How holistic therapies can help with the daily struggles of ADHD in adults

Brain and mindfulness

March 2023

So, I felt like I needed to write this, due to personal experience that have come up recently for me.

When ADHD is mentioned, stereotypically a lot of people relate to the naughty kids in the playground, running riot and out of control. (ive thought it myself too). But recently due to social platforms such as TIKTOK and Instagram where people share personal experiences, i have learnt and discovered that in fact it is SO SO much more than that.

Also, naively people tie it to “mental health” due to some of the things that run hand in hand with ADHD, such as anxiety, depression, anger outbursts, “forgetfulness”. Which in fact it isn’t mental health, its a neurodevelopmental condition and falls under the autism spectrum. It affects the frontal, limbic system, basal ganglia, anterior cingulate, temporal, and parietal regions.

 

Frontal Cortex

  • Attention
  • Executive Function
  • Organisation Skills

Limbic System

  • Controls Emotions
  • Controls Attention

Anterior Cingulate

This part of the brain is responsible for a number of cognitive functions, including:
  • Emotional expression
  • Attention allocation
  • Mood regulation

Basal Ganglia

This area of the controls impulses and lack of attention

Temporal Region

The Temporal region is the bit that sits close to the ears. It is associated with processing auditory information and encoding it to memory.

Parietal Regions

The Parietal Region is associated with understanding the world around you, it processes senses.

How Can Holistic Therapies Help?

Mindfulness & Meditation

Mindfulness is the practice of being fully present and engaged in the current moment, without judgment or distraction. It involves paying attention to thoughts, feelings, and sensations in a non-reactive way. So using this technique can really help with ADHD as it can help to manage emotions and improve focus.

Meditation is one way to practice being mindful, as it helps you to stop and pause before acting. This could be useful if impulsiveness is one of the things you struggle with. Meditation can also be helpful as it can be a way of not “silencing” your mind, but rather learning how to listen, appreciate, and not get caught up if something negative pops up.

Yoga

Yoga has many benefits including improved flexibility, strength, balance, and relaxation. It can also reduce stress, anxiety, and chronic pain, and improve heart health and overall well-being.

There is lots of research to suggest that practising Yoga regularly* can actually improve some of the symptoms of ADHD. It is said to strengthen the Frontal Cortex of the brain. Most of the research that I found does carry out the research in children as apposed to adults, and it had positive results. There doesn’t seem to be a vast amount of research carried out on adults.

Regularly implies 2-3 times a week*

Some articles I have found useful:

https://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/adhd-mindfulness-meditation-yoga#:~:text=Meditation%20is%20thought%20to%20help,short%20supply%20in%20ADHD%20brains.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/adhd-yoga#benefits