What is the cause of ADHD or ADD
The truth is, no one has a definitively objective answer.
What we do know is that these behaviors tend to show some genetic predispositions.
We do know that there can be triggers that increase the likelihood of showing ADHD symptoms (epigenetic).
We do know that this label has been put in place not because this is a disease of some sort, but rather a way of categorizing a set of behaviors that is unique to a few.
We do know that boys tend to be diagnosed with these behavioral issues 3 times more than girls.
We do know that we have an increase in ADHD diagnosis by 42% over the last 8 years. This increase in diagnosis has led to an increase in prescription medications.
We do know that drugs are prescribed to reduce the categorized symptoms of these behaviors so that a child can fit into what has been deemed socially acceptable.
What if this isn’t the best way of handling this situation?
What if this is normal human behavior to some degree? In my last blog post titled 7 Habits to Improve Your Focus, I alluded to the idea that awareness of your periphery at the cost of focus, may be a consequence of evolutionary survival instincts. A somewhat normal response to random interactions and stimuli, whether it is chemical, physical or emotional stressors.
What if these are just traits of a multitasking brain constantly using its energy to switch focus on these multiple stressors?
Have you ever tried to converse with your spouse, while making dinner, while being interrupted by your kids?
How about reading a book and watching television?
Can you effectively divide your brainpower to complete these tasks well?
I wrote previously about the Default Mode Network (Autopilot) and the Task Positive Network (TPN). While in TPN your brain needs focus to complete the intended task. Conversely, while in DMN the brain can efficiently complete some mindless routine tasks as well as carry out some more brain intensive tasks.
This is to say not all tasks are created equal or all task combinations are compatible.
I can workout effectively while listening to a podcast. However, I cannot write a blog effectively while listening to a podcast.
These ideas hold true when it comes to the idea that ADHD or ADD is pre-programmed within our genetic code. Some can effectively focus and switch tasks while others cannot possibly due to other perceived stressors. Luckily there are some things you can do to improve their focus and attention without medications.
Try improving your focus One Adjustment at a time!
So, in this article, I attempt to help you understand that great routines and rituals in reference to the 12 Innate Essentials are pertinent to improved focus. I reference the habits and routines that are key to conquer so that you may focus on your potential reality. The concept of One Adjustment is that the best changes come slowly and should be a part of your lifestyle. I relate to this as being much like compound interest. These small gains can add up to great wealth or if neglected can put you into massive debt.
This article’s main focus is on short term focus. For a look at long term focus, read my other article entitled 7 Habits to Improve your Focus.
So without further ado…
The 7 ADD or ADHD friendly habits to improve focus.
1.) Remove or reduce distractions.
Distractions can come from internal or external stimuli. The habits below deal primarily with external stimuli.
Below are two categories of distractions.
Click on the toggle below to read more about them and tips to reduce distractions.
- Smart Phones – This technology originally built as a tool for increased productivity has become more of a distraction as corporations fight to compete for their share of the market (link). People spend an average of 24 hours per week on their phones. That’s 3 days of work! People forego sleep, sex, relationships and work for their phone time. The dings, vibrations, likes and comments all become a quick hit of dopamine to reward your behavior. Are you being productive or entertained?
- Wearable technology – Some are great for calculating health objectives, but most are turning into a constant barrage of vibrations and notifications. It’s just an easily accessible phone on your wrist. If I had a nickel for every time someone checked their phone or watch while paying me for my time during a health consult, I’d be…
- Tablets – These exist in the same sphere as smartphones, but are less accessible. They tend to be more entertainment than productive.
- Computers – Much of the same. With online games, Netflix and Youtube, people are spending large amounts of time watching cats, music videos and other kids playing games. Computers accompanied by the internet have connected the world and are largely responsible for productivity and globalism.
- Gaming systems – These are the ultimate in entertainment distractions aimed at children and primarily men.
- Television – The internet is killing television or really cable TV. 50 years ago there were 7-8 channels, now it’s practically unlimited with smart TVs. Television usage has doubled over 50 years with users consuming an average of 8 hours a day per household. It is no longer enough to be a zombified in front of your TV, now you have to have both the TV and phone on to quell the feelings of anxiety. Is this for entertainment or an escape from our reality?
