Cogmed’s Life Lessons
September 25, 2009
by Rebecca Shafir
Summer is a popular time for Cogmed Working Memory Training – kids have no homework and more free time. Now that it’s fall and “my Cogmed kids” have a few weeks of school under their belts, it’s time for the wrap up meetings. At these face-to-face or over the phone discussions we talk about what has changed. Aside from noticeable and sometimes dramatic changes in working memory functioning (the ability to hold information online while doing a task, i.e. mental arithmetic in figuring out how much college will cost!) there appears to be a surprising hidden component from the training – some important life lessons are learned. Here are some of the reports from our wrap up meetings:
§ How to push through when the goin’ gets tough.
§ Time management - learning what is possible in a span of 30-40 minutes
§ How to pace themselves and learn the best times for their brain to do challenging homework assignments.
§ How to deal with frustration by taking short time-outs, and the value of a handful of push-ups or deep breathing to get back on track
§ Self-acquired strategies for managing their carelessness on tests and quizzes.
§ The benefits of remembering names of new friends and teachers
§ A feeling of pride and improved confidence for taking on challenging mental tasks
§ Following conversations – no longer being the “the spacey oddball” in the group
§ Greater independence with homework
§ Being able to talk easier with adults on the phone (coaching is done by phone)
§ Feeling really smart for a change.
Who would have thunk it?
Substance Abuse and ADHD
September 14, 2009
If you are diagnosed with ADHD then you should know you are also at a higher risk for developing alcohol or other substance abuse problems. 52% of individuals who are diagnosed with ADD will have to deal with substance abuse during their lifetimes.
In a study of young adults with ADHD, Timothy Wilens, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School said, “70 percent were using substances (not to get high, but) to improve their mood, to sleep better, or for other reasons”.
Many of my clients who have abused cocaine, alcohol or marijuana say that when they first started using, the drugs helped them concentrate, they made fewer “stupid” decisions and most of all they felt much calmer. The term “self-medicating” is used to describe this type of use.
“When people with ADHD get older, the hyperactive component often diminishes,” says William Dodson, M.D., an ADHD specialist, “but inside, they’re just as hyper as ever. They need something to calm their brain enough to be productive.”
Treating ADHD with medications appears to reduce the tendency to abuse drugs and alcohol. In a study at MGH and Harvard Medical School, 75 percent of boys diagnosed with ADHD and not receiving medication started abusing marijuana, alcohol, hallucinogens, stimulants, or cocaine within 4 years of the study’s beginning, while only 25 percent of the boys diagnosed with ADHD and taking medication and 18 percent of the boys without ADHD did. This means the medications reduced the risk of substance abuse or dependence by 84 percent.
When I first started treating high functioning adults with ADHD there was a debate about whether to first treat the ADHD or the substance abuse; many people felt it wasn’t effective to deal with both at the same time. I encouraged my patients to tackle the two issues together and I’m pleased to see that that is now the accepted approach.
We have research to show that the combination of medication where necessary along with therapy is a potent approach to many mental health issues. My experience shows that this is certainly true for the treatment for ADHD. Medication, therapy, coaching or a blend of these approaches helps my clients manage their lives more effectively including managing their substance use and abuse.
How can you tell if you’re on the road to abusing alcohol? These statistics from William R. Miller and Ricardo F. Munoz’s, “How to Control your Drinking: A Practical Guide to Responsible Drinking” (1982) give some guidance on how Americans drink. Where do you fall?
- Over 80% drink less than 3 or more drinks per week or not at all (32%)
- Only 16-18% drink at least 10-13 drinks per week (about 2 per day on average)
- Only 11% drink 20 drinks per week (about 3 per day on average)
- Only 6% drink 40 drinks per week (about 6 per day on average)
- Only 3% drink 10 or more per day
If you would like to take a closer look at your substance use, I’d encourage you to get an experienced professional’s help in evaluating whether you need to make some changes.
Szifra Birke, M.S.
Easy Way to Plan Your Week
September 7, 2009
We live our lives caught amid almost unlimited past, present and future demands. Making decisions about how to use our limited time and energy often means choosing among those projects that feel most urgent, finishing long-postponed tasks or planning for future success; planning almost always gets put aside.
Those with ADD or an ADD style are more likely than most to find themselves involved in urgent projects that have been let go a little too long and if they are going to look toward the future, they often just glimpse discrete, cutting-edge projects that grab their attention and beg for implementation. Future planning to reduce crises and move projects ahead before they become urgent gets no attention.
Planning doesn’t have to be tough. It starts with a simple assessment of your needs for the next few weeks.
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What would you like to have time for if you were going to function at your best?
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Time to catch up on paperwork?
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Time to review which projects need to get done soon?
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Set-aside time to contact new prospects? Uninterrupted creative time?
Now you know what needs to happen, you only have to figure out when.
Which things need to happen every day? Every Week? Once a month? Get out your calendar and find a time to schedule the task. Your upcoming month will have the beginning of a plan.
Planning can start at both ends of the time line. What will things look like in one to three years? Or what does my next week need to contain? The best idea is to start simple and address a fuller picture as you get more comfortable. Discouraged just thinking about it? Try this…
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What would you like to work on this week?
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What is a simple beginning action that you could take?
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What time could you schedule to do that action tomorrow? (15 minutes may be all you need.)
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Schedule a block of follow-up time for each day the rest of the week.
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When you finish tomorrow decide on the step or steps for the next day.
You’ve planned part of a week! Pick a project to schedule the following week. Of course there are any number of things that you would benefit from learning about planning and long-term strategies, but even week to week planning has boosted the productivity of many of my sales and executive coaching clients.
Jay Livingston
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