Education News: Top Stories

PBS airs segment on effects of the Transcendental Meditation Technique on ADHD
by Patricia Boland

The M.U.M. Review
Maharishi University of Management, Iowa, USA Translate This Article
7 June 2007

Last month PBS featured a segment on the effects of the Transcendental Meditation® technique on attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which is the most common psycho-social disorder in children, affecting almost 4.5 million.

The 10-minute segment was featured as part of 'To the Contrary,' a program covering issues relevant to women, families, and communities of color, with many of the topics related to parenting. The initial broadcast was May 25 in the Washington, D.C., area with other air dates expected in most other states.

'I think this is very exciting,' said Sarina Grosswald, a fellow of the University's Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy and an expert in cognitive learning. 'ADHD affects millions of children and over 2.5 million are on these very powerful amphetamines. Here's an alternative that will help reduce or will help them get them off amphetamines, and will also expand brain development. So I think it's wonderful this is being broadcast nationwide.'

Dr. Grosswald directs the research project funded by the Institute at Kingsbury Day School near Washington, D.C., a school nationally renowned for its work with children with learning disabilities.

Dr. Grosswald explained that the school saw definite differences in children's behavior such as ability to control anger, while the children talked about being able to focus better and being able to get their homework done.

As well as filming Dr. Grosswald and fellow researcher Alarik Arenander, PBS also interviewed American University students with ADHD who are participating in another, wider research project. One of them described how he'd been on medication since he was 12 and, after three months of practicing the Transcendental Meditation program, was able to go off medication and 'never looked back.'

'For many of these children, it is their only opportunity to really experience settledness in the quietness of their own mind,' Dr. Grosswald said. 'It's a new experience for many of them—and it is a joy.'

To check if the show is still being broadcast in your area, go to www.pbs.org/ttc/schedule.html and put in your zip code. Iowa Public Television does not air 'To the Contrary,' but the show should be available on the PBS website at http://www.pbs.org/ttc/ttc_extra.html or http://www.pbs.org/ttc/podcasts.html for an extended period.

More information on the Transcendental Meditation program and ADHD can be found on the Internet at http://www.adhd-tm.org and http://www.stressfreeschools.org.

Copyright © 2007, Maharishi University of Management

Global Good News comment:

For information about Maharishi's seven-point programme to create a healthy, happy, prosperous society, and a peaceful world, please visit: Global Financial Capital of New York.

Translation software is not perfect; however if you would like to try it, you can translate this page using:

(Google)
(Altavista babelfish)