It is so amazing how organizations are popping up all over the world helping us join forces to tackle mental health diseases.  I was privileged enough to speak in Athens, Greece a few years ago about iFred’s rebranding depression work, and learned from countries around the world just how important it is we work together to solve our greatest challenges.

I’ve just recently been asked to join their advisory board, and continue to be amazed and impressed by the work of all throughout the world.

It was celebrated across the U.S. when we were able to get mental health parity law passed.  I don’t by any means intend to minimize this work – but do we realize that what we accomplished was to treat the brain in a similar fashion to the heart, liver, and intestines?  Should we really have to fight that hard for that?  Those that were involved in the legislation understand the intense work, dedication, and challenge this simple piece of legislation involved – and unfortunately the rest of the world is so far behind us in many different ways.

Readers respond quite frequently to my blogs: ‘if only I could convince my 10 year old to do meditate.’  It may be majorly challenging to get children to practice, but if we can get them to sit for hours in front of video games, brush their teeth regularly, or study for exams, I do believe it’s possible.

There are three things a parent must first be willing to give in order to start on this journey:

I can’t begin to explain how hard it is at times for me to focus. To sit down, and get going on what I need to do. But when I do – look out – because I can do a lot to make the world a better place. Unfortunately, it’s so difficult to get to that place these days because there is an ongoing bombardment of distractions that seem to get greater by the day.

Research has shown that if you work in an office environment you get interrupted about once every 8 minutes.  And that it takes 4-5 minutes to refocus after an interruption.  And those are just studies on the general population!

The discipline of Psychology has come up with some fairly simple rules to follow for fighting fair, and it amazes me how each and every day we ignore these rules and suffer again and again from their lessons.

The recent shooting in Arizona has brought up a lot of this, but I am reminded when I hear of bullying, the divorce rate, and the constant battle of the media and politics.  While Psychology is far from perfect, it is an evolving discipline (as are we) and I would think we would take at least what we do know, and use it to our advantage.

Fighting fair is an art, and it needs to be taught in school and practiced throughout every relationship.  Yet it takes a great deal of discipline, and it seems few have it.   The amount of hurtful words we are constantly spewing out of our mouths, on an hourly basis, is creating a majorly toxic environment.  Our kids are learning how to treat each other through the television, politicians, adults, and teachers – and what kinds of fighting are we doing every day?  

My post the other day on texting and driving brought many responses, both good and bad.  One of them, however, blew me away.

The individual’s ability to recognize the problem from both sides of the spectrum, acknowledge the challenges that each group faces on a regular day, and taking all of it into consideration allowed them to provide an innovative solution.

Often times, extreme views happen because we don’t understand another person’s perspective, and instead of trying to be a better listener we become a louder talker.  We find others on our side that agree with us to make us feel better about our own position, and condone anyone that thinks otherwise.  It’s a normal human defense, but not one that is very productive to solving the many issues in society; all it does is shut off listening and polarize views further.

I’ve written recently about the issues that those with ADHD have with texting, including myself, and have been reading some startling statistics about texting and driving that must be shared.

As those with ADHD have increased distractibility, I think it’s especially important that us ADHDers know this startling statistic and take serious note; Research shows that texting and driving can actually be worse than drinking and driving, and laws banning texting is doing little about saving lives.

I’ve always known it isn’t exactly safe, but until it was put in that context it didn’t register with me just how great the potential to destroy lives really is.  I’ve done things like limit my texting to when I am on the highway and at stoplights, readily making excuses for why I can afford to look away a few more seconds on long stretches and when I’m stopped.  But invariably my few seconds at the stop light turns into just one more after I’ve started, and before you know it those very restrictions I have put in place are over ruled by my impulsivity, excuses and justifications.

I have been wanting to write this book for some time, and since I don’t want to make time I thought what better thing than to explore it in this blog.

Diet books are all the craze, and while I don’t know much about red dye, research has suggested it can magnify ADHD symptoms and is hard to avoid.  So I thought I would do a mini-series on red dye, looking at what it is, how it affects the brain, what food it is in, and how we can avoid it with diet.  In this post, I am simply going to explore the ‘what’ of red dye.

Last year I attended a conference called ‘The Creative Brain; Learning and the Brain‘ in Washington DC.  At this conference I met John Ratey, and saw him speak about exercise and the brain, specifically in regards to children in school.

The insights made through his research are amazing, and I believe it is especially critical for those with ADD / ADHD to read and understand as the benefits of incorporating regular play into school are profound.

• Through his research, Ratey has shown that children with 30 minutes of recess have more attention and less behavioral problems.  It was critical that the recess does not have much material, is unstructured, and allows kids to be creative with what they do during the time.