주의산만 Archives - 더트리그룹

조용범ㅣYong Cho, Ph.D.

A child’s interesting behavior was observed. While sitting on the sofa, their hands continuously touched their face and head, twisting and turning, while their body moved up and down, legs shaking and constantly in motion.

A child visited our clinic. They were exceptionally bright and well-mannered. The child believed multi-tasking was a reasonable behavior with confidence. Although the child excelled in studies and seemed flawless academically, the parents were concerned about their scattered attention during homework, because the child did multiple homework and seemed distracted. However, the child thought such behavior was a good learning strategy.

It was the first therapy session. While quietly conversing with the child, their interesting behavior was observed. While sitting on the sofa, their hands continuously touched their face and head, twisting and turning, while their body moved up and down, legs shaking and constantly in motion. Of course, the child was completely unaware of these actions.

We suggested trying mindfulness with the child. Though they had tried it before, they didn’t seem interested and found meditation boring, not finding much significance to it. We started with the body scan mindfulness.

We guided the child to focus their attention, bit by bit, from the tips of their toes to the top of their head, on different parts of their body.

When the child felt the urge for various actions with their hands, feet, or other body parts, we asked them to simply notice it without moving and concentrate on the part of the body they were already focused on.

The child found it challenging. The child twitched and fidgeted as if electricity was passing through them.

After about five minutes of mindfulness, we asked the child about their experience. They expressed surprise and clarity, realizing they didn’t know they wanted to move their body like that, and they became aware of their body for the first time.

We named the behavior of twisting and touching their body after mindfulness as ‘Monkey Dance’. For homework, the child was tasked to practice the mindfulness.

The following week, the child no longer showed Monkey Dance.

조용범ㅣYong Cho, Ph.D.

When we close our eyes for a moment, images and thoughts pass through our minds like scenes from a movie, filling our minds with numerous thoughts, emotions, and images.

Attention deficit is a representative symptom of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In many Korean households of previous generations, highly energetic and active children were not a major concern; instead, they were often regarded as lively and full of vitality. It was commonly believed that their hyperactive behavior would improve as they grew older, and adults would often reassure by saying that all children were like that when they were young.

Of course, in the West, not all children with severe attention deficits were pathologized. Energetic and lively children were often distinguished from rebellious troublemakers referred to as “brats.” However, during the 20th century, there was a shift in perceiving such behavior problems, observed both at school and at home, of children who did not follow adults’ instructions and could not control their actions, as indicative of a bad personality or a naughty child, leading to the consideration of it as a disorder. Various fields of mental health and education began to observe and study such behaviors, and in the 1960s, symptoms like ADHD began to be included in diagnostic systems.

Since various forms of attention deficit behaviors, also known as externalization symptoms, are sometimes exhibited by all humans, not all cases of attention deficit are necessarily severe problems. When we close our eyes for a moment, images and thoughts pass through our minds like scenes from a movie, filling our minds with numerous thoughts, emotions, and images.

Throughout history, humans have employed religious activities such as prayer or meditation to tame this restlessness of the mind. These religious activities have been somewhat scientifically formalized and are now utilized in everyday life under the name of mindfulness. Through mindfulness, the effectiveness of emotional and behavioral stability has been demonstrated in various studies.

(To be continued in the next article)