Your Lifestyle Will Determine Your Future
Attention Magazine February 2021
If you’re an adult with ADHD (or the parent or spouse of one), you’re probably all too familiar with the challenges of those with this diagnosis. You may also be aware of the ways that impulsiveness, motor restlessness, inattention, and executive functioning difficulties can impact lifestyle and health.
Decades of research on ADHD have moved the field to a better understanding of the risks that can accrue for individuals with ADHD over the course of their lifetime. Russell Barkley, PhD, for example, has written about the reduced life expectancy of individuals diagnosed with ADHD.
Acknowledging the importance of that data, Kathleen Nadeau, PhD, chooses to focus on what can be done to change the odds for adults with ADHD. In her keynote address at CHADD’s 2020 virtual conference, Dr. Nadeau highlighted the lifestyle changes and daily habits that can lead to a more satisfying, functional, and healthy life with ADHD. Below, we share some of the key takeaways of her keynote address, Your Lifestyle Will Determine Your Future: Brain-Friendly Habits Essential to Extending and Improving Your Life.
Build an ADHD-friendly posse
- We discover our strengths in interaction with like-minded people.
- Feeling misunderstood and criticized is the most damaging of all ADHD fallout.
- ADHD support allows us to learn from others.
- Support lowers our stress level.
- Support improves our endurance and problem-solving.
Build brain-healthy daily habits
Building upon a convergence of research findings, Dr. Nadeau identified critical elements of an ADHD-friendly, healthy life. Many of her recommendations arise from research conducted by Dale Bredesen, MD, who sought to reverse cognitive decline through lifestyle changes. Dr. Bredesen’s pilot project with a small sample of adults found that cognitive decline could be reversed by improving sleep and nutrition, and by incorporating aerobic exercise and stress management into one’s life.
His preliminary findings bring a hopeful message regarding brain functioning and overall health, according to Dr. Nadeau, suggesting that changes in daily habits can tip the odds toward a healthier and longer life for adults with ADHD.
Get a good night’s sleep
- Prepare for tomorrow so nagging thoughts don’t keep you awake—preview the next day so you know what’s coming up and are emotionally prepared rather than worried at bedtime.
- Avoid screen time for the last hour before bed—the blue light emitted by screens interferes with the production of melatonin, a naturally occurring hormone that promotes sleep.
- Develop a regular bedtime.
- Take a warm bath or shower to induce sleepiness.
- Try relaxation exercises, such as stretching or mindfulness.
- Read quietly.
- Use your phone to listen to music or podcasts to distract you from your busy mind.
- Avoid caffeine after lunch, and chocolate in the evening (due to its caffeine content).
Adopt brain-friendly nutrition
Emphasizing that there is much more to explore related to nutrition, Dr. Nadeau discussed the importance of attending to overall nutrition and to consider supplementing with vitamins and minerals that have been found to support healthy brain functioning, including Vitamin B12, essential fatty acids, and Vitamin D.
Harness the power of aerobic exercise
Take a green break
Practice stress management
Are you raising children with ADHD? Do you have a long commute? Money problems? Marital or other family problems? Stress can come from many and varied sources, so your list may be a long one.
What can you change to eliminate some sources of stress? Perhaps you can move closer to your place of work or consolidate your debt to reduce your worries.
For the stress that you can’t eliminate, perhaps there are opportunities to reduce the stress level. For example, if you’re raising children with ADHD, there are classes that focus on strategies to reduce the conflict level and to promote easier interactions with your children. If you have marital conflict, there are ADHD-friendly programs to improve communication and ease struggles.
Adults with ADHD also benefit from mindfulness and meditation that is designed specifically for those with these challenges. Mindfulness in motion may be more acceptable for adults with ADHD than the idea of seated meditation. Simple deep breathing time-outs over the course of the day can also help to reduce your arousal level and restore calm feelings.
Create an ADHD-friendly environment
It’s also important to learn collaborative problem-solving strategies, so that you can come up with workable, agreed-upon ways to handle common problems. ADHD-friendly solutions often involve creating daily habits and routines with lots of context cues as reminders. Dr. Nadeau points to the example of assigning chores that occur daily, rather than infrequent chores that are likely harder to remember.
Stick with Your Goals
Dr. Nadeau emphasized that making major lifestyle changes is not easy or quick. However, with time, persistence, support, and professional help, as needed, the changes will come.
Summarizing her approach, Dr. Nadeau offered guidelines for those challenged by adult ADHD.
- Take charge. Don’t rely solely on medication, or on advice from others. Create a healthy lifestyle and educate yourself about how to meet ADHD-related challenges.
- Take responsibility. Acknowledge your challenges and work to problem solve.
- Take heart. There are many individuals with ADHD leading successful, satisfying lives. Your goal is to become one of them!
- Laugh and forgive yourself. Your goal is not perfection. Your goal is to focus well on what matters most to you and manage the rest.