2006年3月23日

Resea rc h Summary : ADH D Meditation

ADHD IN OUR SCHOOLS: ADHD is a disorder that affects nearly 4.5 m illion kids

in the Unit e d States. It's the m ost com m on psychosoci a l di s order in children. W illi a m Stixrud, Ph.D., a clinical neuropsychologist, says: “It's a disorder of executive function. Executi v e function refers to the kind o f m ental skills you need to carry o u t goal-directed behavior.” Ritalin is the t r eat m ent m ost commonly offe r ed to children with ADHD, but it has its drawbacks. Stixrud says: “Ritalin is an i m portant treat m ent

at this poi n t in our cult u ral hi s t ory. The challe n ge is that it ' s an i m per f ect tr e at m ent. Certainly very few kids are functioning o p ti m ally on Rit a lin.” Re s earch e rs a n d educators across the country are looking for a solution to ADHD. It m a y not replace m edication just yet, but so m e say meditat i on could be a simple treatment with big results.

MEDITATION IN SCHOOLS: Tra n scendental Meditation ( TM) is a speci f i c f orm of m editati o n. It is a si m ple, nat u ral p roc e ss that helps the m i nd settle down to

a state of “restful alertn e ss.” Sti x rud says: “TM is a m ental technique that involves simply narrowing the f ocus of the m i nd in a very e ff ortle s s way that allows the m i nd to settle down. Once the mind settles down, the body beco m es deeply relaxed. It allows you to do, to experience very profound levels of relaxation while

you're wide awake.” Educator Sarina Grosswald and Stixrud recently studied how TM helped kids with ADHD in the school setting. For the study, kids with ADHD m editated 10 m i nutes, twice a day. They si m ply sat in sile n ce, eyes c l o sed, thin k i n g about nothing m ore than a m antra, which could consist of a single word. Sarina Grosswald says: “Peo p l e say, ‘Can these k i d s re a lly m edit a t e ?' be c ause t h er e 's a concept that it's so m ething that requires focus. TM is the exact opposite of that. It's effortless. It's natural, and it uses the natural tendency of the m i nd.”

RESULTS: Grosswald and Stixrud's study revealed kids who m editated had significant improve m en t s in several areas. T h ere were 4 5-percent to 50-perce n t reductions in stress, anxiety and depression. Kids also showed significant i m prov e m ents in orga n i zational s k ills, m e m ory, strategizing, m ental flexibility, atte n tion a n d i m pulsivity. Grosswald says, “ I t really d id e x ceed m y expectations in looking at the results that we saw.” Other studies of TM on k i ds without ADHD have shown it lowers blood pressure, and it can also actually raise IQ. A two-year study of chil d ren pr a cti c ing TM r evealed the chil d ren m a de significant gains on the Iowa Tests

of Basic Skills ( m ore than 20 per c entile points in m ath and 15 perce n tile points in reading). For kids with ADHD, the benefits m i ght run m u ch deeper. Stixrud says: “It's crazy that we'd have kids, where the first response for a kid who's anxious is put him on m e dicine and not teach him a way to regulate his own m i nd and body. Absurd.” He and Grosswald would both like to see the u s e of TM spread throu g h A m erica's schools. Stixrud say s , “It's absolutely doable.”

 

HOW TO GET TM IN YOUR CHILD'S SCHOOL: So m e schools across the country have already incorporated m editat i on into their daily routines. Stixrud urges parents to contact the national TM organization to have a speaker c o m e to their child's school to talk to officials about TM.

 

For m ore infor m ation, contact: www . t m .org

 

 

C opyr i ght 2 0 0 6 , AB C 7 /KGO- TV / DT.