#1 BRAIN EXPERT: Signs of ADHD You Didn't Realise (And What to Try Before Medication)

How do I know the difference between. whether I have ADHD or I'm just. distracted because we're living in an. overwhelming time? Short attention span, distractibility, disorganization, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. They. can't sit still. Psychiatrist and clinical neuroscientist. Dr. Daniel Amen says renowned. psychiatrist says that feeling better. starts with understanding your brain. 90% of mothers work outside the house. when they have untreated.

ADD, they often look depressed and they. get on something like Lexapro, which. actually makes them more ADD, happier, but more distracted, happier, less. focused, happier, more impulsive. You eliminate gluten, dairy, corn, soy, artificial dyes, and sweeteners. 70% of. the kids lost their ADD. No way. Someone sitting here thinking, "Well, I'm not going to achieve anything with.

my life because I've got ADHD." What. would you say to them? The number one health and wellness. podcast. Jay Shetty. Jay Shetty. The. one, the only, Jay Shetty. I want to start pretty direct. Why does. it seem like everyone today has ADHD? A. lot of people do, but our society. is dramatically. elevating it. When you think of the.

gadgets that steal our attention, the. ultra-processed foods that our brain. really doesn't like, the chronic stress, it's like, "What's the simple answer?". And the simple answer is, "Let me. medicate you." And. feel focused. better, but not for long. And so, as our. society has taken more medication, we.

have not gotten healthier. So, I think. for people who really have ADD or ADHD, and I use those terms interchangeably. because the way we diagnose people, it. used to be ADD and by a vote of people. they changed it to ADHD, which I think. was actually a big mistake. It's always. been there, right? You can actually look. in the Old Testament and you go, these. people had ADD. The real ADD is genetic.

You get it from your mom or dad. You can. see it in your people. You can see it in. your ancestors. And left untreated, they're very serious problems. So, if I. think somebody really has ADD and that. medicine would help them, they always. go, "What are the side effects?" Always. tell them, "Your appetite will be less. Take too late in the day, you may have. trouble sleeping. Um sometimes people get headaches or.

tummy aches. Those almost always go. away. If you're prone to tics, you may. have more tics." But, I want them to ask the other question, is what are the side effects. of not taking appropriate treatment for. ADD? And it's things like school failure. and drug abuse and incarceration, divorce, bankruptcy. I'm so happy we're talking about it. because this is a really serious issue.

Because if you go to places like prison, there's a high percentage of people who. have untreated. ADD that did not have proper focus or. impulse control. So, would you say that. is ADHD being over diagnosed? I think. it's over diagnosed and under diagnosed. Over. overall because people see this as the. simple answer. Under-diagnosed.

especially in people who are not. hyperactive. or females. Because we still have gender. bias in this country. If you have a. little boy and he's not doing well in. school, you get really worried cuz you. realize he's going to take care of a. family someday. For a girl, if she's not. doing as well, well you think maybe. she's not that smart and you hope she. marries somebody nice. Which is. completely irrational.

given that we now have three generations. of women who are in the workforce here. in California. 90% of mothers work. outside the house. And when they have. untreated. ADD, they often look depressed. And they get. on something like Lexapro on an SSRI, which actually makes them more ADD, but. now they don't care that they're more.

ADD. Because serotonin, we'll talk about. it, they counterbalance each other. So. serotonin is the neurotransmitter. happiness, of flexibility. Dopamine more than neurotransmitter. focus, motivation. Let's follow through and get this done. And when one goes up, so serotonin goes. up, someone puts you on an SSRI, dopamine goes down. And so happier,

but more distracted. Happier, less. focused. Happier, more impulsive. Yeah, and I think that's what so many people. are feeling today where they naturally. feel a sense of brain fog. They're. overwhelmed with information. I was. reading somewhere that we now consume 72. GB of information per day, which someone. had translated to reading 100,000 words. every single day, which when you think.

