The characteristic features of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), such as hyperkinesis, poor attention and impulsiveness, are seem to be more or less the opposite of those qualities that meditators wish to cultivate. Meditation, in many ways seemed like an ideally designed antidote.
Treatment program
The intervention was conducted over a 6 week period and consisted of twice-weekly 90 minute clinics, held in large meetings rooms at Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney. For the first 3 weeks, the clinic consisted of guided meditation sessions, with parents attending one group and the children another. The sessions were conducted by meditation instructors experienced in Sahaja Yoga Meditation (SYM) techniques. The meditation process involved practising techniques which helped participants to achieve a state of “thoughtless awareness”. Instructors directed participants to become aware of this state within themselves by becoming silent and focusing their attention inwardly. Parents were also asked to conduct shorter meditation sessions at home twice a day.
Psycho-stimulant medication
The SYM treatment program did not ask or advise parents to reduce their child’s pharmacological treatment for ADHD, but it was clear from comments made by a number of parents at recruitment that they were looking for alternatives to medication. At the middle and endpoints of the program, parents were asked: “Have you been able to reduce your child’s level of medication and still maintain an acceptable level of behaviour?” If medication had been reduced, parents were asked to report the proportion.