How to manage ADHD at work and turn it into a strength
'Lots of risk-taking, lots of very impulsive behavior growing up,' Didier said. As the magazine described, she'd excelled in school but gotten in trouble for talking too much. She'd amassed too many speeding tickets as an adult. She turned to her husband and said, 'I think I might have ADHD.'
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Epoch Times
28 minutes ago
- Epoch Times
Real-World Benefits of ADHD Drugs Decline as Prescriptions Rise
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications are linked to a variety of real-world benefits, including preventing one in four self-harm incidents and one in seven traffic accidents among users, according to new However, the strength of this real-world benefit has been weakening over time as prescription rates have increased, prompting the authors to call for ongoing research to better understand how ADHD medications affect different groups of patients and to support informed treatment decisions.
CNN
29 minutes ago
- CNN
Every breath you take affects how you move. Here's how to fix both
Dana Santas, known as the 'Mobility Maker,' is a certified strength and conditioning specialist and mind-body coach in professional sports, and is the author of the book 'Practical Solutions for Back Pain Relief.' If you've been dealing with persistent tension, poor posture or nagging pain, it's worth checking in on your breathing. How you breathe not only reflects your movement quality — it also holds the power to change it for the better. Most people understand breathing's role as a life-sustaining function with stress-relieving properties. (Think — deep inhale, deep exhale.) But the way you breathe can also reveal how efficiently and effectively you move — and improving your breathing can help your body break out of a bad cycle of tension, imbalance and strain. When breathing becomes shallow and rapid, it doesn't just affect oxygen exchange — it disrupts the foundation of how your body functions. That's why much of my work in professional sports focuses on teaching the fundamentals of breathing biomechanics. I've seen firsthand how poor breathing patterns lead to mobility limitations, posture problems, chronic pain and increased risk of injury. In today's high-stress, screen-focused world, these same dysfunctional breathing patterns are common across all walks of life. But you can address faulty breathing by developing a better awareness of your patterns and practicing proper technique for a few minutes every day. Here's how to unlock your superpower. Breathing is one of the body's most fundamental movement patterns — occurring on average more than 23,000 times a day — and the diaphragm's contractions play a key role. Under stress, however, your body naturally shifts into the nervous system's sympathetic or fight-or-flight mode, driving faster, shallower breaths from the upper chest. Over time, especially with chronic stress, this becomes the default breathing pattern. Your breathing becomes more vertical — up in your chest and neck — rather than expanding your lungs and rib cage horizontally. This upper-chest pattern bypasses your diaphragm, forcing muscles in your neck and shoulders to take over the work of pulling in each breath. When your diaphragm isn't functioning properly, it can't fulfill its secondary role as a postural stabilizer because true core engagement requires this large muscle to work in harmony with your deep abdominal and pelvic floor muscles. Because the diaphragm attaches to both your rib cage and your spine, poor engagement creates core instability and shifts your rib cage position. As your rib cage moves out of alignment, your spine and head follow, and because your shoulder blades glide over your rib cage, your shoulder position and function are also affected. Forward head posture develops as your neck extends and your rib cage lifts and flares. Moreover, rib mobility decreases, which restricts mid-back rotation and extension — essential for healthy movement patterns. Overall, mobility suffers and injury risk increases as your body reacts to increasing core instability by creating protective tension and muscular compensations — often straining the lower back. This creates a vicious cycle: Your breath affects your posture, your posture affects your breath, and both affect how you feel and move. People frequently try to address these problems with stretching or strength work alone, but without changing your breathing mechanics, you will remain stuck in dysfunctional patterns. One of the simplest ways to evaluate your breathing is by lying on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor. Place your hands on your lower ribs on either side of the area where your rib cage splits below your sternum. Spend a few moments taking some deep breaths, noticing where the movement happens. If you experience tightening or movement in your neck, upper chest or shoulders, or your ribs barely move, those are signs you may be breathing shallowly and not using your diaphragm effectively. Rather than focusing on so-called 'belly breathing' — a term often used to encourage relaxation but biomechanically misleading — focus on rib mobility and diaphragm function. The slight expansion of your abdomen is the result of increased intra-abdominal pressure, not air filling your belly. Overemphasizing belly movement can inhibit proper rib cage expansion and diaphragm mechanics over time. Try taking a few more breaths, directing your breath into the lung space under your lower ribs. With each inhale, feel for lateral expansion of your ribs under your hands. With each exhale, feel your rib cage move down and your lower ribs move in, promoting a natural core engagement to support the movement. If you identified potential issues with your breathing pattern, the next step is learning to retrain it. While many people focus on taking deeper inhales to improve breathing, the real key to breaking dysfunctional patterns lies in how you exhale. It's the exhale that plays a pivotal role in regulating your nervous system, restoring diaphragm function and improving your tolerance for stress — both physical and emotional. When you exhale fully and slowly, you stimulate your parasympathetic nervous system, the branch responsible for calming your body and promoting recovery. A long, complete exhale also helps