You probably know someone who has been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). You are going to know even more in the years to come.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that nearly 20% of high school boys and 11% of all school-age children have been diagnosed with ADHD - a 40% increase in the last decade.
So why the sudden increase? We found answers in a new book from John Gray, the relationship author of Men are from Mars, Women Are from Venus and over 20 other books.
John Gray has devoted the past 20 years solely to researching mental health and its effect on our relationships. He has traveled the world to find ancient remedies for improving one’s mind and reviewed thousands of research studies. His new book, titled Staying Focused In A Hyper World: Natural Solutions For ADHD, Memory And Brain Performance, is a comprehensive exploration of scientific studies supporting natural solutions to improve brain health and mental clarity.
According to Gray, we need more than new communication skills and an understanding of our differences to have healthy relationships these days. We also need the nutritional support necessary for positive moods, sustained energy and most importantly, focus.
Without focus, communication breaks down in all relationships and frustration increases. Without focus in romantic relationships, passion is lost and there is an increase in breakups and divorces. Without focus at work, people are increasingly dissatisfied and bored, often feeling unappreciated, distracted, exhausted or overwhelmed.
Without focus, our lives lose purpose, we are easily distracted, forgetting what we are here for or never realizing what is most important in life. And one of those most important things in life, Gray suggests, is being a good parent to your kids.
Some say bad parenting causes ADHD. Others say it is the genes. But bad parenting or bad genes have been around for thousands of years and there has not been an epidemic of ADHD. Our genes determine our unique temperament but something else causes the “hyper” condition that gets diagnosed as ADHD.
Parenting styles can certainly support or inhibit the health of a child but styles have not changed that much and they don’t cause ADHD. Normal parenting styles can condition the brain but they do not necessarily injure the brain. Children can have ADHD regardless of whether their parents are strict or permissive. Unless parents are physically or emotionally abusive, they certainly don’t cause injury to the brain.
Others claim that ADHD is merely psychological and not a physical impairment of the brain. They conclude drugs are not the answer but that counseling alone can heal the condition. Counseling or some form of emotional support should always be part of the equation of healing the brain but the cause of ADHD is definitely not just “psychological” nor is the solution.
Modern brain scans can now detect clear differences in the ADHD brain verses the non-ADHD brain. ADHD is not just laziness or an excuse for poor performance. It is not just in the “head” but it is literally in the brain. It is now proven to be a measurable physical impairment of normal brain function.
Gray believes the increase in mental conditions is clearly the outcome of something new that we, as a society, have started doing in the last thirty years. His new book reveals startling similarities between the rising tide of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in adults and the increasing numbers of children with ADHD.
Our brains and bodies are constantly bombarded with environmental toxicity, common over-the-counter drugs, nutritional deficiency and food allergies. He believes these pollutants are causing many of the brain and cognitive problems that we are seeing today, like ADHD, autism, dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
Even more interesting is how Gray shows explains how these negative influences pollutants are also responsible for many of the modern relationship problems, depression, anxiety and even addictions.
ADHD shows up differently for men and women in dating relationships and marriage. In many cases, ADHD goes undiagnosed in both men and women because the symptoms also show up differently as we age.
In the past, many people believed symptoms of ADHD commonly go away as we move out of childhood and into adulthood. But John Gray has observed the opposite in his 40 years of counseling couples and individuals.
In childhood, ADHD shows up in more obvious ways but as our brains continue to develop and our coping skills increase, the condition causing ADHD in childhood continues on, often unacknowledged but inhibiting our potential for personal fulfillment.
As Gray details the symptoms and stages of ADHD throughout our lives, you are quick to realize it is a bigger subject than most people realize. It is not just affecting our children but the entire fabric of our modern society.
Medicating the condition with drugs is not the answer. Researchers at the Brookhaven National Laboratory did a study showing that the long-term use of stimulant drugs to treat ADHD actually changes the brain, making the disorder even worse. This may explain why doctors have to eventually increase the dosage due to drug tolerance.
The term, ADHD, can even be misleading because the symptoms are often varied and even contradictory. While some children are distracted and disorganized, others are restless and impulsive, and some are both. In most cases, there is no actual deficit of attention at all. Instead, there is an inability to allocate attention appropriately.
Some ADHD children who are inattentive, distracted or ‘spaced out’ are unable to direct their attention to what their teachers are saying and are instead focused on daydreaming. Other ADHD children who are hyperactive, impulsive or restless are also unable to focus on the teacher, but for different reasons. They are simply not that interested in what the teacher is saying and would rather be somewhere else. They can’t sit still in the classroom, but they can certainly sit still in front of a TV or video game.
Martha Bridge Denckla, MD, a clinician and scientist at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins University, says she faces this confusion regularly from parents who bring their children to the ADHD clinic where she practices. “I am constantly having to explain to parents that ADHD is not a deficit in the sense of, say, a budget deficit or a thyroid deficiency, where you don’t have enough of something. Rather, it’s the control over attention,” she says. “Allocating one’s attention appropriately for success in school requires a degree of willful control—what might be thought of as will power—to turn away from a preferred activity and focus on an activity that may not be as compelling or immediately rewarding.”
People with ADHD often have plenty of attention—that’s why they can play video games for hours or get lost in their Legos, or devote endless attention to things that are physically more stimulating like junk food, drugs, danger, digital entertainment or internet pornography. They may have plenty of focus, but are unable to easily shift that focus to less-stimulating activities.
This inability to focus on less-stimulating, normal activities causes them to focus more on activities providing extra stimulation. So, while enjoying the high stimulation of a video game, children are easily distracted from cleaning their room or doing their school homework. Over time, the increased motivation to play a video game causes them to become disconnected from their inner motivation to cooperate and please their parents and teachers.
The tendency to focus on activities that provide immediate and easy gratification gives rise to an extended range of ‘hyper’ symptoms that show up in different people according to their unique temperaments.
At the end of Staying Focused In A Hyper World, Gray gives a variety of natural solutions to help children and adults who suffer from the symptoms of ADHD. These range from different parenting and communication strategies to a variety of natural supplements and protocols to improve brain performance, increase memory and heal the many symptoms of ADHD.
John Gray’s newest book - Staying Focused in a Hyper World - is available on Amazon.com. Download the free Starter Guide at www.marsvenus.com for a complete list of his strategies and protocols.
John Gray is the leading relationship expert in the world. His relationship and health books have sold over 50 million copies in 50 different languages. His groundbreaking book, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, is the bestselling, non-fiction book of all time. It launched his Mars Venus book series that forever changed the way men and women view their relationships.
John continues to travel the world teaching communities and companies the best ways to improve their relationships and communication. He has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show many times as well as The Dr. Oz Show, The Today Show, CBS Morning Show, Good Morning America, The Early Show, The View, and many others. He has been profiled in Time, Forbes, USA Today and People.
John Gray lives in Northern California with his wife of 30 years, Bonnie. They have three grown daughters and four grandchildren. He is an avid follower of his own health and relationship advice.