about that, that is so overwhelming. So, how do I. know the difference between whether I. have ADHD or I'm just distracted because. we're living in an overwhelming time? So, you look for patterns of behavior. over time. So, the hallmark features of. ADD or ADHD, the first one is short. attention span. It's really hard to. focus,

but not for everything. And this is what. fools people. It's short attention span. for regular routine everyday things, schoolwork, homework, paperwork, chores, the things that make life work. And if. you have a half an hour of homework, parents will often say it takes him or. her two hours to do, and I have to. structure their time. That's very. common. But, for things that are new,

novel, highly stimulating, or frightening, people with. ADD can pay attention just fine because. they have their own intrinsic dopamine. And what I find is love is a drug. Love. is dopamine. So, say you're getting all C's and D's. except one A, and the A, whether it's in. history or whatever, it's because you. love the teacher or you love the.

subject. But, it's not this one thing we. should be looking at, it's the pattern. of your attention span over time. The. second is they're easily distracted. And. what that means is they see too much. They hear too much. They taste too much. They smell too much. So, they're. constantly. distracted by. the world coming at them. The brain is. really good at suppressing unnecessary.

noises or unnecessary thoughts. But, when your prefrontal cortex will talk. about that. The front part of your. brain, the front third of your brain, largest in humans and any other animal. by far. When it's sleepy, it can't sort. of suppress the noise. I grew up three. houses from the freeway in Southern. California. Had lots of noise, but I.

never heard it. Because my brain went, "Oh, you don't. need to listen to that." So, it would. suppress it. So, someone who has ADHD can't suppress. it. Interesting. And so, the world comes. at them too much. And you you see it. with the clothes they wear. They hate. seams, and they hate tags, because their. body feels it. So, I've been married. twice. Both of my wives have ADD of one.

form or another. And the first time when. I got married, I went It's like right. after I got married, I went to my closet. to get a shirt, and I noticed the tag. tag was cut out of my shirt. And I'm like, "That's weird." And then I. looked at all of my shirts, and all of. the tags were out. And I felt violated. And I went into the living room with the. shirt, and I'm like, "Why's my shirt missing the tag?" She. goes, "Oh, don't you hate tags? Like, I. hate tags. I thought you really liked.

that I cut them all out for you." And. I'm like, "I've never felt a tag in my. life. Please don't damage my clothing. That's Yeah, that's fascinating to me. So, because I can relate to what you. said, I'm. very unaffected by outside noise. And. definitely my brain creates the same. boundary that you said yours does, where. I could be in a really noisy. environment, but I can go totally. internal if I'm focused on something.

Now, does that mean that we're born with. ADHD, or can we train attention? Well, we can train attention, but ADHD I'm. talking about is what you're born with. What you see it in your mom, you see it. in your dad. I have I told you my first. wife had ADD, which means. three of my children have it. So, I know. more about this than I want to. And if.

you think of distractibility, what does an orgasm require? Focus. You have to pay attention to the. feeling long enough. in order to have an orgasm. And so, if. that becomes really hard, well, that's a. problem for both the person and their. partner because their partner will like. go, "She doesn't love me." Or, "I'm not. enough." When it has nothing to do with.

that, it's just they're easily. distracted. People with. the real ADD, they need white noise at. night. And I'm like, "It's the middle of. winter. It's Washington, D.C. The fan is. on.". Like, "Why is the fan on?" It's like, "Oh, I need the noise, or I won't be. able to sleep cuz I hear everything. that's in the house." So, short. attention span not for everything, easily distracted, disorganized. So,

it's hard for them. It's not natural for. them. If you look at their rooms, their. desks, their book bags, their filing. cabinets, and time. They're often late. And I like. to be early. I'm like if I have if I. have a flight, I'm there two hours early. because my brain thinks of all the. things that could go wrong on the way to. the airport, and the flight's important. to me. People with ADD it's last minute, last minute. And I used to fight. I'm.

like, "No, we need to go." And and then. I just started lying. It's like. the flight is at noon. Uh when really it. was at 1:00, and because her. organization wasn't such, she didn't. really catch on to the How much of that. is training? Like I feel like I grew up. with a mom who is very meticulous with. time. So, my mom trained me to always. believe that if you're not early, you're. late. And so, I also live in a world.

