ADD and ADHD: What you need to know Posted on October 3, 2012 by Alesha Williams Boyd Asbury Park Press Learning Editor

Skip to content

ADD and ADHD: What you need to know

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Alesha Williams Boyd Asbury Park Press Learning Editor

Miss our live chat roundtable on attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children? Not to worry. Here’s the replay.

We talked with Dr. Jay Gordon of ADD Solutions New Jersey in Brick, Manahawkin and Freehold; Long Branch public schools Psychologist Linda Trafecante; Social Worker, Elaine M. Corona of Counseling by the Shore in Avon; and psychiatrist Dr. Gagandeep Singh of Freehold.

The chat ran the gamut from whether an EKG is needed to go on ADD and ADHD medications to helping your child manage school.

Great conversation that I hope was helpful to our viewers.



app_tv on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

Here are some links to additional resources for people with ADD and ADHD:

CHADD: Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
NIMH: National Institute of Mental Health

LOSS

There is nothing more painful than losing someone we have loved and cherished. When we know that we have been totally loved by another, it is a tremendous feeling; feeling truly loved. When we realize this and accept it, we can't help but return that love. 

When we lose that person to death, when they pass from this world to the next, a tremendous feeling of loss descends upon us. Where is that one who loved us so much? who we loved so much? Many people think that our loved one is in a better place or that they are still here with us, in spirit. But the fact is that they are not here physically and can't interact with us as before. Our day to day experiences with them are no more. We have our memories and we hold onto them.

But how will we be able to go on? how can we ever feel joy again? These are hard questions, not easy to answer. We go on because we have to. There is no choice, we must go through the pain. This emptiness is with us and it hurts, it hurts tremendously. But we need to look for the joy that has been buried under our grief. We need to try and remember how much we were treasured by our loved one, how they would want us to be happy, how they would want us to find joy again.

If you are going through a time like this, please know that you are not alone. Others have gone through, or are going through a similar situation. Talk with someone, it helps. Someone else knows how it feels, they can understand. Some of the pain and loneliness are lessened when it's shared. Our loved one would want us to have some help with our pain. We have to remember, they loved us and want the best for us. The pain is still there, the tears still come. But they did not take their love for us with them, they left that here with us. They left us the joy that they felt in loving us and we can look and find that joy again.

I was looking at Trev Holloway's website, Hollistic Wellbeing (www.holistic-wellbeing.com) the other day, and spotted one of my favorite videos.  I saw this video awhile back, but when I saw it again and read Trev's article, I was reminded of Nick Vujicic's amazing strength and faith in himself and in life. Trev was kind enough to share his article about Nick with me, so that I could share it with you ...       Thank you so much Trev.

No arms, No legs... No worries - Nick Vujicic.

This guy is one hell of an inspiration. The video says it all really... if you still feel life has given you a bad deal after seeing Nick, then perhaps you really need to make the decision that now is the time to actually ask for help to change your perspective for the better. Yes, Nick is an unusual guy with the gift to inspire others with the positive way he sees things but you also have these abilities too... you just need to know how to do it. I hope you will be inspired by Nick and that this video clip gives you some perspective that even in the most difficult situations, you can still choose to enjoy life.

The only real asset we ever have is our own mind and yet so many people neglect this fact and spend their life looking in all the wrong places for happiness.

Happiness is within. Whenever you find something outside of yourself that makes you happy... that happy feeling is actually only ever generated from within the mind... it never comes directly from outside of yourself. The same is true when we feel unhappy, all feelings come from inside. Also any happiness that we have is often short lived when we rely on finding happiness from outside of ourselves. Modern tools such as EFT can create rapid changes in perspective which greatly improve the quality of life, because once you know how to change states internally at will then life seems to change for the better and your mental states are no longer reliant on others or outside situations over which there's no control. When people are happy they make other people happy too. Notice the faces in the audience as Nick speaks, tears of joy, gratitude, happiness and inspiration. He makes people feel good because they all realise how much they have in life and they see their life from a different perspective.

PSTEC: Feel better!

Last year, I learned about a technique called PSTEC (Percussive Suggestion Technique) right after it was developed by Tim Phizackerley, a very down to earth and caring man. His background is in artificial intelligence and hypnotherapy. With this background, he was able to create a great audio technique (a simple method you can use either on your own or with a therapist) that can really help you to resolve painful issues and make positive changes in your life. 


PSTEC is the best therapy technique that I have come across in some time. My own experience and experiences of friends and clients of mine have all been very positive, sometimes resolving issues that haven't been "touched" by some other therapies.


One of the things that I really like about PSTEC is how versatile it is. So many different issues can be worked on with PSTEC. Some examples of issues that I have personally seen resolved are: anger, anxiety, lack of confidence, hurts, feeling overwhelmed, terror, panic, grief, long standing resentments and even migraines. 


If you'd like more information on PSTEC and would like to get the free Basic PSTEC Audio Package download, click here: http://www.therapysites.com/sites/counselingbytheshore.com/PSTECEFT.en.html




Here's a video called "How to be Happy". The video is a bit long, but if you have a few minutes, it does give you a good idea of what PSTEC is like and how you can use it to "feel better"!