Tech Entertainment Tips –
- Compartmentalize your activities and label them for their focused task. This means your bedroom is for sleep and intimacy. Your dinner table is for dinner. Social time with friends doesn’t include your phone.
- Dedicate time for checking emails, texts, and phone calls 1-4 times a day. These often handheld devices will infiltrate every aspect of your life if you don’t consciously separate them by their intended task. If you don’t, these productivity tools will likely control you instead of you controlling them.
- Allow yourself time to mindlessly wander the internet or games or watch TV. This isn’t bad in itself, it’s the addiction of the action that is.
- In the previous blog post Turn Off, Tune In and Drop Apps I share more tips and tricks like download an app like Moment and track your phone usage.
- I also recommend deleting unused apps or apps that you are having a hard time regulating like social media. You can always pull them up on your browser.
- Start your day without the huge flood of stress hormones, by having a plan like the one that Hal Elrod suggests in his book “The Miracle Morning”. He suggests starting your day with Silence (Prayer, meditation, Etc.) instead of jumping right into the flood of notifications and feeds that your tech is created to do.
- Try taking a digital detox. Maybe plan on keeping holy the Sabbath Day or drop all tech for a whole month if you’re brave enough.
It is often said that an alcoholic or a drug addict will reach for their substance of abuse first thing in the morning. These are habitual patterns that you have created. What’s the first thing you do in the morning?
Below are some of the less techy, but still major, distractions from our reality. These next few distractions are what most people think of when talking about addiction.
- Alcohol – Ah! America’s favorite social pastime. Sadly alcohol is abused widely in most countries. It can be a source for social entertainment for many and it can easily turn into an addiction for others. It’s a stimulant that allows you to escape your reality, leave your inhibitions at the door and forget all about the problems at hand. Too much hooch and your potential reality can come to a screeching halt.
- Drugs – Recreational or pharmaceutical. These chemicals can be a way to escape some form of your reality as well. This may be related to your health reality or your childhood reality or even your current reality. Either way, it is a temporary patch for dealing with the cause of your issue. Drugs are occasionally needed for critical care, but most often abused.
- Sex – Physical or mental (pornography). This is all too often an escape from your intimate reality. Own Your Reality is all about facing your issue.
- Food – This is one of the 12 Innate Essentials, so how can it also be a non-essential distraction? Well, binging is not the same as Eat Real Food. Think of excess calories like financial debt. Everything you consume will add up to a cost and need to be paid off at some point.
- Gambling – The thrill of winning. The quick dopamine hit for the right or wrong choice. It’s good enough to create roughly 4-8 million gambling addicts in the US. Crazy!
- Shopping – Consumerism is big business. My daughter has repeatedly asked me why Coca-Cola is so famous. I know the technical side of this, but explaining it to a 7-year old is a little complicated. For the sake of brevity, I simply made her aware of marketing, brand awareness, and consumerism.
I am not saying that we in this society need to avoid all of these to be great humans, but I am saying that all of these should be responsibly regulated. Just as minors can’t be expected to regulate most of the categories above, they also can’t be expected to regulate their own tech time. I write more about the realistic regulation of these topics in a blog post here. Living that 90/10 Lifestyle.
2.) Get some Sleep
This key essential is very complex and I have yet to write at length about the topic. I did write a short blurb about it in a previous blog exploring this Innate Essential – 7 Habits to Improve Your Sleep Routine. I will attempt to simplify its vital role in your health and mental focus in this brief summary.
Sleep seems to be the foundation that all other pillars of your health seem to arise from. A properly rested human will have an increased cognitive awareness of their Reality. This is evident when looking at the research about decision making and sleep.
Sleep deprivation has been shown to have a profound negative effect on your cardiovascular system. respiratory system, neurological system, reproductive system, digestive system, endocrine system, immune system and even your musculoskeletal system. For an in-depth look at this and more read Matthew Walker’s book “Why We Sleep”.
