ADHD 2.0
The blessing and the curse vie for top billing, for attention. When the DMN brings lovely images, it is our golden tool. But when it jumps track into the TPN and hijacks consciousness, then the DMN becomes the Demon, the seat of misery, the disease of the imagination. Trapped in the past or future in the DMN, you’re likely to abandon projects you o
... See moreEdward M. Hallowell, John J. Ratey • ADHD 2.0
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“If there is one takeaway in distilling down the complexity of the DMN and the TPN, it boils down to the fact that the toggle switches between them are off in those with ADHD.”
In other words, in most people the DMN does not slip so easily into the TPN; the gears mesh well and are not glitchy. But in people who have ADHD, the gears get stripped, so
Edward M. Hallowell, John J. Ratey • ADHD 2.0
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A wandering mind. You’ll get frequent comments from teachers, or, in an adult, supervisors or spouse, that the individual’s mind wanders, that he or she has trouble focusing and staying on task, that performance is inconsistent, good days and bad days, good moments and terrible ones, all of which usually lead the teacher, supervisor, or spouse to c
... See moreEdward M. Hallowell, John J. Ratey • ADHD 2.0
The massive behavioral conditioning we’ve all been undergoing since the advent of ubiquitous electronic communications technology has changed us radically. But this dramatic, if not epochal, change is underappreciated. It’s underappreciated because we’re living in it as it happens, like frogs in cold water that slowly gets heated up without the fro
... See moreEdward M. Hallowell, John J. Ratey • ADHD 2.0
Still another curse of the Demon is catastrophic thinking. We refer to this as Chicken Little syndrome, as it’s easy to believe the sky is falling. A young attorney confessed she has a tough time starting new cases as she immediately jumps to the future part of her DMN and stays there, endlessly envisioning and obsessing about what can go wrong wit
... See moreEdward M. Hallowell, John J. Ratey • ADHD 2.0
a neurotypical brain, when the TPN is turned on and you’re on task, the DMN is turned off. But in the ADHD brain, the fMRI shows that when the TPN is turned on, the DMN is turned on as well, trying to muscle its way in and pull you into its grasp, thereby distracting you. In ADHD, therefore, the DMN competes with the TPN, which in most people it do
... See moreEdward M. Hallowell, John J. Ratey • ADHD 2.0
Connect with your personal vision of greatness and try to hold it in your consciousness every day as a guide and inspiration. One way to do this is to identify one living person you admire, then allow that admiration to lift you up.
Edward M. Hallowell, John J. Ratey • ADHD 2.0
There are some supplements everyone can agree to recommend: a multivitamin; vitamin D; magnesium; B complex; vitamin C (ascorbic acid, as well as Connect!); calcium; zinc.
Edward M. Hallowell, John J. Ratey • ADHD 2.0
While complicated in its anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and synaptic flow, the DMN is easy to understand for the layman, if spelled out in plain English. So, as we recap, we’ll keep it simple:
Don’t feed the Demon.
Shut off its oxygen by denying it your attention.
Do something else that engages your mind.
Stay in action!