recommended advice. There are several articles out there that claim there were studies done that prove it is effective, but I do not know if they were real studies since most of them seem to come around to groups that talk about meds not being safe. I have a hard time believing a study that is connected to a website that tells you not to take meds because you will be stunting the growth of the mind and making yourself need them more.

REPORT ABUSE

[ADDled]

I find it helps me and is quite often recommended in many books about ADD. The thing of it is, it’s a skill that needs to be practised. A lot. Even long time practitioners still have problems with the mind wandering, I suspect. But they are more skillful at controlling their thoughts and can bring the mind back. Will it ever replace medication solely for treatment? I don’t think so.

I think if you google mediation and mental health issues generally, there is a lot of evidence that meditation is helpful, even to the point in some cases, of causing changes to brain chemistry. I think Dr. J might more information about this.

A book that was recommended to me by my doctor is “The Mindful Way through Depression” by Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal and Jon Kabat-Zinn. My copy has a CD with mediation techniques that takes you through typical methods.

Don’t be scared of about the “Depression” part scare you, there’s still a lot of information about how we can control our minds.

I’ve learned to be more mindful and have become more aware of when my ADD “gets in my way”. Anything we can do to slow our minds down when we need to is a good thing.

Hope this helps…and good luck.

REPORT ABUSE

[Author]

Posts