Fast Minds: How to Thrive if You Have ADHD (Or Think You Might) by Craig Surman & Tim Bilkey & Karen Weintraub

Author:Craig Surman & Tim Bilkey & Karen Weintraub
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Psychiatry, Self-Help, Attention-Deficit Disorder (ADD-ADHD), psychology, General
ISBN: 9781101619339
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2013-02-05T00:00:00+00:00

The Basics

The body and brain’s well-being depends on getting the energy and chemicals needed to function, and rest to recover from stress and strengthen learning. Ideally, people need seven to nine hours of sleep; reasonably sized, healthy meals several times a day; and regular aerobic exercise. Although many people fail to match this pattern, the daily lives of people with ADHD are often far more erratic and irregular than average. When we ask people why they stayed up late or missed a meal, we often hear that time “just got away” from them. When we ask why they exercise intermittently, they often mention time—saying they don’t make the time for it. Some people explain that they spend the time when they should be taking care of their bodies trying to stay on top of daily demands or doing things for other people. Others seem to be pursuing a life they think they should be leading, trying to live up to standards, such as always agreeing to friends’ requests, entertaining like Martha Stewart, or doing extra, unnecessary projects at work.

Compensating for FAST MINDS traits can be exhausting. Time lost during the day to distractions can mean work that stretches much later into the evening. The strain of having multiple thoughts at once, or of containing those multiple threads, can take a toll, as can the added stress of always working under crushing deadlines. So people with FAST MINDS probably have greater needs for the basics of sleep, exercise, and good nutrition than average. Once the body is short on nutrients, energy, or sleep, it can be even harder to compensate for FAST MINDS challenges. Thus it is no surprise that deprivation of sleep and nutrition leads to even worse FAST MINDS symptoms.

Young adults often push the limits of overindulgence in sleep deprivation, alcohol, and pleasure-seeking activities. Just as a candy bar that prevents hunger in the short term may be an unhealthy, unsatisfying memory later, so, too, caffeine can backfire by keeping people awake at night and decreasing sleep depth. Alcohol, too, may help people fall asleep but then disrupts sleep quality later in the night and interferes with sleep’s restorative power.4 While older adults don’t tend to push these limits quite as dramatically, the negative cycle of youth often lingers, with unhealthy short-term responses leading to more problems later.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.