that you do, which is I'm always at the. airport early. I'm always making sure of. anything that could go wrong. Security. could take a bit longer. There's so many. other things. That to me, I've always felt came. because I had a mom who is super. organized, and I've inherited that by. watching her. Even now, like my mom. trained me how to make sure we locked. all the doors at night, and you know, we. didn't grow up in a really safe area. So, there was this very hyper attention. to make sure. So, I'm very good at that,

and I could have been because her brain. Yeah. was busy in the front, and she. also gave that to you. Yeah. Right? So, some of it is training, but. if she had ADD, she wouldn't give. Right. that to you, and you would often be. chronically stressed because she. wouldn't get you to school on time, or. she wouldn't be there on time to pick. you up. Or it's really important you. have a soccer.

practice and you're late. The the level. of stress in ADD ADHD families is very. high because of the distractibility, the. disorganization, and the fourth one is procrastination. They don't do things until someone's mad. at them to get it done. They need stress. in order to get stuff done. And that. just makes everybody around them.

stressed. And it makes them stressed. because, you know, they're often late. because they actually don't start. getting ready until it's like, "Oh my. god, I'm late." And then they always. show up like either right on time. flustered or 10 minutes late always. apologizing. And that's different from. people who perform well under stress. This is someone who needs stress in. order to perform. in order to perform, yeah. Right. If. your child's struggling in school, make. sure they're not taking their iPad to.

bed. So often it's because kids are. sleep deprived, they look like they have. ADD because parents are really not. properly supervising. the kids. You eliminate gluten, dairy, corn, soy, artificial dyes, and. sweeteners. 70% of the kids lost their ADD. No way. So, the first thing is not. Let me give you this drug. In my mind, the first thing is do a. digital detox.

and do an elimination diet. And do it. for a month. Food is so important. If. they really. have ADD or ADHD, they're going to have. it 3 months from now or 4 months from. now. Let's do this. and see because I think if someone. really has ADD, Withholding medicine is. like withholding glasses from someone. who can't see. And that's neglect. When.

I first started imaging, it was on an. ADD woman. So, I went into a lecture on. brain SPECT imaging in my hospital in. April 1991, and I walked out and I had a. new patient. Her name was Sandy and she. was 44 and she was beautiful and. underemployed. She had an IQ of 144 and. she was a lab tech and she was in the. hospital because she had a suicide. attempt the night before in an impulsive. act when she and her husband had a.

fight. And I'm like, ADD ADD ADD. She. had an 8-year-old son that had ADD and. I'm like, "I think you have ADD." And. she's like, "Oh, adults can't have it.". Thinking to myself but not saying it cuz. I don't have ADD. It's like, I'm the. doctor. Adults totally can have ADD. And I said, "Can I scan you?" Cuz I've. just learned about this new technology. and I scanned her twice, once at rest, once when she did a concentration task.

And when she tried to concentrate, the. front part of her brain shut down rather. than what it should have done was turn. on. And I put the This is why I love. imaging. I put the scans on her hospital. table. And I was explaining to them and she. started to cry. And she said, "You mean. it's not my fault?". And that's the moment I got hooked on. imaging cuz I already knew the. diagnosis. She It immediately evaporated.

shame. And then, she's like, "All right, let's talk about adult ADD." And she had. all of the things including the impulse. control issues. But because she was so. bright, she didn't bring enough. negative attention to herself and never. gotten the help. And after I treated. her, she finished college, she stopped. picking on her husband because another. trait that a lot of people don't.

understand is they become negative. seeking, conflict seeking, and excitement. seeking. And those are all dopamine. driven behaviors. So, if you have a low. level of dopamine, well, if you pick a. fight with someone, now all of a sudden. you there's some excitement going on. If. you jump out of an airplane, that has a. whole bunch of dopamine associated with. it. But and I experienced this, it was. that poking. It's like we're going on.

vacation, why are we having a problem? And. activating their frontal lobes, they're. less negative. And I'm just publishing a. study on negativity bias. I'm very. interested in Are you positive or you. negative? Now, unbridled positive. thinking is a disaster, you die early. But negative thinking, you actually have. low function in your frontal lobes. And. many of the ADD people I see tend to see.

the glass as half empty. And that wears. on them. So, if we highlight the short. attention span, not for everything, disorganization, procrastination, impulse control. It's like the break in. their brain is vulnerable. And they say things often. that you shouldn't say. It's like the.

inside voice gets out. They do things. that it's like, "Wish I hadn't done that." So, they. actually live with a lot of regret. And. your prefrontal cortex is called the. executive part of the brain because it's. like the boss at work. It's involved in. focus, forethought, judgment, impulse. control, organization, planning, empathy, learning from the mistakes you.

make. And when it's sleeping, you have all those problems which just. describes. ADD. And. um strengthening that. is critical to your humanity. Did you know that sociopaths have 10%. less volume. in their prefrontal cortex? So, they're. a little less human, if you will.

