NeuroPlus Review

A while ago Dean was reading an article about NeuroPlus, an affordable "homeowner" neurofeedback program, used for ADHD among other things. We have had an interest in neurofeedback as it is also used by therapists when a child or adult is dealing with trauma, however the cost has always been a drawback.

We contacted the NeuroPlus company and they agreed to give us special pricing in return for a review on my blog.

One of the things about the NeuroPlus that appealed to us was the fact that nothing is subconsciously or otherwise entering the brain, as can be the case with some forms of brain therapy. The NeuroPlus measures/senses your body movement and muscle tension which directly impacts how well you can perform the game. When you are relaxed and focused the game proceeds effortlessly but when you become tense or distracted, you lose points. The program is all about teaching your brain how to focus.

When we received the NeuroPlus, there was only one game available and our then 12 year old son grew a bit bored. However at least one new game has come out since we have it.

The NeuroPlus is an asset in training your brain to stay on task. It is not a quick fix, it is estimated that you will have to practice for 30 minutes for at least four weeks before you notice a significant improvement. I think this program has the potential to help many people.

Book Review: Addicted Kids; Our Lost Generation: An Integrated Approach To Understanding And Treating Addictions In Teens

Several weeks ago I was browsing through the books at our local library and came across the book, Addicted Kids; Our Lost Generation: An Integrated Approach To Understanding And Treating Addictions In Teens.
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You can buy the book here.

  Since I am among the population addicted to an antidepressant, the book title grabbed my attention. Of course, I am no longer a teen but I do have children who will be teens in the not so distant future. Now that I am aware how dangerous drugs, whether legal or otherwise can be, I feel I would do well to be at least a little informed. I am also constantly looking for ways to help with weaning off the SSRI that was helpful at one point in my life but is now making my life miserable! I checked out the book and was pleased to see it was written in language I could understand.

 Here are some of the bits of information I found intriguing. I encourage you to get the book and read it for yourself.

Neurotransmitters are the brain chemicals that communicate information throughout our brain and body.  They relay signals between nerve cells, called “neurons.”  The brain uses neurotransmitters to tell your heart to beat, your lungs to breathe, and your stomach to digest.  They can also affect mood, sleep, concentration, weight, and can cause adverse symptoms when they are out of balance. Neurotransmitter levels can be depleted many ways.  As a matter of fact, it is estimated that 86% of Americans have suboptimal neurotransmitter levels.  Stress, poor diet, neurotoxins, genetic predisposition, drugs (prescription and recreational), alcohol and caffeine usage can cause these levels to be out of optimal range.


The three major categories of substances that act as 

neurotransmitters are (1) amino acids (primarily glutamic 
acid, GABA, aspartic acid & glycine), (2) peptides (vasopressin, somatostatin, neurotensin, etc.) and (3) monoamines (norepinephrine, dopamine & serotonin) plus acetylcholine


The following comments are copied directly from the book. 

The comments in parenthesis are mine

"Although opioids have a high intrinsic activity (the ability of a drug-receptor complex to produce a maximum functional response) they are not what your cells need. So although the GABA receptor will be satisfied by the opioid, the cell really wants GABA."

"Opioids can become so potent they stimulate the receptor to aggressively, when this happens the cell receptor will sometimes mutate or morth into a receptor that "likes" (has a better response to) the opioid better than it's inherent substance, such as GABA. This is an issue with teens who have a long term history of opioid use due to the plasticity of their brain. This is also a problem in babies born to addicted mothers. These (babies) have receptors that were "created" to need a certain drug, and when/if they expose their brain to this drug through recreational use or modern medications, the receptor will "wake up" and crave the drug to which it has been exposed."

"The reason we don't just use GABA is that it is not strong enough to displace the opioid from the receptor. (The drug that is the strongest is the one that clings to the receptor, which in this example is the opioid). In other words, if someone is using morphine or another opioide, the GABA will not be able to displace the opioid, therefore it (the GABA) cannot be used by that cell. If a person is off opioids and in withdrawal it takes tremendous doses of GABA to calm down receptors because it (the receptor) is so used to the highly stimulating effects of the opioid."

