Doctor John Ratey, author of A User's Guide to the Brain and co-author of Delivered from Distration has come out with a GREAT new book on how exercise affects your brain - Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exerciseand the Brain tells you in easy-to-read prose how exercise improves your focus (ADDers take note!), beats stress, improves your mood, improves your memory and more. In fact, the right kinds of exercise actually GROWS more brain connections. Not sure about keeping that New Year's resolution? Read this book!
It is common that people diagnosed with ADHD as adults go through a period right after diagnosis in which they seem to make progress, then get into the doldrums. Adults are different than kids. With kids, the natural forward momentum of their development help keep progress with ADHD treatment headed in a positive direction. With adults it’s just the opposite.
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I've been thinking a great deal lately about how poor communication contributes to the downhill slide of many relationships affected by ADHD. Here are seven basic ideas that will help you get along better with your partner:
Medications sure can help your relationship – as can non-medicinal treatments! But the spouse with the ADHD may not realize it – that’s where you need to give him (or her) some constructive feedback. This comment is typical of what happens:
In a blog about ADHD and marriage, it’s all too easy to “hyperfocus” on the ins and outs of relationships, without looking at some more general issues that many have with ADHD. We got this post recently from a man who is having trouble focusing at work. So, for all of you who have trouble getting going at work, here are some tips:
A woman who has been married for 3 years to a man who was diagnosed with ADD after they got married, has taken the time to write to me quite a bit about her situation. It is one that I recognize, as it closely mirrors the situation I had in the beginning of my own marriage. One of the key issues is that she and her husband had a wonderful courtship, during which he “hyperfocused” on her (though neither knew that this was the case as it was happening). Now she is desperate to feel loved and in the kind of relationship her courtship had led her to expect, but she finds her spouse unrecognizable. Not only does he not connect with her, but he dismisses her concerns about their lack of connection, leaving her frequently in tears. She is “in shock because I feel as if the person I fell in love with doesn’t exist”.
We had a long post (and follow-up email) from a woman who is at her wits end about how to resolve the “do I stay or leave?” question. She cares for her husband, but he is driving her crazy and he impacts her life so negatively that she was depressed and on medications for a while. A couple of people have already responded with supportive advice, so check out the comments, but here is the original message and our thoughts:
