Sleep and behaviour in children

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Getting yourself and your children into a healthy sleep routine is key to improving mood and behaviour.

A study published in the July/August issue of the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics revealed the following:

A cohort study of almost 9000 preschool-aged children showed that those who averaged fewer than 9 hours of sleep per night were significantly more likely to show impulsivity, anger, and overactivity and to have tantrums than their peers who averaged more nightly sleep.  The children with less sleep were also 80% more likely to show aggression.

If your child is having behavioral issues, start moving bedtime earlier by 15 minutes each week.  If your child is having difficulty getting to or staying asleep, book an assessment and let’s work together to see what can be done.

 

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Is ADHD over-diagnosed?

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As many of you know,  I am not opposed to medication.  I am opposed to treating a condition that isn’t there which is why proper diagnosis is so very important.  A proper diagnosis is given after extensive interviews, paperwork, and tests.  It takes months, not days or weeks.

Maclean’s has written a wonderful article that is worth reading regardless of your viewpoint on this.  It speaks to the reasons why some believe ADHD is being over-diagnosed.

To all you mom’s out there who are questioning a diagnosis given to your child, this article can give you confidence.

As for my opinion, I believe that our school system needs to educate teachers on how to modify the classroom so that everybody can learn.  Some kids are not wired to sit and focus and follow directions to the T.  Some kids are full of energy and NEED to burn it in order to focus.

I’d like to see how we can encourage our children to think for themselves and not blindly follow direction.  I’d like to see teachers be willing to be challenged.  Maybe that four-year old has a good point when they ask ‘why?’.  Why does it have to be done that way?  Maybe if the tea

I have learned a lot from Patrick challenging me.  Sometimes I do things just because it’s the way my parents did it or simply because I’m demanding obedience.  While sometimes obedience is not-optional, many times when I stop and think, he has a good point.  Why can’t he do it his way?

When I listen and modify my behaviour because he has a good point, I believe that I am instilling in him that his voice counts.  I also believe that I am teaching him to listen to what others think and to consider if it’s valid before dismissing their ideas.

 

 

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Being labelled

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For many people, a diagnosis of a mental health disorder, like ADHD, depression, anxiety, bipolar, fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome is  viewed as a label and is attached with a lot of stigma and fear.

What if we change the perspective or the meaning associated with a diagnosis?

I offer this metaphor:

You’re driving towards a tunnel.  It’s a beautiful day and you’re having a lovely drive.  You enter the tunnel without a worry in the world.  By the time that you come out of the tunnel, you’re a mess.  There are scratches everywhere, you’re angry, and you’re confused.  What just happened?  It was too dark in the tunnel to see anything.  You feel like you were just beaten up.

You decide to carry on, and shake it off.  Back to life you go.

A few days or weeks later, you’re driving on the road, towards another tunnel.  Feeling good and positive, you go through the tunnel.  Same thing happens though.  Something in the tunnel caused your car to get all wrecked and you are furious.  What happened?

You start asking other people if it happens to them?  They look at you like you’re crazy.  What do you mean ‘something’ is in the tunnel?  There’s nothing there.

Now you’re feeling confused and embarrassed.  Maybe it was just my imagination.  Maybe it is ‘all in my head’.  I’ll go through another tunnel and it will be fine.

But again, you experience this ‘something’ in a very real way.  There are visible scratches on your car and you’re pretty shaken up.  But no one else gets it.  They don’t get why things change ‘only for you’ in the tunnel.

To make matters worse, they are getting frustrated with you.  Every time that you crash, you need their help.  You need financial aid to fix your car, you need rides while the car is being fixed, and worst of all, sometimes you are not the only one who gets hurt.

So finally you take your car to a new mechanic and he says, “Of course you’re crashing.  You don’t have lights.”  Huh.

The diagnosis of not having lights explains everything.  You didn’t know that other people could see in the tunnel and they never thought to ask if you had lights because “everybody has lights”.  Finally, your diagnosis explains everything.

Now there are two ways to handle things.

Check back next week to see what they are 😉

Kerri

 

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Mental health – it’s not all in your head

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Did you know that most of the serotonin that your body produces is in your intestines?  Serotonin is the chemical the tends to be low in depression.

Far too often people believe or are told that’s in all in their head.  Attitude is everything and you just need to think positively.  While this is partly true, it is very hard to implement when you’re feeling terrible.

Virtually every mental health diagnosis – anxiety, depression, ADHD, bi-polar – has a basis in chemistry.  Our neurotransmitters, serotonin, dopamine,and epinephrine need to work together for us to be well.  We understand this concept with diabetes – insulin levels need to be manipulated to cure the illness.  When this cannot be done with diet and lifestyle, we use meds.

When it comes to mental health though, so many people are reluctant to work with their chemistry.  They believe that they should feel good without it. I’m not saying go on meds.  I’m saying, play with the chemistry.  There are lots of natural ways to adjust serotonin, dopamine and epinephrine.  Some of them start out simply by looking at your guts.

 

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ADHD resources

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Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, is amongst the mental health diagnosis that elicits strong responses.

I have a special interest in it as many of my closest friends and relatives deal with it daily (some suspect that I may as well).

ADHD is still very misunderstood.  There are still people, including physicians and educators, who ‘don’t believe in it’.  They still think that these kids and adults just need to ‘buckle down, focus, and get it done’.  They see it as an excuse for undesirable behaviour.

ADHD is a chemical disorder, not a mental disorder.  Like so many disorders in mental health, there is a physical basis for why this condition exist.  As such, there are many treatment options available.  Some treatments include behaviour modification (like sleep hygiene, mindfulness, exercise), some include discovering triggers (like food and additives) and some include chemical intervention (via supplements or medication).

ADHD is a condition with a wide array of symptom demonstration.  For some, the condition gravely affects their lives whereas for others it’s not as evident.  Either way, there is a quality of life available that these people have never experienced.

Proper diagnosis is paramount as many conditions mimic the symptoms of ADHD (such as anxiety, OCD, depression).  Once you know what you’re dealing with, then you can choose the appropriate treatment approach for you.

Remember that whether you decide that medication is right for you or not, Naturopathic Medicine approaches can help too.  Sleep, food, digestion, and supplements can all have an impact on your quality of life.  These approaches can help you get the most of your medication too.

Here a a few links that I have come across in my own exploration of ADHD.  Some I really enjoy, others are not my taste but may be yours.

If you suspect that you have ADHD or know that you do and would like to explore natural treatments, I would be thrilled to connect with you.

Yours in Health,

Kerri

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