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Meditation helps with ADHD

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood disorders and can continue through adolescence and adulthood. Symptoms include difficulty staying focused and paying attention, difficulty controlling behavior, and hyperactivity (over-activity).

ADHD has three subtypes:

Predominantly hyperactive-impulsive
Most symptoms (six or more) are in the hyperactivity-impulsivity categories.
Fewer than six symptoms of inattention are present, although inattention may still be present to some degree.
Predominantly inattentive
The majority of symptoms (six or more) are in the inattention category and fewer than six symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity are present, although hyperactivity-impulsivity may still be present to some degree.
Children with this subtype are less likely to act out or have difficulties getting along with other children. They may sit quietly, but they are not paying attention to what they are doing. Therefore, the child may be overlooked, and parents and teachers may not notice that he or she has ADHD.
Combined hyperactive-impulsive and inattentive
Six or more symptoms of inattention and six or more symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity are present.
Most children have the combined type of ADHD.

Researchers are developing more effective treatments and interventions, and using new tools such as brain imaging, to better understand ADHD and to find more effective ways to treat and prevent it.

Inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity are the key behaviors of ADHD. It is normal for all children to be inattentive, hyperactive, or impulsive sometimes, but for children with ADHD, these behaviors are more severe and occur more often. To be diagnosed with the disorder, a child must have symptoms for 6 or more months and to a degree that is greater than other children of the same age.

Children who have symptoms of inattention may:

Be easily distracted, miss details, forget things, and frequently switch from one activity to another
Have difficulty focusing on one thing
Become bored with a task after only a few minutes, unless they are doing something enjoyable
Have difficulty focusing attention on organizing and completing a task or learning something new
Have trouble completing or turning in homework assignments, often losing things (e.g., pencils, toys, assignments) needed to complete tasks or activities
Not seem to listen when spoken to
Daydream, become easily confused, and move slowly
Have difficulty processing information as quickly and accurately as others
Struggle to follow instructions.

Children who have symptoms of hyperactivity may:

Fidget and squirm in their seats
Talk nonstop
Dash around, touching or playing with anything and everything in sight
Have trouble sitting still during dinner, school, and story time
Be constantly in motion
Have difficulty doing quiet tasks or activities.

Children who have symptoms of impulsivity may:

Be very impatient
Blurt out inappropriate comments, show their emotions without restraint, and act without regard for consequences
Have difficulty waiting for things they want or waiting their turns in games
Often interrupt conversations or others' activities.

Benefits of meditation in ADHD

A study conducted in Australia, at the Natural Therapies Research Unit, at the Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney, and in collaboration with the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK, showed significant improvement of the symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). ADHD is a disorder that develops in childhood and is characterised by problems of attention, impulsiveness and hyperactivity.

The treatment of choice in ADHD is the administration of stimulant Medication. However, there are side effects, there is concern about the unknown long-term effects of stimulants on brain development and there is evidence for limited effectiveness that wanes after a few years. For these reasons parents prefer non-pharmacological treatment and there is a search for effective alternative non-pharmacological treatment options.

26 children with ADHD, aged between 4 and 12, were treated for 6 weeks with Sahaja Yoga Meditation adjunctive to their usual treatment (i.e. some of them were receiving stimulant Medication) and then compared to a waiting list control group who received no treatment.

Children with ADHD who learned how to meditate compared to the waiting list control group showed a significant reduction of the main symptoms of hyperactivity, impulsiveness and inattention.

Other, secondary benefits were an improved child-parent relationship and enhanced self-esteem in children.

Furthermore, of the children who were treated with stimulant Medication, over 50% either discontinued or reduced their stimulant medication but still improved in their symptoms.

This pioneering study suggests that Meditation is clearly a promising non-pharmacological treatment option for children with ADHD that needs to be further explored.

http://www.meditationresearch.co.uk
Harrison, L., Rubia, K., Manocha, R. (2003) Sahaja Yoga Meditation as a Family Treatment Program for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Children. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 9 (4), 479-497.

3 comment(s) so far, want to say something now?

Rebecca
May 19, 2011

I already know that meditation could help with ADHD. How can we meditate if we can’t concentrate on one thing? I have been trying and trying, to no avail

Reply
admin
May 19th, 2011

Hi Rebecca,

Have you tried our online course at onlinemeditation.org? There is a community forum where you can find more support regarding your experiences.

Sahaja Yoga Meditation help you improve your concentration and attention. You do not need to have an established concentration in order to start meditation. Meditation starts from where you leave the work to your own Kundalini energy.

All the best

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1
Dale
Dec 26, 2011

This is a great article. I am looking at this for my son with ADHD. Do you have a link to the actual study?

Reply
TheUrbanMum
February 15th, 2012
Hi there. I am also a parent with an ADHD child. I am not having any luck in my search for classes for him. I contacted the dr involved in this study Dr Ramesh Manocha, with no success. Have you had better luck?

Reply
katya
August 27th, 2012
I will send you the paper if you email me: katya.rubia@yahoo.co.uk or give me your email.

Reply
2
RScript
Mar 28, 2012

I hope that more people get the chance to read articles like this when they are told their children have ADHD. It frightens me to see how medicated our children are becoming. One of the reasons I wrote my book about Chakra energy centers was to offer a beginner level picture book that parents can share with their kids. I see so much improvement in “trouble children” (terrible term) when they learn to connect with themselves and even can just visualize their own energy.

What about combining meditation with something physically challenging like Yoga? Perhaps start it out as a challenge first: Can you do this pose and how long can you hold it for?

Reply
Navin
September 26th, 2012
My son has been diagnosed with ADHD. What’s the title of your book and where can i find it?

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3

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