Exercise and ADD: RUNNING FROM DISTRACTION

[Anonymous]

Hi folks,

I would like to pass on some useful information I have learned over the last couple of months. I’m currently going through the ADD diagnosis process. I recently came to the realization that I have ADD after returning to University. I could not figure out why I did not succeed as I should; given the enormous amount of time I spend studying and trying every learning technique possible.

I am studying exercise and health physiology with interests in neuropsychology, neurology and how exercise affects the brain and cognition. I have no doubt that my previous marital arts experiences and the current mountain sports I participate in, such as rock climbing, backcountry skiing, white water paddling have greatly helped me through past years.

I highly recommend John J. Ratey’s book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and The Brain. John Ratey has coauthored many other books including, Driven from Distraction: Making the Most of Attention Deficit Disorder. Everyone will benefit from reading Dr. Ratey’s book SPARK, not just those with ADD but also, anyone challenged by stress, anxiety, depression, addiction, hormonal changes, age related changes and society in general. Not surprisingly, Ratey states that some of the best sports for those with ADD are rock climbing, white water paddling and the martial arts. This is because high levels of focus are required in chaotic environments, other wise you risk falling of the rock, drowning or getting a karate chop to the head. Once I read this section of SPARK, everything started to make much more sense….

Exercise is a well known modifiable risk factor in the medical field, for a myriad of health concerns including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and age related cognitive decline. Cardiovascular exercise is becoming recognized as one of the most effective interventions for improvement and prevention of psychological and physiological health problems. Combined with healthy eating habits, positive social interactions and support, a holistic and preventative approach to healthcare provides the potential to live with a high quality of life.

North American society is becoming increasingly more sedentary and obese, eating worse and spending more time watching TV, on facebook, or on the cell phone instead of having in person social interactions. Is it any wonder that depression, anxiety, stress, cancer, disease rates and distractibility rates are increasing more steeply as time progresses?

Budget cuts in the educational system tend to hit the arts and physical education first. We need to spend more time on math, English and topics that are “testable” and quantifiable. This will help raise test scores we are told by the education “experts”, and logically children’s abilities in the classroom will then improve. Hmmm, for some yes but for many, no. No need for encouraging creativity, how to interact socially or learn about your body and how to keep it healthy. Giving time to these areas gets in the way of learning, right? Wrong! John Ratey in his book Spark does a great job summarizing the revolutionary changes to an educational approach pioneered by a couple of physical education teachers in Naperville Illinois.

On the note of creativity in education, no doubt a topic on the minds of many ADDer’s, I refer you to Ken Robinson, a great speaker on the topic. Here is a great video http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

Interested in the brain, frustrated by your educational experience or did you ever think there must be a better type of school out there. Check out the 2009 Toronto Star Atkinson series which looks at the latest neuropsychological understanding of the brain and education. There are a bunch of great articles here exploring the potential changes for education in the future.

http://www.thestar.com/topic/AtkinsonSeries-Atkinson2009

That’s all from me for now. So get out there, get your blood pumping and have some fun with friends. It turns out that our bodies and brains are connected and that we are social creatures. Who would have thought?

Warren

“That which we call thinking is the evolutionary internalization of movement […] the lesson here is quite clear: the evolutionary development of a nervous system is an exclusive property of actively moving creatures.”

Roldofo Llinás

I of the vortex: From Neurons to Self

“When we exercise, particularly if the exercise requires complex motor movement, we’re also exercising the areas of the brain involved in the full suite of cognitive functions. We’re causing the brain to fire signals along the same network of cells, which solidifies their connections.”

John Ratey, MD

Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain

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[Anonymous]

I found your post quite interesting about focusing during physical activity. Maybe using our short term memory helps us. I find that for me jogging helps both my mood and my motivation, and I know my daughter is much calmer after being able to run around outside and to play. I think that PE (individual or group) should be something that ADHDers should be able to have more access to in schools if they are feeling restless or angry. I think this would help many children. I know exercise isn’t always going to get rid of many of the ADHD related problems I face (such as anxiety, insomnia and fatigue) but it sure seems to help a lot.

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[ADDled]

Interesting ideas there, wsharpe. Everything I have read about ADD suggests that physical activity does reduce the severity of these conditions. I can see why the “higher risk” activities such as rock climbing or white water paddling are particularly suited for people with ADD.

I also agree with your points about the education system concentrating (no pun intended) on those things that are quantifiable and testable, rather than encouraging self-discovery, say, through the arts or developing personal survival skills to actually use in the world. But, then, look at how we work these days: stuck in a cube farm staring at computer screens eight hours per day. A beige, dull, mind-numbing, spirit-crushing corporate environment where creativity and free thinking is actively discouraged. If the education system produces more self-actualized, creative people the corporate world won’t know how to handle them!

My experience with most physical activity or sports is that I find them very boring (jogging, cycling) or in the case of team sports such as hockey or football, I don’t remember the rules. I enjoyed squash, but it’s the rule thing again: I’d rather chase the ball myself in the court rather than play against someone. Or, that I act impulsively without thinking about the strategy needed in order to win. It would be interesting to find out how many people with ADD are team players as opposed to those who participate in solitary sports such as rock climbing, swimming, cross country skiing or white water paddling.

I do Tai Chi and and I find that works for me.

Another recurring theme is that when you get ADD people outdoors the symptoms also diminish. This I have experienced myself, so I don’t doubt it.