Even 10% has that impact? 10% It's huge. And this is why you. should never let a child hit a soccer. ball with their forehead. It's just so. stupid. And like I'm not a huge fan of. allowing kids to play tackle football. because it's more likely to damage the. part of them. that. is the boss. And. people who have ADD are often executives.

of their own companies because they. don't work well often with other people. And so, they're entrepreneurial. And. some wildly famous people have said they. had ADD. Like the person who started. JetBlue. He was public with that. It can. look false. It can be masquerade you. have ADD because your parents gave you. an iPhone when you were a year old. And.

I think we're wisening up that's not a. good thing to do, but still. children should not have smartphones. until they're 15, 16. Social media, Australia banned social media under 16. I think that's so. Brilliant, yeah. great, right? Taking. the neuroscience and making it public. policy. California, you can't start. school in the morning before 8:00. Taking the what we know with. neuroscience, kids who get just an hour.

less sleep have a higher incidence of. depression and suicide. So, all right, cut out the zero periods. I love that. Neuroscience and then public policy. Do. we know what causes ADHD? It's genetic. People are not producing. enough dopamine and the medicines we. use, like Ritalin or Adderall, they. increase the availability. of dopamine. Now, the problem is is if.

you don't really have it, what you have. is societally induced ADHD, the medicine. will disrupt you and make you worse. And. early on, I realized when I scan people, cuz I've scanned. 30 or 40,000 people who have ADD of one. type or another, it's not one thing. Early on, I'm like, "Oh, it's seven different things." And so, my. book Healing ADD, I talk about seeing.

heal the seven types. And so, can I talk about the type? That was just. about to That was my next question. You. were You were already You were already. one step ahead of me. So, let me ask let. me ask you. type one is the classic. It's what most. people think of ADHD. Short attention. span, distractibility, disorganization, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. They. can't sit still. And. one of my kids, when. she was born, we thought she was going. to be a boy because in her mother's. womb, she was so active. And the law is.

the more active a baby is inside their. mother, the more likely they are to be a. boy. She wasn't. When I held her older. sister, we could watch movies. She'd sit. on my lap. She was just calm. Her. sister, when you tried to hold her, was. like trying to hold a live salmon. She. was so wiggly. And then I take her to. the mall, she would have been one of. those children on the little yellow. leashes, the Big Bird leashes in the. mall. But I wrote a column in the local.

newspaper, so when I went to the mall, people recognized me. It's like, "Oh, Dr. Amen, I loved your column. Why is. your child on a leash?" So what I used. to do with Kaelen is put her in her. stroller and tie her shoes together so. she couldn't get out. Cuz she's like, "Where are you going?" And I remember. just holding her hand. I'd take my. little pinky and wrap it around her. wrist. Because and I had spiritual. problems because of this child. We would. go to church and I don't know why. Catholics take children into church.

rather than, you know, send them to. children's church. But anyways, she was. so active and blurting out. And I'm like. the only child psychiatrist in the. county. And if my child is the worst. one, that's bad for business. So I used. to take her out and threaten her life. and now I'm worried about her eternal. soul. And I adore her and she's 37 now.

And Haven. is just like her, which is, you know, my 6-year-old granddaughter, is just like her. It's genetic. And when we first got her. diagnosed, the doctor who was really. great looked at me. and then. looked at her mother and goes, "So who. has this? Cuz it's genetic." And I'm. like, "It's not me. I do everything. early.". Now I've written 42 books. Every one of. them's been handed in early. And her mom.

goes, "It's not me." But then I was so. grateful cuz it took her like 12 years. to get through college, and she just she. asked her this one question. This is a. great adult ADD question. Cuz she was still in college at the. time. She goes, "How do you study?" She. goes, "Oh, I can never study at home. I. get so distracted. I go inside my little. car underneath a street lamp. No kids, no noise, nothing. There I can study.". And the doctor goes, "You have ADD.". It was very helpful for me and for her.