Give it a try and feel free to use the comment section below if you have any comments or questions about PSTEC.

"Life Goes On: Count Your Blessings"

I can't believe that my last post is from Valentine's Day; that's three months ago! A lot can happen in that time and that's where I've been. Health issues, deaths in my family, financial issues, relationship issues, you name it! These things happen; life goes on, we go on. 

Spring has been here officially for almost two months. Lots of great things have happened: the snow melted, the rains came, the sun came out, the air warmed, the birds came back, the flowers bloomed. I am alive, the pains will heal, life goes on. And here I am, I am back. Back to the grind? Back to work? Back to something I love? My work? Back to people that I love? Yes .... back to the people and the work that I love and care about. I am fortunate; I have work that I love and care about and I have people who love and care about me too. Lots of blessings to count.

Happy Valentines Day!

I'd like to share something that Kim Leatherdale, a therapist friend of mine :), shared with me.  Some great points for all of us in working on our relationships ....... Thank you Kim!  


Today is the traditional day to celebrate love and romance. But I wish to encourage you to expand today beyond romantic love and celebrate all the types of love you have in your life (or have had.)

• the family members you feel close to
• the family members you may have lost but still love
• the friends who cared about you even when you were being a "jerk"
• the dog you grew up with or who greets you when you come home
• the cat that warmly purrs on your lap
• of course, your partner
• and the many other loves in your lifetime.

Take a few moments to remember, enjoy, cherish, and celebrate the greatness that is love in the world.

A few of my favorite things...

As a way to celebrate love, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite relationship hints I have posted on Twitter. Consider and enjoy.

1. When you listen, stop talking in your head.
2. If you focus on the negative, that is all you will see. If you focus on the positive, happier you will be.
3. Motivation follows action. Wait on motivation and you'll make no changes.
4. You bring about peace in your relationship by living peace yourself. Find your calm centered strength and caring.
5. Stop trying to control everything. Period.
6. Resolve each day to take a healthy stance in your relationship. No matter what your partner does- be healthy.
7. When choosing between pointing out your partner's "flaws" & working on your own- get to work.
8. Don't ask your partner to define you, save you, make you feel a certain way, or give you esteem. You create these things.
9. Treat your partner at least as well as you treat strangers or friends. It's too easy to take your partner for granted.
10. What seems simple to you may be very difficult for you partner to do.Recognize their work as much as you do your own.
11. Rather than comparing & finding your relationship lacking, identify what you can improve and work on it.
12. You cannot be in a healthy relationship unless you are healthy yourself. Become a healthy individual.
13. Learn from your past instead of blaming it. The happy change their future through choice and action.
14. When you are discussing, stick to one topic until you are both clear & satisfied. Don't throw in the kitchen sink. ;)
15. Before you speak to your partner, take a breath and remember you love them. Take a loving breath.
16. When communicating, your job is either to understand (listener) or be understood (speaker); you can't do both at once.
17. If you never risk losing your relationship by standing up for yourself, you've lost it anyway.
18. Stop trying to please everyone. By trying to *make* them happy, you take away their right to pursue happiness themselves.
19. Don't assume you *know* what someone is thinking, ASK. You do the most damage reacting to your own imaginings.
20. Ask not what your partner can do for you, but what you can do to help your partner provide more of what you want.

And one last one for today: "Don't take love for granted- not that your partner knows of your love, nor things are good. Love takes daily attention." That means you can't just be loving on Valentine's Day, but must be every day of the year.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

About Anxiety

When we try to understand anxiety, we need to look at fear first. Fear is a way we have of protecting ourselves; it’s an appropriate reaction to a real danger. If there is a dangerous situation, fear kicks in. Our adrenaline levels increase dramatically; we become hyper-vigilant, on guard, ready to act if necessary. On the other hand, anxiety is an over-reaction to something that we perceive as dangerous. Our bodies react in the same way though. Even though there is no real danger, when we feel those physical reactions -- heart racing, sweating, shortness of breath -- our body registers that there must be something dangerous out there. 


Some of the symptoms that we might experience with excessive anxiety are: panic and fear, obsessive thoughts, compulsive behaviors, heart palpitations, sweating, sleep problems. But it’s confusing, we feel very similar to the way we would feel when there is a real danger out there, but can’t figure out why we’re feeling this way. Then we start worrying even more and a vicious cycle begins.


When anxiety is taking over our lives, we feel overwhelmed, helpless, out of control. Worrying takes up more and more of our time and energy. We know that some of our thoughts and behaviors are unreasonable, but can't stop them. It’s hard to explain and often embarrassing to tell our family and friends about and often hard for them to understand. It can be a very lonely experience.


There are many ways to deal with anxiety. Certain activities, techniques and therapies can help. Some work for one person but not for another. There are many things that can give you relief though, so if you do have anxiety, don’t give up, don’t be discouraged ..... the solution for you may be right around the corner! In my next post, I’ll tell you about some of the solutions that I’ve found that have helped me and many others.