It is well known that dealing with ADHD and Emotions can be a daunting task; due to their powerful nature. Parents have been known to say that their children can vacillate between a calm peaceful child into an erupting volcano in seconds. Truth be told, adults with ADD/ADHD can do the same thing. But, hopefully we’ve learned to control our ADHD and emotions in the maturation process.
Recently, strides have been made in research from areas of psychology pertaining to ADHD and emotions. Particularly, emotional intelligence as it pertains to functioning in social settings. As you can see, there are so many pieces to the puzzle of harnessing ADHD that sometimes even I get overwhelmed.
I’m going to speak candidly, then I will go deeper into the science of emotional intelligence and how I plan to build new treatment and training systems to help people with ADHD and emotions to better handle those tenuous social situations.
On a basic level let’s look sympathetic nervous system – the fight/flight/freeze system. The scenario goes as such, something happens that triggers this system which dumps adrenaline into our blood stream causing several different physiological changes.
Now, let’s be clear, that this scenario could be completely made up in between your ears. The classic story of – it’s a dark night and you hear footsteps as you get closer and closer to your car, your heart’s pounding, you think you’re about to get mugged, the footsteps get hurried, you panic… “hey, ma’am, you left your keys/phone at the restaurant”.
(there was no danger, but you certainly created it IN YOUR MIND)
Typically, there are adrenaline ‘gates’ in our bodies that open and close in correlation to an event or situation. With ADHD and emotions, several professionals have stated that it’s like the gates are just left open, or worse just swinging away on their hinges.
Now, add to the fact about people with ADHD and our overactive imagining right brain. Creating amazingly detailed scenarios that are sometimes far-fetched and seemingly stretching reality. Have you ever come up with an idea and the non-ADD people around you look at you like you are an alien? Or call you some derogatory name.
Remember the last time you changed the schedule on someone who has ADHD? Did they go ballistic? My case in point.
So the questions remains, how do we take such a powerfully explosive brain of ADHD and emotions and harness that into a positive force for good creation?
Teaching emotional intelligence to children with ADHD will change their lives. Consider the 4 attributes of Emotional Intelligence. (http://www.helpguide.org/articles)
- Self-awareness – You recognize your own emotions and how they affect your thoughts and behavior, know your strengths and weaknesses, and have self-confidence.
- Self-management – You’re able to control impulsive feelings and behaviors, manage your emotions in healthy ways, take initiative, follow through on commitments, and adapt to changing circumstances.
- Social awareness – You can understand the emotions, needs, and concerns of other people, pick up on emotional cues, feel comfortable socially, and recognize the power dynamics in a group or organization.
- Relationship management – You know how to develop and maintain good relationships, communicate clearly, inspire and influence others, work well in a team, and manage conflict.
If you’re a parent and you’re reading this, you may be thinking, “most people with ADHD would fail at most of those attributes”. I’m inclined to agree with you. That’s why we want to make a difference with Myndplay technology.
When it comes to ADHD and emotions, it’s safe to say that we aren’t the best self-observers. Controlling impulses, managing emotions, and following through is not our strong suit. The social awareness attribute; I do believe we are inherently intuitive and compassionate, even though we may not understand it. Lastly, I don’t think that it would hurt anyone’s feelings if I said that people with ADHD need lots of help with relationship management.
Recently a London based company has made great strides helping people with these 4 attributes. Myndplay, and it’s CEO, Tre Azam, have put together an incredible way to create better awareness, manage your emotional state, become more aware of what’s going on around you; which I believe will create better relationship management.
MyndPlay is a next generation platform which combines revolutionary EEG brainwave technology and the medium of Video to create seamlessly interactive mind controlled experiences and content from movies and games to serious training and education, the system has been used by Blue Chip companies from HSBC, Volvo and Nissan to the Prison services, schools and the Military/Police, plus many more.
In regards to ADHD and emotions – one can train their mind to meditate and focus through stimulus/response training and provide one with detailed brainwave feedback and the tools to develop greater mental awareness and emotional control making it the ultimate brain entertainment, live experience and training platform.
If you’re a parent and you’re reading this, you may be thinking, “most people with ADHD would fail at most of those attributes”. I’m inclined to agree with you. That’s why we want to make a difference with Myndplay technology.
When it comes to ADHD and emotions, it’s safe to say that we aren’t the best self-observers. Controlling impulses, managing emotions, and following through is not our strong suit. The social awareness attribute; I do believe we are inherently intuitive and compassionate, even though we may not understand it. Lastly, I don’t think that it would hurt anyone’s feelings if I said that people with ADHD need lots of help with relationship management.
The goal of bringing together mind controlled video games with cognitive assessments is to not only relieve the person with ADHD of the negative aspects of ADD/ADHD, but also augment the gifts that separate them from the normal kids.
Stay tuned for more updates about MyndPlay and The ADHD Society.
Richmond Magazine’s – “Top Doc” 2013 Work with ADHD Clients —
Top Award for ‘Commitment to Chiropractic Excellence”
Helping Chiropractic and ADHD Clients in Glen Allen, Va. http://www.DrEricEtka.acuityscheduling.com/