That's type one. That's type one. Classic. Type two. is inattentive ADD. Short attention span, distractibility, disorganized, procrastinate, but they're. not impulsive. And more common in girls. They're not. hyperactive. In fact, they can be a. little bit hypo- active. And those first. two types were described in the DSM when.

they first created this diagnostic. category in 1980. I described the next five types. The third one is overfocused ADD, where. the problem is not so much you can't. concentrate. It's you can't shift your attention. Mhm. That you get stuck. And if you. can't shift your attention, you cannot. pay attention. But it's a different mechanism. And I. found this to be a particularly true in.

children and grandchildren of. alcoholics. And they tend to be. argumentative, oppositional, worry. If things don't go their way, they get upset. And on the surface, they. appear selfish. They're really not. selfish. They're just not flexible. And. stimulants. tend to make them more worried and more. upset. Type four is called limbic ADD. It's.

where their emotional brain is too busy. And it's sort of like ADD plus. mild depression. And the glass is always. half empty for them. Type five, which I think is such an. interesting one, is temporal lobe ADD. They have problems in one or both of. their temporal lobes. Often goes with. learning problems, but mood instability, irritability, temper. problems. One of my first great cases. was Chris. He's his third psychiatric.

hospitalization. This time he took a. pencil and put it in the neck of one of. his classmates. Stimulants made him hallucinate. Uh all. the other medicines, and I'm like, "I'm. scanning you." And he had left temporal. lobe problems. This goes with violence. I put him on an anti-convulsant, anti-seizure medicine. Became the. sweetest kid. And then he still had. trouble concentrating. So then, after I. got the temporal lobe right, I gave him.

a stimulant. Masterful. I mean, this kid. just did phenomenally. well. And then the ring of fire, that's one I. may be most known for. The problem is. not low activity, it's too much. activity. Please don't give them a. stimulant because they can become. violent, aggressive. I actually use a supplement to calm. things down in their brain, very. effective. And then the last one's. anxious ADD, where. they're really anxious. And so they tend.

to be early to things, but disorganized, distracted, so on. So knowing the type, and that's why Ritalin has a bad. reputation. For the right brain, it's. miraculous. For the wrong brain, it's a nightmare. A. lot of people who have ADHD say they. feel emotions much more strongly and. deeply. Can they start to regulate their. emotions? Is there a way to do that? Or. is that medication? Well, and sometimes with the medicine.

they don't like it because it feels like. it suppresses their emotions. Interesting. And my daughter Caitlyn, when I put her. on Ritalin cuz she was hyperactive. And. then she was. dramatically less hyperactive. But I. found I had to titrate the dose down. because I could see it putting a lid on. her personality, which is not what you. want to do. And so often you want to. work with someone who's really. knowledgeable to titrate the dose up and.

down. effectively. If you're a baseball player, so just. thinking of athletes, the medicine gives you a better batting. average. If you're a linebacker in football, you. might be a little bit less aggressive. Because you're more thoughtful. Right. Right. So if you want to play with. abandon, you probably don't want a. stimulant on board. But I find for some. of my professional athletes, they're.

just much more focused and less likely. to get technical fouls and. like I see it and you're watching, you. know, someone have a meltdown on the. court, I'm like, I wonder what's going. on in that person's brain. Right? Rather. than just judge them as bad. I haven't. scanned Draymond Green, but I want to. I. saw a study that found that children. with untreated ADHD are nearly twice as. likely to develop an alcohol use.

disorder or other substance abuse. problem. Why is that? Because of the. lack of impulse control. And they don't. like how they feel. Right? If you've. been told every day to settle down, or. you brought negative attention to. yourself, over time it activates. your emotional brain. And you want to. settle it down, and you don't have good. forethought or good impulse control, and.

you're more likely to drink. And it's. just so prevalent. Plus with society. during the Superbowl, there were 30 beer. commercials. And the rest of them were. Jack in the Box, right? So it's like we. we're just being flooded with these. awful messages that take people have. ADD, make them more ADD, and then they. engage in habits that aren't helpful. Do you think there should be a ban on. alcohol advertisements as much as there. is obviously on smoking like Yeah, it's.

not a health food. I mean, the American. Cancer Society came out 3 years ago. and said, "You shouldn't drink because. it increases your risk of seven. different types of cancer.". The Surgeon General last year said we. should put alcohol cancer warning label. signs on alcohol. I think when you just. look at our society from the digital. addictions and social media and. technology to the bad food, the.

ultra-processed food that so many people. that's 80 or 90% of their diet to. marijuana's innocuous, which is a. complete lie. Alcohol's a health food, no. And now the big new thing is. psilocybin. It's great medicine. It's an. antidepressant. It'll treat your PTSD. And it's increased. psychosis to emergency rooms 300%.