"You may take GABA but taking it does not promote the nervous system to  produce it (GABA)."

These comments only give you a brief glimpse into this very informational book.

Note: Opiates are drugs derived from opium. At one time "opioids" referred to syntheticopiates only (drugs created to emulate opium, however different chemically). Now the term Opioid is used for the entire family of opiates including natural, synthetic and semi-synthetic.

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The Silent Epidemic: A Child Psychiatrist's Journey Beyond Death Row - A Book Review

 Awhile ago I promised my Face Book followers that I would write a post on a newly printed book, well, here it is. The book is titled, The Silent Epidemic: A Child Psychiatrist's Journey Beyond Death Row. It is phenomenal! I can't begin to do it justice, you have to read it for yourself. The $44.99 price tag made me pause, did I really want to buy this book, would it be worth spending the money on? It is, if you even suspect your child may be affected by prenatal alcohol, buy the book and read it.



   I am going to share a few of the many statements, facts and figures that stood out to me in this book. Susan gives excellent examples of her findings in her book so if something doesn't make sense, buy the book. 

- Gullibility makes those affected by prenatal exposure easily led and influenced to the point of being duped into such things as "murder for hire" without the cognitive wherewithall to understand the reality of the plan. A false bravado can lead them to perpetrate a crime without fully realizing the consequences of their actions.

- "...Thus the stage is set for individuals undiagnosed with ND-PAE (Neuro developmental affects due to prenatal alcohol exposure)  being misunderstood, unable to be rehabilitated, lacking remorse, having poor judgement and lack of conscience, and needing to be locked up in a cell with the key thrown away..." I believe a paradigm shift in understanding will help stop the march of the penguins off the ice berg into death row.

   - While most epidemics rear their ugly heads with the gore of Leprosy, scourge of the Black Plague, devastation of Tuberculosis or hidden terror of HIV, ND-PAE is neither an obvious nor communicable illness. It is a silent menace in society's underbelly.

- In my experience, many patients with ND-PAE develop into adolescents and adults with increasingly suspicious and paranoid behaviors due to problems with social perception and anxiety.

- Those with an IQ of 70 or lower are more prone to get services.

- The problem is made worse by a plethora of liquor store in low income communities.

-Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder is a misnomer since alcohol impacts the underappreciated embryonic stage, not just the fetal period.

- In the embryonic stage before we even know they exist, our children are laying the groundwork for every organ, system, nerve and process of their future body. The choices we make during those critical stages will determine the fate of how their genetic blueprint plays out.

- Recent research has taught us that developing neurons exposed to alcohol leaves them like a ship in the open ocean, stranded without a compass.

- Alcohol can also affect the myelin sheath around neurons so that neuronal conduction is less efficient and sometimes triggers the firing of neighboring neurons.

- An estimated 1 in 20 American children have ND-PAE

   Besides giving information on how alcohol affects the developing child, Susan Rich also shares on how and why alcohol has such a detrimental affect on society. Some of the information she shares is downright chilling. 

- Ironically, while acting as a libidinal lubricant, alcohol is also a "neuro developmental teratogen"which means it both inhibits our ability to make wise choices and kills the brain cells in early development. 

-As an endocrine disrupter, alcohol effects hormone systems during development and throughout life.

- Alcohol can also increase the propensity for s@xual indiscretions, leaving those affected in this way more prone to get in bad situations. Often these people are unable to reason or think through the ramifications and end up serving time.

A few days ago I wrote a post on The Fatal Link. That book is also a must read. The author explains how and why in this instance, school shootings happen. The book shares some information about how prenatal fetal alcohol affects a growing baby but the book, The Silent Epidemic gives a much more in depth view of what we as a society are up against. This book is amazing!

