Aromatherapy May Help Manage ADHD

Aromatherapy is the ancient practice of using essential oils for therapeutic benefit whether they are absorbed through the nose or skin. When inhaled, the scent molecules in essential oils travel from the olfactory nerves directly to the brain and especially impact the amygdala, the emotional center of the brain. Scent is a major influencer of emotions.
The last sense we experience at night and the fastest way to wake someone from sleep is to tap into the smells around them. The smell of toast or coffee drags you from the deepest sleep to wakefulness in moments. If your body and brain are in the deepest sleep cycles, a scent may change what you are experiencing or feeling subconsciously. This occurs because of the lack of any filter or barrier between the nose’s olfactory nerves and the amygdala. Perhaps during human evolution, smell provided warnings of eminent danger, wildfire, predatory animals or humans with a different scent. Nerve actions that impact the amygdala trigger the flight-fight response, even when sleeping. 

Summary of Research ​

• 84% of parents with Autistic children have reported medium to significant overall benefits
• 61% reported that the oils helped pacify their child during Meltdowns or Sensory Overloads.
• 77% parents have reported reduced hyperactivity levels in their kids upon usage
• 56% parents felt that their child was more relieved from anxiety, stress, attention deficit and anger
• 79% parents reported reduced discomfort due to sensory sensitivity
• Most importantly, 88% were happy with the overall effects and said they would recommend other parents to try out as well.

Suspected Causes for ADHD [Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder]

Researchers Fisher and Beckley (1999) when examining brain damage and ADHD, suggested that:
The neurotransmitters that operate in the frontal area of the brain are predominantly
Dopamine and norepinephrine.  It is the biochemical system that is affected; this [ADHD]
is not a disorder involving any damage to the brain.  Rather the brain is intact, just not
able to work to its potential.
Research also suggests that this deficiency state or biochemical imbalance within the dopaminergic system, especially a deficit of dopamine transporter, may also result in high levels of novelty seeking. Diagnosed ADHD sufferers take social risks, physical risks and psychological risks.
 
Observing behavioural traits, cognitive researchers assume that there are four executive functions impaired in ADHD (Cooper & Bilton 1999).  These are:
1. Impairment of working memory – this makes it difficult for individuals to retain and manipulate information for purposes of appraisal and planning.
2. The function of internalized speech – here the consequences and implications of impulses are weighed up and discussed internally in most people, which allows for self-control and discipline. However, this process appears to be inhibited or lacking in ADHD individuals.
3. Motivational appraisal – this facet of internal deliberation enables decisions to be made by providing information about emotional associations generated by an impulse and the extent to which the impulse is likely to produce desirable outcomes.
4. Reconstitution or behavioural synthesis – this function enables the planning of new and appropriate behaviours

Summary of ADHD Behaviours

Individuals with ADHD act as they think, often interrupting others, butting into conversations
or blurting out answers or statements.  This behaviour is also explained as a response to short-term memory inadequacy, where information or questions are quickly forgotten if they are not responded to immediately (Cooper & Bilton 1999).  Unfortunately, these behavioural traits may be considered as rude and/or anti-social.
The individual with ADHD often shifts from one task or object to the next before one is completed.  This gives the outward impression that they are chaotic, disorganized and messy, but often, left to their own devices, some manage to multi-task well and will complete tasks or assignments in their own time and order (Hallowell 1992). 
Others find that staying ‘on task’ or completing projects is overruled by their inner lack of sustainable attention or in some cases, boredom.  Some individuals with ADHD engage in daring or risky activities because they have not deliberated about the consequences, they “just do it”. 
Individuals with ADHD do not seem to have a sense of time, which further impinges on their apparent inability to be organized, often forgetting deadlines and important dates and arriving late for appointments.  This inability to fit in with an ordered, ‘clockwork’ environment causes obvious problems. 
Unfortunately, to the observer these behavioural traits appear undisciplined and chaotic, and are not always conducive to discipline in circumstances where control and uniformity are necessary; one instance being in school, for example.

Treatments and Behavioural Management ​

Parents of children with ADHD face the internal conflict of medicating their child to allow them to participate in school, sporting or social settings. The preferred pharmacological option, Ritalin has unwelcome side effects for many is often combined with behavioural management professionals such as child psychologists or therapists specialising in ADHD. Some parents feel guilty about playing God to manage their children for their own sakes, and worry about long term strategies. 

Multimodal Therapies with or without Medication

Therapies applying meditation, Yoga, breathing, exercise and combined behaviour management systems are becoming more accepted in providing the child with ADHD a range of intervention and management strategies. Most research in the combined wellbeing approach is anecdotal, often based on the experience of parents, teachers or siblings. Although this does not invalidate the approach, it reduces the scientific precision of broadly based, large scale research.
Many parents report significant behaviour improvement through diet modification. Researchers suggest however that the improvement occurs where children suffer allergic reactions to sugars, artificial sweeteners, preservatives and food colouring.
Yoga, exercise and breathing therapies are easier to assess and underpin scientifically, as their role in balancing dopamine and serotonin are underpinned by more than 40 years of sound scientific study. Balancing dopamine levels or improving the sensitivity of dopamine2 receptors alters awareness, mood and feeling good.
Aromatherapy or massaging essential oils directly into the feet has been shown to impact the emotional center of the brain. Their impact on children with ADHD occurs through the same pathway: increasing dopamine and serotonin levels and improving the sensitivity of the receptors. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: Parents please exercise caution as most brands of Essential Oils have never been tested on children with Autism and ADHD. Worse still, some of the cheaper brands contain chemical agents (including toxins) in order to amplify the aroma. These may be counterproductive for your child and could cause further sensory issues. For this reason, we always recommend using trusted brands that the 100% pure and organic in nature.

The Importance Of Self Selection

Fitzgerald et al. (2007) observed from their study of the effect of gender and ethnicity of children’s attitude and preference for essential oils that:
….children do have scent preferences for essential oils and that these preferences may vary both by gender and ethnicity…response to essential oils is a complex process affected by multiple variables including gender, cultural exposure to specific odours, and/or individual experiences that create either pleasant or unpleasant associations.
The client’s participation in the selection of appropriate oils is, therefore, vital.  Our sense of smell, taste and touch has been vital to our survival since prehistoric time; we seem to intrinsically, instinctively know what is good or not good for us. (Alexander 2001). Using this innate sense, clients are very good at choosing specific oils from a range presented by the therapist. This aspect, inevitably, complicates quantitative scientific research which might explore a single or a specific blend of essential oils against one condition.  Exploration of essential oils in a therapeutic context appears best suited, therefore, to qualitative or semi qualitative research (Bell 1999; Jenkins et al 1998).

​Further reading:

Godfrey, H. (2000). The role of essential oils in the treatment and management of attention deficit hyperactive disorder. International Journal of Aromatherapy, 11(4), 193-200. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0962-4562(01)80035-