It is not innocuous. Now, might it. become a a good treatment? I don't know, but I feel like I've seen this party. before, right? One of the big benefits. of being 70 is you've seen lots of. things. The early '80s, benzos are. innocuous, they're mommy little helper. We know benzos are highly addictive and. increase the risk of dementia. The early. '90s, alcohol's good for your heart, you. should drink. It's a lie, you shouldn't.

drink. It increases your risk of. stupidity and cancer, right? And if. you're ADD and you have sleepy frontal. lobes, now you drink, you have sleepier. frontal lobes. Still not a good thing. And then pain is the fifth vital sign, right? Purdue Pharmaceuticals came out with. let's let's get more people to take. opioids and came out with these. campaigns and spent billions of dollars. on marketing and.

was a disaster. And then the whole. marijuana's innocuous during not this. presidential campaign, the last one. Joe Biden was debating and they asked. him, should the federal government. legalize marijuana? And he said, no, I. don't think there's enough research. And. Cory Booker, the senator from New. Jersey, shames him on national television and he. said, man, are you high? Like.

the science is settled. Well, as more places legalize it, the. science is getting settled. It's bad for. us, right? If you use as a teenager, it. increases. anxiety, depression, psychosis, and. suicide in your 20s. I published a study. on a thousand marijuana users. Every area of the brain is lower in. blood flow. And I got so much grief for it. And two.

months ago in JAMA Psychiatry, on a thousand marijuana users, the. memory and learning centers are lower in. blood flow and activity. This is not. innocuous. It's all these lies that then increase. the expression. of ADD. And so, you know, how do you know? You. look at someone's history over time, right? All of us have ADD moments, but. that's not ADD.

Having ADD is these hallmark symptoms. have followed you most of your life. So, for parents who are listening right. now and they're starting to see a young. child maybe have one of the types or. some of the symptoms, what would you. encourage them to do? You know, I have a free online test. called addtypetest.com. They could take that. For people, if. you've been struggling and it's like you. really believe it's not just.

environmental, right? I mean, the first. thing, if your child's struggling in. school, make sure they're not taking. their iPad to bed. So often, it's. because kids are sleep deprived, they. look like they have ADD because parents. are really not properly supervising the. kids. Do a digital detox. And then, I. have to say this cuz there's this great. study published in The Lancet, replicated, that when you put kids on an. elimination diet. So, what does that.

mean? You eliminate gluten, dairy, corn, soy, artificial dyes, and sweeteners. 70% of the kids lost their ADD. No way. So, the first thing is not. let me give you this drug. In my mind, the first thing is do a digital detox. and do an elimination diet. And do it. for a month. And it's like, "Oh, I can't. do that." It's like, "It's not that. hard. My wife, Tana, wrote a cookbook,

Healing ADD at Home Through Food or The. Brain Warrior's Way. That's her big. cookbook. It's been reprinted like 53. times. I'm so proud of her. And find. foods the kids love that love them back. Food is so important. Do that first. And. I always tell them, like, look, if they. really. have ADD or ADHD, they're going to have. it 3 months from now or 4 months from. now. Let's do this.

and see. I have an online course called. Healing ADD at Home in 30 days. And it's. basically, before you give the medicine, do these things first. And it's so. helpful. Why does changing our diet. affect ADHD? Why does removing gluten, removing processed foods, etc. Why does. that impact it? Your brain is 2% about. your body's weight. It uses 20 to 30% of.

the calories you consume. And so, if you. have a fast-food diet, you're likely to. have a fast-food mind. And both gluten. and dairy, when they go to your stomach, when it. mixes with stomach acid, it turns into. something called gluteomorphins, which work on the heroin centers, or the. opiate centers of your brain. And it.

