VOLUME 9, NO. 4                                                                APRIL 22, 2004

 

NJ ADD/ADHD ADULT NEWSLETTER

ADD ADULT SELF HELP SUPPORT GROUP

FOR ADD/ADHD ADULTS

AND THEIR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS

 

MEETING: THE NEXT MEETING OF THE ADD ADULT SELF HELP SUPPORT GROUP WILL BE ON APRIL 22, 2004 AT 7:30 PM AT MONMOUTH MEDICAL CENTER, COMMUNITY MEETING ROOM , LONG BRANCH, NJ.  GO TO THE RECEPTION DESK IN THE MAIN LOBBY AND GET DIRECTIONS.  THE TOPIC WILL BE:  WHAT ARE PSYCHOLOGICAL BOUNDARIES?  HOW ARE BOUNDARY ISSUES RELATED TO ADD?  WHAT CAN AN ADDer DO TO MANAGE THOSE BOUNDARIES?

 

RESEARCH: In a research article by J.Panksepp etal., Modeling ADHD-type arousal with unilateral frontal cortex damage in rats and beneficial effects of play therapy, Brain & Cognition, 2003, 52(1): 97-105, an animal model of ADHD was developed with executive function deficits and other right frontal lobe changes that appeared very similar to the “deficits” of human adolescents with ADHD.  Interestingly, the hyperactivity and excessive playfulness of these animals could be dramatically reduced if during their adolescence they were given access to chronic play therapy.  As these animals reached older adolescence their hyperactivity and excessive playfulness were reduced compared to the control group of ADHD animals.  In additional studies these researchers found that rough-and-tumble play in normal animals could improve behavioral inhibition later in life.

COMMENT: Access to chronic play therapy even rough-and-tumble play activities seems to eventually calm many ADDers.  However, there is a need to compartmentalize the chronic play and certainly the rough-and-tumble play activities.  ADDers who play active sports often report more behavioral controls, better attention, higher grades and improved social interactions.  ADDers are frequently accused by their significant others of chronically trying to play with everything.  Active play can quickly become aerobic exercise and stimulate the frontal lobes, increasing oxygen and nutrients to the forebrain.  Play frequently stimulates the reward centers of the frontal lobe which are known to contain many neurotransmitters especially dopamine and norepinephrine which are so essential to attention and learning.

 

RESEARCH: In a research article by A.Bedard etal., Methylphenidate (Ritalin) improves visual-spatial memory in children with ADHD, Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 2004, 21(1): 260-268, it was found that Ritalin significantly improved certain aspects of visual-spatial memory particularly visual-spatial information. The medication did not improve visual-spatial planning ability or visual-spatial recognition memory.

COMMENTS: Many ADDers report problems with right-left orientation, map reading, recognition of faces, and other visual-spatial tasks.  Some of the problems may improve with Ritalin.  The ability to plan a trip using a map may not improve. 

 

EDITORIAL VIEWPOINT:  This month’s support group topic was selected because of increasing awareness that psychological boundaries appear to be disrupted whenever there is unrelenting trauma, or chronic stress in childhood.  These boundary disruptions occur to some extent in many other psychological “disorders” including: adult children of alcoholics, adults abused either sexually or physically as children, adults who suffered from poor emotional attachments with early caretakers, adults who suffered from depression or panic disorders as children, adults who developed addictions to substances in childhood, and many other conditions.  The adult ADDer growing up in an ADD unfriendly world is likely to have many of these same boundary issues.  The behaviors and symptoms commonly seen with boundary ruptures include: accident proneness, a tendency toward being over flooded by stimulation, increased sensory awareness, difficulty with filtering out stimuli, problems with discriminating what is “good vs. bad”, (positive vs. negative, signal vs. noise”), cycling of chronic hypervigilance and chronic inattention (frozen appearance) and many others.  This is not to say that ADD is caused by environment, but rather to wonder whether the environments can worsen the ADD symptoms. 

                Come join us at the meeting this week                                                                                                                                                                                                                             PEACE!!!      Bob

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