The Fatal Link - A Must Read For Anyone Who Suspects Their Child May Have FASD

    About 6 years ago, I found a book entitled, Dandelion On My Pillow, Butcher Knife Beneath, by Nancy Thomas, and I suddenly grasped the magnitude of of Reactive Attachment Disorder. We had never heard of RAD before we began searching for an answer to B's problems. In reality we were trying to figure out if something was wrong with B or if we were perhaps mentally unstable. Which, I must add, is a very scary situation to be in! When I discovered Nancy's book, I finally understood, and as I didn't enjoy having people imply that perhaps I was simply being over dramatic, I shared the book. 

   Needless to say we received quite the responses! Anything from, "I don't know what to say," to, "Make sure your children never see that book!" Looking back I can laugh, but at the time it wasn't funny.

   You may wonder why I even shared the book and my answer to that is, in our circle of family, friends and so on, we were among the very first to implement some of the "odd parenting technique's that apply to those parenting a child with RAD." Keeping B with us, not allowing him to interact with people unless we were right beside him to monitor the situation, keeping him back from events that overstimulated him and insisting that no one other than mom or dad feed him, didn't always go over so well and our hope was that this book would allow people to see that we weren't being vindictive by not allowing them to spend time alone with B, we were protecting all parties involved.

  Another response was, "You are taking the worst case scenario's and act as though B will turn out like them." At that time B was a little charmer in public. He was sweet and compliant most times, if he wasn't, he manipulated the situation to make it appear as if mom and dad were being unreasonable. The people looking on had no experience with attachment disorders and couldn't believe a preschooler would have the mental capacity to make mom or dad look bad, besides why would a child do such a thing? The book I am about to share with you may make you think the same thing. But I want you to understand that sometimes when you look ahead and seeing what could happen, you have the incentive to be as pro active as possible now and maybe, just maybe, you will save both  you and your child a lot of heart ache in the future.



      I think I have found the FASD equivalent to Dandelion On My Pillow, Butcher Knife Beneath. It is called The Fatal Link. The author reveals the one link that is present in the shootings that happened over the years in Minnesota schools. Jody Allen Crowe taught at a school where many of the students were from a nearby Reservation, and came to realize that punishment/consequences did no good. "I would punish a student, he would cry and beg forgiveness, promising never to repeat the offense and the next day he would do the very same thing! It was so frustrating!"
      I will admit I had to smile because that sounds so familiar. This teacher began connecting the dots and realized alcohol was the culprit. He shares stories of family members affected by alcohol and says in part, "I want people to realize that FASD affects every walk of people, it is everywhere and I believe it is one of the main reason's our jails and Social Services are so overwhelmed. We have a generation of mothers who are affected and quite likely their children will also be affected. FASD is not hereditary, but the lives many people with this disability lead due to their inability to rise above their circumstances, contribute to generation after generation of people affected with FASD."

    I got the book yesterday and by bed time I was finished. I thought I understood FASD, but this book did an excellent job of explaining the many ways people can be affected as well as giving examples of situations the author faced. Maybe I liked the book so much simply because I know the author felt the same sense of helpless frustration I sometimes feel when Joseph simply cannot grasp what I consider a simple concept. 

    "The only advice I can give is STRUCTURE, STRUCTURE, STRUCTURE," writes the author, Jody Allen Crowe. Of course there are many other things you can do to help those affected with FASD but that isn't what this book was about, rather it was written so parents, doctors, law enforcement and those operating the prison systems would ask, "Why did this person do this," and look at their history, you may find prenatal exposure to alcohol is the common denominator." 

   I urge you to read this book for yourself, it contains a wealth of information and maybe it will help you better understand your impulsive, dramatic, immature child. 

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Q's Race To The Top

Look what came in the mail today!

   I can't wait to play this game with the children. I don't remember where I saw the game advertised, but the reviews were excellent. The game is designed to teach children interpersonal skills, an area where Joseph really struggles. Wouldn't it be wonderful if this game could help him?
    I know the girls will enjoy it and since it was designed for ages 3+ Lia will be able to join in, something that isn't always possible.

 
    You can buy the game here.

