ADHD and Mindfulness Meditation at Work
An estimated 8 million to 9 million American adults have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). And many of those millions are struggling to contain their condition at work.
One national survey showed that only half of adults with ADHD were able to hold down a full-time job, compared to 72 percent of adults without the disorder. When they are employed, those with ADHD tend to earn less than their peers. That translates into nearly $77 billion in lost income each year, according to WebMD.
How Does Meditation Help ADHD?
Insight mindfulness meditation, also called Vipassana, teaches us how to live in the moment with more focus and less distraction. In addition, through meditation clients learn:
- To step back and observe thoughts and feelings instead of ruminating and judging them.
- To manage stress because there is less emotional reactivity. Instead of reacting, people learn to pause and respond.
- To accept and be compassionate about their ADHD symptoms, and therefore become more loving toward themselves.
Calm and Focused
Through meditation and an understanding of how meditation calms their brains, your employees learn to slow down their thinking, to become more organized, and to focus more clearly. During meditation they learn to train their minds to simply notice thoughts, making no judgments, and then letting them drift away as they return to our breath. This process does not happen overnight, but with practice, is achieved over time.
The effects of meditation are the base from which people learn to change their patterns of behavior. Through practice, those with ADHD learn to bring the core of mindfulness – present-moment awareness – into every facet of their lives.
Lidia Zylowska, M.D., who specializes in mindfulness-based approaches to mental health and adult ADHD, agrees with our approach. She says: “Mindfulness is a state of mind that can strengthen by specific meditation practice; however, not all meditation training is mindfulness. The meditation training used to develop mindfulness skills is often called open awareness meditation or, in the Buddhist context, Vipassana meditation.”
How We Can Help
We supply the ongoing support needed to calm the mind and offer ways to implement structure and routine into people’s lives. Through mindfulness your employees will learn how:
- To develop better awareness of attention.
- To be less distracted.
- To take a breath, step back, and observe their thoughts and feelings.
- To respond to situations rather than react, thereby managing the stress that controls their lives.
- To accept their ADHD symptoms and change their behavior patterns.