Sleep deprivation in correlation with focus will create an environment for poorer learning and memory storage (link). Increased likelihood of poor decision making when it comes to risks and rewards for short and long term goals. (link) Impairment of the Default Mode Network (link) that we talked about here in this blog post and slower reaction times (link). These along with an increase in emotional stress and anxiety from sleep deprivation will undoubtedly result in a catastrophic decrease in you focusing on your Reality.
I know what you are thinking. Thank God, I’m not sleep deprived. Good sleep isn’t only measured by duration, but by quality, continuity and regularity. Our sleep model has been perfected over many generations and we have drastically changed in the blink of an eye largely due to our technological advances and the drive for productivity. We know that 35% of U.S. adults are getting less than 7 hours of sleep per night. This puts them in great danger for their health and ours too. We also know that more than 50% of our high school and elementary age kids lack the appropriate amount of sleep. A proper functioning sleep/wake cycle is imperative to focus and attention.
So what should we do? Let’s try to simplify this complex question of how we can achieve good sleep.
- Try to follow the circadian rhythm put in place long before electricity.
- Get to bed around the same time every night.
- Turn down the lights.
- Regulate the use of tech as I said above.
- Use your bed for a place of sleep or intimacy only.
- Avoid stimulants and sedatives.
- Cool the bedroom or take a hot bath just before sleep.
- Practice a nighttime routine or ritual with respect to these suggestions above.
Give your brain the detox it needs in order to work at its best for your future Reality.
3.) Movement is life
Another key component in the 12 Innate Essentials. Movement is crucial for mental health. Multiple studies have found a connection between mental health and exercise. Here is an exhausting list of such studies (link). This alone should be enough of a reason to include it in this list, but I would like to expand more on the subject of movement and focus.
Proprioception, which is the ability to perceive the position and movement of the body in real-time, is nourishment to the brain. Proprioceptive fibers interact with different areas of the brain that can go dormant without full joint movement. This, in turn, can dull sensory input and effect areas like the Reticular Activating System. The Reticular Activating System or RAS relies on sensory input for knowledge of surroundings and therefore will be dulled in alertness due to a lack of mobility.
Chiropractors have long related this sentiment when performing an adjustment on a subluxation. A Subluxation is any area of the spine that lacks movement and therefore creates pressure on the coordinating nervous system. This pressure on the nervous system can have a host of ill effects on the body as the nervous system is the master system of all other systems in the body. Here is a great video of the latest research on how a Chiropractic adjustment affects the brain (link). This accompanied by the stress response due to a subluxation can inhibit your brain’s ability to focus on specific tasks away. Here is an article linking Chiropractic and a decrease in ADHD symptoms. (link)
A great article that specifically relates to exercise and education can be found here (link). I am a firm proponent of more exercise in schools and in school-aged children. Our kids are being increasingly medicated for ADHD (link). The inability to focus in exchange for the need of physical exercise. Boys are 3x as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD. They have also been shown to be twice as active as their female counterparts. They literally need to move as this is something that is natural to their existence. Here is the thing, this isn’t some type of fringe science that I am talking about. This is mainstream media promoting exercise for a reduction of ADHD issues. (WebMD link) Why is it that we choose to supply our kids with stimulants to gain compliance at the expense of their health? This pisses me off!
- Move every day. Movement is Life. If you’re not moving, you’re dying.
- Every day should include some kind of exercise.
- Avoid chronically sitting for long periods of time. Get up from your office chair every 20 minutes.
- Find a Chiropractor. As I alluded to in a previous blog post, Chiropractic adjustments are a necessary supplement for our current sedentary society. (link)by
4.) Eat Real Food
This can be another complex conversation, but I’ll attempt to paint a big picture more simply.
EAT REAL FOOD!
Was it alive in the last 24 hours or so? Great, that is probably real food. Was it processed, manipulated, mixed and packaged? That is probably not real food, don’t eat that.
I could reference many articles with dyes, colors or preservatives like red dye 40, blue dye 2 or high fructose corn syrup that have been shown to increase symptoms of ADHD, but there is a simpler way. Just stop buying processed foods and instead buy Real Food.