Why My Son Cannot Bond

  I received this book in the mail yesterday and I am so fascinated with all of the information it pertains.  

                                                
  Here is the link to Amazon if you wish to buy the book yourself.
  
  I used to think providing a child with a "good" home is all they need to thrive. That idea went out the window when a toddler came into our home and threw us into the most intense years of our lives. As we learned more about attachment I came to understand why this was not the case but I still had questions. Then we learned about trauma and prebirth experiences and things made a little more sense but still questions remained. A big one for me was why can't Braden attach to me? Then he was diagnosed with FASD and a few more pieces fell in place but he still couldn't attach. He had a huge fear of me as mom. I did everything, the therapists, psychiatrist, folks at TAP, his FASD specialist, nothing worked. Then I spoke with a wise woman whom shall remain unnamed. She said, "Sandra, you broke his trust way back when you took him for visits and left him screaming at the door with the very people who neglected him and caused much of the trauma in his life. The neglect compounded with FASD makes it impossible for him to understand the situation and realize that he is now safe. He will possibly always view you in the same category as his birth parents. One of the people who cannot be trusted." That hurt to hear but it made sense and was also freeing. I agonized over his inability to bond with me, there must be something wrong with me if a child cannot love and trust me, was my reasoning.
  All that to say this book took all the bits and pieces of knowledge I had concerning attachment, trauma and the human brain and put it together in one place. Best of all it is written so people like me can understand it. (I did have to read the first chapter through a few times in order to wrap my brain around the content but now it makes sense). I am in awe at how fearfully and wonderfully we are made. 
       I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. 
                Psalm 139:14

    "Although the unborn child is unable to identify sensations and feelings of distress it can certainly experience neurological distress with which it's emotions are closely linked."
  While still in the womb the child is created in ways to best adapt to the world it will be born into. For instance, there was a study done during a war, I forget which one, where a whole city was closed off and the inhabitants were unable to get food when their supply ran out, so they existed on a few calories a day. There was a study done on the babies who were yet unborn at the time and they found that many of them were obese and had serious health issues. Why? Because the babies bodies' were "taught" to hang onto every calorie. When there was once more plenty of food, these babies, now grown, packed on the pounds.
  In light of that, many children who enter the foster system are the product of chaotic homes and distressed, depressed and fearful mothers. Their babies are born, expecting the world to be a fearful, dangerous place.
  The book talks about this phenomenon. It says that a child born under these conditions may "come around" if it receives good parenting. However many of these children are placed in the system or receive mediocre care so the sense that the world is a dangerous place is further cemented in their brains. The most crucial time for these brain pathways to be corrected or reconstructed is in the first three years of life. 
  Braden's first three years of life were anything but peaceful when one considers his chaotic home life, being moved to a foster home which is a traumatic experience in itself, having the person who should have been keeping him safe take him to see his birth parents.... no wonder he was controlling and manipulated people! He was only trying to protect himself!
 I know it is not helpful to look back and say, "If only." That is something I have to continually guard against when I think about Braden. "If only we would have known some of this information when he was placed with us!" I do realize that a lot of this information makes sense to me because I have witnessed it first hand. Just reading about it isn't enough for me to really comprehend some issues such as a child refusing to budge even if his very life was at stake. Really? Oh yes! For me there is something about witnessing these things first hand that is necessary in order for me to process what I read. So, even if I would have known all about attachment, trauma and brain damage prior to Braden coming into our home, I probably would have had a hard time believing and understanding it. That is why it is so helpful to have a therapist who has personally dealt with these problems. Once I asked a therapist how she can handle working with these problems all day. She replied, "I can go home at night and leave the problems at work, as parents you are responsible all the time, that is what makes trauma so hard."

My Name Is Faith

                  MY NAME IS FAITH

                           

I placed an order for this DVD today. You can get yours at:                                  http://www.mynameisfaith.com/

the DVD is a documentary about a traumatized little girl who finds healing. Buy one for yourself and one or more to pass onto friends and those who would benefit from understanding trauma. :)