Hypnosis and ADD

If you or your child struggles each day to stay on task and live a peacefully organized life, then hypnosis can help. The cause may be a condition known to doctors and psychiatrists as ADD/ADHD. Do you or your child frequently appear to?

Have decreased attention span when listening while others are talking;

Regularly interrupt conversations of others;

Spend hours doing an activity that might take someone else 30 minutes to complete;

Normally remember only the last one or two items on a list, when given a list of tasks;

Demonstrate anti-social behavior – negative behaviors;

Become easily angered when frustration hits.

These are just a few symptoms of ADD/ADHD. If you suspect that your child has these symptoms your doctor or neurologist can administer a test to identify if your child has ADD or ADHD. These conditions are diagnosed in approximately 5-7 percent of children. The primary feature of ADD is periodic impairment of the prefrontal cortex of the brain and dopamine involvement.

In ADD/ADHD, it is theorized that our usual ability to screen out and attend to stimuli of our choice is impaired. Think of it as going to the mall during the summer. It is too bright and there are too many people around, but it is not overwhelming. However, at Christmas time after a couple of hours at the mall people are so over-stimulated that it is hard to find the car. People with ADD feel this way almost all the time.

Adults and children alike can suffer from the effects of ADD and ADHD. Both are commonly treated with similar medications including Adderall, Stratera, or Ritalin. These prescriptions tend to work only as long as they are in the body, so most children have to take time out of their school schedule to visit the nurse for a mid-day dose. There can also be a drop off effect when the medication leaves the body that manifests itself as an extreme change in behavior based on the decreased ability to focus. The growing pharmaceutical hold on those who suffer from these conditions is not, however, the only treatment option. Hypnosis addresses the core causes of the inability to stay on task by organizing thoughts and developing skills used in concentration.

Hypnosis has been proven to be very successful in treating ADD/ADHD. Many parents complain that medications often seem to create undesirable side effects; hypnosis is a wellness tool without adverse consequences. The subconscious mind has control over your automatic functions and habits; in hypnosis, the conscious ‘chatter mind’ can be quieted and beneficial suggestions can be given at the subconscious level where desirable changes are made. Because hypnosis is explained to a child by a professional hypnotherapist, at their level of understanding, they feel very safe and are in a professional, trusting environment. The child becomes thrilled that they get to put new pieces together, bringing forth positive transformation in his or her life. The new, desirable changes benefit both the child and their family.

Hypnotherapy designed to alleviate ADD and ADHD starts as other hypnosis sessions. First you are brought to a state of total relaxation. From there you are able to shut out all external stimuli and focus on the matter at hand. The dialog used to battle ADD and ADHD works on developing concentration by learning to focus on one specific thought or task at a time. Because hypnosis is able to help a person relax it can go into the depths of the brain where information is stored. Often the information stored there is vying for attention and comes to the conscious mind in the form of scattered and disconnected ideas. Likewise, throughout the day the brain is receiving millions of pieces of information simultaneously and unless it knows how to organize it quickly, it can cause distractions. Hypnosis, simply put, is the way to file all of these stimuli and keep order.

Some benefits of hypnosis for treatment of ADD / ADHD include:
• Positive self-talk and enhanced self-confidence;
• Better organizational skills and better grades;
• Improved concentration and attention to details;
• Reduced stress or controlled frustration--the child is easier to live with;
• Decreased or eliminated medications;
• The child is happier as they have a more favorable
perception of what their future holds for them.

When treating children and teens, parent and family assistance is necessary for reinforcement carryover in between hypnosis sessions. Diminishing your child’s sugar intake is vital; eating natural foods vs. processed and dyed foods is also beneficial.

If you would like to explore alternatives to drug therapy to help your child become more focused and calm and do better in school, then hypnosis is a comforting and natural choice.