reset your diaphragm position, allowing it to contract more effectively on the next breath. Although oxygen tends to get most of the attention, this process is closely tied to carbon dioxide tolerance. CO₂ is what triggers the urge to breathe. But when you chronically overbreathe — taking in more oxygen than your body can use — you reduce CO₂ levels too quickly. This can make your chemoreceptors, the specialized sensors in your brain stem and arteries that monitor CO₂ levels in your blood, overly sensitive, causing feelings of breathlessness even when oxygen levels are adequate. Training yourself to tolerate slightly elevated carbon dioxide levels through long, slow exhales can improve your respiratory efficiency and build stress resilience. Sit comfortably with your hands on your lower ribs to monitor and guide movement. Inhale through your nose for a count of four. Exhale slowly through your nose or mouth (whatever feels best for you) for a count of eight. Pause briefly for a count of two at the end of the exhale. Repeat this pattern for 10 to 12 breaths, keeping your face, jaw, neck and shoulders relaxed. Practice this daily, gradually increasing to a 5:10 or 6:12 ratio as you build tolerance. This breathwork helps restore diaphragm function and rib mobility while retraining your nervous system to stay calm under pressure. The awareness and proficiency you develop through a regular breathwork practice becomes even more powerful when applied to physical activity. Integrating improved breathing mechanics into your daily life will make your movement feel more fluid, connected and efficient. Here are ways to apply better breathing during workouts: • Warm up with conscious breathing to create postural alignment, activate your core and increase focus. • Exhale on exertion: In strength training, exhale during the effort phase to engage your core and stabilize your spine. • Guide mobility with breath: During rotational or flexibility drills, use inhales to create space and exhales to deepen movement. • Breathe nasally during light to moderate cardio to improve oxygen utilization and maintain better breathing patterns. • Elongate exhalations to recover: Post-workout, practice the 2:1 exhale-to-inhale ratio to downregulate your nervous system. Remember, your breath isn't just a background function. By restoring proper breathing, you support better posture, deeper core strength, smoother movement and a more resilient nervous system. So the next time your neck feels tight or your shoulders ache, don't immediately try to stretch it out. Check your breath first. It may be telling you exactly what you need to know. Sign up for CNN's Fitness, But Better newsletter series. Our seven-part guide will help you ease into a healthy routine, backed by experts.
Medscape
30 minutes ago
- Medscape
Pramipexole Augmentation Benefits Resistant Depression
TOPLINE: Augmenting antidepressant treatment with pramipexole led to a significant reduction in symptoms relative to placebo in treatment-resistant major depressive disorder (MDD) at 12 weeks, a trial found. The benefits persisted over 48 weeks despite side effects, highlighting the clinical utility of pramipexole in this patient population. METHODOLOGY: This double-blind, placebo-controlled randomised trial conducted across nine centres in England included 151 adults (mean age, 44.9 years; 56% women) with MDD who did not respond to two or more previous antidepressant treatments. Individuals taking antipsychotics and those with a history of psychosis, bipolar disorder, or clinically significant current or previous impulse control difficulties were excluded. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either pramipexole (titrated to 2.5 mg; n = 76) or placebo (n = 75) added to their ongoing antidepressant medication over 48 weeks. In the intention-to-treat analysis, the primary outcome was any change in the 16-item Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology self-report version (QIDS-SR16) score at week 12 from baseline. Secondary outcomes included a change in QIDS-SR16 scores at 48 weeks, response and remission at 12 weeks, and adverse events. Treatment acceptability was measured using the 9-item Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM-9). TAKEAWAY: The mean reduction in the QIDS-SR16 score from baseline to week 12 was higher with pramipexole than with placebo (mean reduction in score, 6.4 vs 2.4; P < .0001). Response rates at week 12 were significantly higher with pramipexole than with placebo (44.1% vs 16.4%; relative risk [RR], 2.72; P = .0011). Similarly, remission rates at week 12 were higher with pramipexole than with placebo (27.9% vs 7.5%; RR, 3.94; P = .0026). Treatment satisfaction at 48 weeks was significantly higher in the pramipexole group than in the placebo group (mean difference in the TSQM-9 score, 26.41; P < .0001). Discontinuation due to side effects was greater in the pramipexole group than in the placebo group (20% vs 5%; adjusted incidence rate ratio for adverse events, 2.24; P < .0001). IN PRACTICE: "In this trial involving participants with treatment-resistant depression, pramipexole augmentation of antidepressant treatment, at a target dose of 2.5 mg, demonstrated a reduction in symptoms relative to placebo at 12 weeks but was associated with some adverse effects," the authors wrote. "These results suggest that pramipexole is a clinically effective option for reducing symptoms in patients with treatment-resistant depression," they added. SOURCE: This study was led by Michael Browning, DPhil, University of Oxford, Oxford, England. It was published online on June 29 in The Lancet Psychiatry. LIMITATIONS: Functional unmasking occurred during the study, potentially leading to expectancy effects. Additionally, ethnicity data were not collected, limiting the ability to determine the representativeness of the study population across different ethnic groups. DISCLOSURES: This study was supported through the Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation Programme of the National Institute for Health and Care Research. Several authors reported having financial ties with various organisations, pharmaceutical companies, and research councils, with some being employed previously or holding shares in industry. Details are provided in the original article. This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