I will definitely look into Dr. Ratey’s book and the Ken Robinson link. Thanks for the ideas.

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[Patte Rosebank]

I always feel better when I’ve walked for a couple of miles. My feet may hurt a bit, but my brain feels great!

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[Patte Rosebank]

Singing is a big help for me too. I just put a Broadway or comedy songs CD on the stereo, and sing along with it…or rather, perform the hell out of it. I lose myself in the music and the fun of being another character or characters, and the thrill of hitting and holding fantastically high or “belter” notes.

I also love blending with beautiful harmonies. Strangely (and probably due to my concentration issues), although I can do this quite well when I just improvise the harmonies, I have a devil of a time actually hanging onto a formal harmony line. So I always have to sing soprano/lead, because that’s the only line I can easily pick out and follow…even though I have a 3-octave voice, and can always blend better when I use my alto range.

Music has an amazing effect on the brain, that doctors and scientists are only beginning to understand. Sometimes, when I’m singing in a nursing home, there’ll be people who have such severe Alzheimer’s that they can’t even speak. But when I sing an old song they remember, they’ll start singing along with it.

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[PammyJean]

I have learned so much about proprioception through my kids’ therapists (they have Autism). It is the sense that indicates whether the body is moving with required effort, as well as where the various parts of the body are located in relation to each other. Lots of ADDers have hyper/hypo-propriocetion.

I’ve been making a concerted effort to get out there by trail running and playing with my kids. I see the difference in all of us after a good outdoor session. I live on the Niagara Escarpment… trail running here is awesome.

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[Ivriniel]

I find it very hard to motivate myself to walk without a concrete goal of some sort. I can walk to the store to get something, but to walk for walking sake makes my brain want to explode.

For a while I was able to keep to walking by taking Part in the Walk to Rivendell, which is an online Tolkien fan walking program of sorts. Basically, using the Atlas of Middle Earth, someone figured out how many miles it was to various locations in Middle Earth, and as you accumulate miles, you get to say things like “Oooh, now I’m in Bree!”

It worked for a while, but then winter came and the sun started setting at 4:30 and everyone says you shouldn’t walk around at night on your own. Then to top it off, I lost my notes of how far I had gotten. I haven’t been able to get motivated to get restarted.

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[Patte Rosebank]

My motivation is simple: “If I walk to where I’m going, I’ll save myself a subway token”. (Yes, a token. Toronto keeps claiming to be a world-class city, but its transit system is still stuck in 1954.) I have to get somewhere often enough that I end up going for walkies several times a week.

Walking both ways can be a bit much if it’s 2.5 miles each way. So I spend a token to get myself there, then take my time walking home. If I’m buying a lot of stuff that I have to carry, I’ll walk to my destination, and take transit home. (Unless the weather’s really hot or really cold or really crappy. Then I’ll take transit and/or cabs.)

And when there’s a transit strike, I feel oh-so-smug and superior as I breeze past all the suits who find it so hard to walk a few blocks to get to where they’re going.

On top of all that, I now have GREAT legs!

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[Anonymous]

My motivation to go out for a run or walk is my music. Without my earphones and my music I would find it boring. My favorite exercise though is my dance class. Vigorous cardio and new coreography keeps me totally in the moment. It’s like pushing a reset button in my brain – I come out calm and focused.

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[Anonymous]

I get bored with everything, and physical exertion is the absolute worst. After about 15 minutes I can’t take it anymore.

Golf is one of those things I’ve struggled with. I rarely use a cart, and discovered that walking instead of riding helps a lot. I can put together five or six consecutive holes at par or better, but then I just lose interest. Sometimes I re-gain focus on the back nine for three or four holes and will turn in a good scorecard. I can build up my tolerance after several rounds to where my implosions are less severe–fewer double and triple-bogeys. My problem is seldom physical, fundamental, or swing-related. I’ve parred every hole on the course, and birdied more than half of them. And I’ve triple-bogeyed every hole on that course too.

The good news is that I get bored with eating and drinking too. Moderation is easy for me. It’s not that I’m disciplined, I just get bored–even when something tastes really good. The only addiction I can’t kick is nicotine, but I did at least give up tobacco–for the past six years I’ve had an expensive gum-chewing problem.

Recently I’ve discovered something that has been missing from my life was music. Listening to more of it has made me want to go back to playing it. I was good 20 years ago but I quit. My right-brain has been screaming for some action lately, so I’m hoping that becoming a musician again will help to focus me better in other areas. I read a thing about Einstein and his violin, maybe that’s one of the keys to unlocking this brain.

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[Ivriniel]

Love the Avatar, Dogfather!

My BF used to stick knives into electrical sockets when he was a kid, and then apparently would laugh and laugh when he was shocked.

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[Anonymous]

Thx, Ivriniel. That pic reminds me more of my cousin than me. He used to take EVERYTHING apart. But we inherited the same gene.

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[BAM123]

Does anyone know about or have experience with Integrated Listening Systems – a program that uses auditory stimulous combined with tasks/excecises to treat Adult ADD.

I noticed we had a post from Dr, Ratey, co author of Dr. Hallowell’s book driven to distraction (EXCELLENT RESOURCE), and ILS indicates their method is endorsed and used by Dr. Hallowell.

With the price of home equiptment and the program hovering around $2,000, just wondering if anyone has any insight or experience? Its a lot of money to take a chance on with out knowing much about it.

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[Author]

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