NO.01Why is ADHD difficult to start?
For ADHDs, their difficulty in starting is due to lack of motivation.
Motivation is closely related to dopamine secretion in our brains.
It was mentioned in the journal Nature published in 2020: After the release of dopamine in the brain, the activity time will be extended, indicating that the response time to the reward will be longer.
1. Insufficient dopamine secretion in the brain
In the book "The Seven Habits of the Superbrain", it is mentioned that "when human experience is successful, the brain is stimulated by the A10 nerve, and the brain secretes "dopamine". ”
Dopamine is a nerve transmitter in the brain, which transmits the message of "happiness", prompting the brain to want to repeat this behavior that can secrete dopamine, so that the circuit of this behavior is exercised, thereby stimulating the synaptic growth of neurons, so that the brain grows and develops.
The main source of dopamine in the midbrain region is the ventral tegmental area, which subsequently enters the nucleus accumbens (reward center) as a cue or expected response to a reward for further punitive action.
Excitatory signals "do it" can activate behaviors and activities. Inhibition signals, such as "stop," come from the prefrontal cortex and are usually determined after the information has been processed. The balance of activation and suppression signals is used to determine what a person should do next.
The higher the dopamine content in the reward center, the more motivated a person is.
One of the main causes of ADHD symptoms is a problem with reward-related brain chemistry that leads to low dopamine levels, leaving them uninterested in the task at hand.
2. Deficiencies in executive function
Deficiencies in executive function are also a major reason for the difficulty of starting ADHD.
Normal executive function can help us distinguish the order and priority of things, so that we can complete tasks in an orderly manner.
For people with executive disabilities, organizing and scheduling tasks can be difficult, as we said in the opening video: what was originally a small task becomes a very demanding task in their brain.
An ADHD's ability to transition from one task to the next is about 30-40% worse than that of its peers.
This deficit in executive function can make people with ADHD overwhelmed by tasks and do not know how to plan their next steps, and over time, they will become afraid of many things.
NO.02What can be improved?
Although difficulty in starting can lead to procrastination situations, it does not mean that they will continue to procrastinate, and there are ways parents can help their children improve this problem.
01Boost brain dopamine
Neuroscientist Judy Willis once said that the brain is plastic.
We can train the brain to secrete more dopamine through rewarding experiences to generate motivation, create an environment in which to obtain dopamine, and then set a series of increasing goals.
Ordinary reward methods take time, there are many uncertain factors, and if other things are encountered, the brain's motivational system is cut off, forming a perfect closed loop.
To this end, we can start from the brain aspect, using EEG training to strengthen the neural connections of the brain and improve dopamine.
When the child performs a task, EEG training can monitor the child's brain use in real time, and will give timely rewards for good behavior, encouraging the child to concentrate and continue to complete; For the child's distraction and other bad performance, a certain punishment will be given, so that the child can realize his own shortcomings and refocus his attention to the task.
According to their own situation, through multi-point training, each child can exercise the frontal lobe of the brain more effectively, increase the neuronal network, develop efficient brain habits, and improve attention and learning motivation.
02Schedule and set time limits:
When the task is disassembled into small tasks, we need to set a deadline for the task, there is no time limit, the complexity and timeliness of this big goal will be lengthened, short small goals are easier to create success, there is no oppression of large tasks, the completion of small goals will make it easier for children to maintain motivation.
When the child completes the short-term task, we can set some small rewards for the child accordingly, which can also help the child overcome negative emotions and increase the child's expected motivation.
03Give a valid command:
Children with ADHD have their own attention problems and feel evasive from abstract, complex, and complex tasks that are difficult to understand.
Therefore, it is best to give children simple and specific instructions, reduce the communication time with children, and let children operate the task faster.
We can just let them do one thing at a time instead of saying, "You go XX first, then XXXX, and finally XX." ”
A series of instructions will not only be impossible to remember, but also make the child's head become confused, and even improve the difficulty of the task, and the child is prone to fear of difficulties.
The best thing to do is that we give one instruction at a time, and when the child is done, we start the next instruction.
04 Tips for "visualizing" the progress of the task:
For macro-ambiguous tasks, what annoys ADHD is the time it takes them to complete this task, because the blurred sense of time, simple small tasks of a few minutes, can also make them feel difficult.
So we need to customize a special to-do list for them and stick it within the eye sight.
The task list can set the child's task progress bar, completed check box, etc., so that the child has a sense of satisfaction after completing the task, and will not be afraid of the new task to face next.
"Seeing" the process reduces frustration knowing that you're not doing nothing, and you don't bother with "how much I've done."
At the same time, you can also use tools such as hourglasses and alarm clocks to let children establish a clear sense of time is also a good choice.