Eat nutrient-dense foods that are high in
- Antioxidants – great for reducing stress chemicals and free radicals
- Omega 3’s – Great fat, again reducing stress chemicals and free radicals. This also contains DHA which is amazing for brain development.
- Vitamins and Minerals (not added, enriched, etc.) Get these from plants, green leafy vegetables, bone broths, etc.
Another more general problem that I have seen in the past. Your body needs calories. Your brain consumes 20% of the calories you consume. Without calories and nutrients, your body will shut down. This will account for an extreme lack of focus as well as multiple neurological issues.
5.) Water is Essential
As I related in the blog post, The #1 Essential is Water. The brain is comprised of 85% water. Your brain and body depend on proper hydration to function. Dehydration will cause a host of issues, but those with respect to mental cognition include.
- Problems with focus and attention
- Brain fatigue
- Brain fog
- Headaches
- Sleep disturbances
- Irritability
- Depression
Here is a link to 7 Keys to Proper Hydration for those that are looking for in-depth help in this routine.
In Summary…
- Recommendations range anywhere from 64 ounces to 128 ounces per day depending on your age, weight, gender, activity and environment. Drink water in 6 to 16-ounce intervals throughout the day.
- Proper hydration leaves clues – Thirst and Urine output by time and color should be monitored.
- Water should be as pure as possible. Springs and reverse osmosis filters are some of the best sources for your hydration.
- Water should be stored in glass or high-grade stainless steel bottles.
- Hydration from other liquids should not supersede pure water. It can provide some benefits, but none as pure as water.
- Food provides up to 20% of your hydration. Eat Real Food to make a difference.
- Consistent Habits One Adjustment at a time is where progress is made. Track and make routines.
6.) Focus is a skill to practice
Focusing is a skill. It takes a bit of practice and discipline. I have to set times in my day, week or month dedicated to focusing on my present, past and future reality. I set aside time for myself to either write down my goals, creatively think, meditate, or pray. I try to put aside time to reflect and for Self Awareness. It often looks like goal setting and sometimes even resembles day-dreaming.
I also use what I have referred to as Autopilot to work through some of my toughest situations. This is where I will perform a task that I have done multiple times and don’t have to put much thought into. This often happens at the gym, doing yard work, in the shower or doing household chores. Some of my best ideas and solutions will come to me when I’m physically busy, but mentally wandering. For me, this is my favorite way to be productive. 2 Birds One Stone.
Set aside time daily for these practices.
- Morning ritual of prayer or meditation upon rising.
- Early exercise session with the intent of listening to an audiobook, podcasts or music to procure the creative juices.
- Lunch by yourself and write out goals, plans, ideas, wishes, dreams or sketches.
- Before bed, prepare for your day, week or month following.
These are just some basic recommendations. Change them to fit your life and your focus.
7.) Make a plan to sharpen your focus
The skill of focusing is important, but not as important as what you focus on. The content of what you choose to put your focus on is important. Many people in life choose to focus on money as a measure of their success. Success can come in many forms. Let’s look at two different success stories with different focuses. 1.) a 73-year-old man worth about 3 billion dollars, that has always worked and continues to work 80 hours a week. Or 2.) a retired 27-year-old living on a minimalist budget, spending much of his time with his family, traveling, fitness and multiple hobbies. Assuming both are happy and all real needs are met, which life sounds more successful to you? It all depends on what your focus is.
Find your focus, your purpose or your why.
Start by reading Write Your Reality.
Perform the writing assignment as prescribed.
Next, read Own Your Reality
Start journaling for better Self Awareness.
And finally, read Resolve Your Reality
Create a plan and execute it fully.
Final tip. Always prepare for tomorrow, today.
Here's a recap of the 7 easy habits to improve your focus
The 7 easy habits to improve your focus:
- Remove non-essential distractions
- Get “good” sleep
- Movement and exercise feed your brain
- Eat Real Food
- Keep up your hydration
- Practice makes perfect in the skill of focus
- Always prepare for tomorrow, today!
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