just sort of spaces you out. For milk, it's caseomorphins. And it's why we love pizza. If you think. of gluten and dairy, right? Pizza. Um. but it's also why you feel spacey. afterwards. And too often, what do we. feed kids? Like, when I was growing up, it was Frosted Flakes or Pop-Tarts or a. muffin or donuts. And if you get a sugar.

burst, well, a half an hour later your. brain is walking in mud. And yet that's what we feed children in. the morning. ADD kids who have protein in the. morning, their medicine works longer throughout. the day. And so in the '50s, you know, we grew up with bacon and eggs and much. better than the processed cereals. I. love your thoughts on how to do it.

before we get to. medicine. Like before we get to. medication, looking at technology, looking at our diet, and and that way you could potentially. save yourself from having to go down the. medicine route. Right. And then parents. who are generally resistant to the idea. of medicine, and perhaps more so than they should be, because I think if someone really has. ADD, withholding medicine is like.

withholding glasses from someone who. can't see. And that's neglect. And we're we're in. this society, right? The more educated. you are, it's like, "Oh no, I'd never. give my child medicine." And then all of. a sudden you see they're failing in. school. And if you struggle in school, you begin to hang out with the other. kids who are struggling, which may not. be ultimately in their best interest. If.

you haven't been diagnosed by the time. you're 10, odds are your self-esteem has been. negatively impacted because people have. said repeatedly to you, "You're smarter than this. You could do. better than this. Try harder. But what I. showed on the scans when they try to. concentrate, their brain drops in. activity. In fact, the harder they try, the worse it gets. Why is that? Because.

their brain is turning off when it. should be. The frontal lobe you're saying. frontal lobe. If you don't have enough. dopamine to keep your frontal lobe. engaged, it sort of withers. with effort. And what does that teach. you? To give up. It's this idea of learned. helplessness. There's a psychologist. who's really famous, Marty Seligman. You. probably know of him because he's famous. for positive psychology. He helped start.

that movement. But he was way famous before then. because he coined this term learned. helplessness. And with depression, it's. like you try and it doesn't work. You. try and it doesn't work. You try and it. doesn't work. And then you say to hell. with it and you stop trying. And that happens with so many. people who have ADD. In fact, when I. diagnose and treat an adult woman, a common scenario, she brings her hyperactive son to me.

And I'm like, where did this come from? And see it comes from the mom. And then I treat her. She gets dramatically better. And then she gets depressed because she. starts thinking about what would my life. have been like. if someone would have noticed this, if I. would have been treated. Now, that's you. don't give her an antidepressant for. that. You like do grief work with her.

and like, okay, but now you know, so. your son doesn't have to go through this. and. you don't want to argue with the past. You want to look forward. Have you seen. people break the cycle as we're talking. about it's genetically passed down? If. you saw it in your parents, have you. seen that be possible? Is it possible to. break the cycle completely so that you. don't pass it on? You know, I I think. so, but we're starting at such a. disadvantage. And, you know, as I think because, you.

know my real passion in life is to. create a brain health revolution. And where would that start? It has to. start with kids before they have babies. Because when that mother was born, she was born with all of the eggs in her. ovaries she will ever have. And so, if. we're going to help her children be. healthier, we have to get to her when.

she's a child and help her make really. good decisions. when she's a teenager. And too often. parents go, "Oh, I don't have control.". And they abdecate their parental role. over teenagers on who they hang out with. and what they eat and, you know, we're. not drinking together and we're not. smoking pot together. And, you know, like all the insanity that's going on in. our society today. I think we have to.

get to their ovaries early because if. you're born with all of the eggs you'll. ever have, whatever you do in life turns. on or off certain genes making illness. more or less likely in you, yes, but. also your babies and grand babies. So, that's how we decrease the incidence is. we get mom and dad, cuz his sperm really.

matters, to be as healthy as possible. If you love this episode, you'll enjoy. my interview with Dr. Daniel Amen on how. to change your life by changing your. brain. If we want a healthy mind, it. actually starts with a healthy brain. You know, I've had the blessing or the. curse to scan over a thousand convicted. felons and over a hundred murderers, and.

their brains are very damaged.