| by Jaqueline Lapa Sussman
Imagination
over Medication:
How Eidetic Imagery
Heals Learning Difficulties
Currently, Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (abbreviated ADD
or ADHD), are the most commonly diagnosed
psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents.
ADD/ADHD affects millions of children. Each
affected person exhibits a unique set of distinctive symptoms
that manifests in the way visual, auditory, motor, and spatial
information is processed. Typical behaviors exhibited by those
diagnosed are inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. These
behaviors create real handicaps in a person’s social, academic,
professional, and family life.
The exact cause of ADD is unknown. It has been speculated
that the disorder may be caused by genetics, an imbalance of
chemicals that affect neurotransmitter functions in the brain,
or environmental factors. Without knowing its true cause, it
has been impossible to cure.
Drugs or Imagination
Today, we are in the Dark Ages regarding treatments for ADHD.
Medications that affect the central nervous system are sold
under trade names such as Ritalin, Concerta, Metadata CD,
and Adderall, and are prescribed to millions of children in
an attempt to help them to focus. These medications do not
address the root cause of the problems by treating the symptom
only in a hit or miss fashion.
Moreover, there is no well-established data available on the
safety and efficacy of long-term use. The side effects of these
drugs include nervousness, insomnia, hypersensitivity (including
skin rashes), anorexia, nausea, dizziness, palpitations, headaches,
drowsiness, blood pressure and pulse changes (both up and
down), tachycardia, angina, abdominal pain, weight loss, and,
according to the latest research, an increased risk of cancer.
In a small but alarming study conducted in 2005 at
the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Center in Houston,
researchers found that the Ritalin may increase the risk of
cancer. These investigators studied the white blood cells of
12 children before and after administration of Ritalin for three
months and reported that there was a two to three percent
increase in the level of chromosomal abnormalities at the end
of treatment. These abnormalities manifested in chromosomal
breaks, that are associated with an increased risk of cancer.
However, through the innovative work of Dr. Akhter Ahsen,
the founder of Eidetic Image Psychology, the root cause of
psychologically based learning problems has been uncovered.
Eidetic Image Psychology treats the causes and manifestation
of each person’s symptoms.
Social interactions affect learning
There are two principles that affect all learning: first, learning
is a deeply pleasurable experience; and second, nurturing
relationships are the key to learning. All learning comes out
of nourishing social interactions where a child is allowed to
explore and learn in his natural manner, utilizing the child’s
unique perceptual and intuitive processes as he interacts with
nature or with helpful adults. It is through active play, imagination,
and enjoyable absorption while interacting with objects or
concepts that learning occurs.
Whether early learning experiences are affirming or fraught
with tension affects the child’s confidence. The very first lessons
begin early in life as a mother interacts with her child.
For example, while feeding her child, the mother refers to
a “banana.” The child learns that it is a banana she is eating.
While throwing pebbles into a pond with his father, a child
may learn that the pebbles create concentric rings in the water.
This lesson occurs spontaneously, is fun, and the child feels
enriched by the presence of his dad. If the father is critical
about how the child throws the pebble, the child will feel critical
towards himself. He will internalize the negative evaluation
of himself.
Dr. Ahsen’s research confirms that learning problems and
their associated neurological dysfunctions originate from the
individual’s social interactions with parents, teachers, school,
and society. Learning problems freeze the learning potential of
people whose natural ability to absorb and process information
has been injured early in their education. He found that
those who develop symptoms related to ADD/ADHD are deeply
sensitive and imaginative, and therefore more strongly affected
by social interaction than the ordinary person. Once a young
and sensitive mind is traumatized by external circumstances,
a neurological pattern of response to the trauma forms in the
brain and ADD/ADHD symptoms manifest. This trauma patterns
the brain’s encoded neural responses to learning.
As parents
we are our
child’s best
advocate...
An illustration of how ADD forms in
a sensitive mind is the story of Sam.
Sam’s symptoms began at age 5, as
he learned math from his controlling
father. Sam could not absorb the math
concepts in the aura of his father’s rigid
teaching style. Sam needed to learn
at his own natural
pace and manner.
Each lesson became
a frightening experience
in which he felt
criticized. Thus, he
responded with anxiety
and distraction.
Seeing his son “not
paying attention,”
Sam’s father would
explode in anger.
The math lessons
inevitably ended in
tears. Is it any wonder
that Sam’s natural
mathematical abilities shut down?
The distress Sam experienced during the
math lessons spread to all other learning
situations.
Similarly, Mary, an eight-year-old girl
got nervous sitting in her classroom
every day with what she perceived as a
“mean” teacher. After four months in the
classroom, Mary was so tense that she
could not follow three directions given by
the teacher at one time, such as “open to
page 11, read the second paragraph, and
answer the questions at the end of the
chapter.” Mary was finally labeled as having
ADD and was prescribed medication.
Most children with ADD/ADHD feel isolated
in a mechanistic environment that
does not touch their imagination or their
spirit. Imaginative and creative children
do not adapt well to the set and often
inflexible learning style of the classroom.
When these children are allowed to function
freely, learn in their own style, and
are not criticized or controlled by those
around them, their learning abilities
naturally flow. Once each person’s individualized
style of learning is uncovered
within a nourishing environment, he or
she will develop the confidence needed
to perform well.
The injured social nucleus of critical
early learning experiences is healed
through warm and sensitive interactions
designed to enhance the child’s innate
abilities. Children treated in this manner
rejoin standard classroom activities and
succeed. For example, after treatment,
Mary, the girl who could not follow three
directions at once said, “The teacher got
so much nicer. It is now easy to follow
her directions.” In reality, of course, the
teacher had not changed. It was the
child’s perception that had shifted as she
developed self-reliance, strength, and
confidence in her own abilities.
Learning and Imagination
There is a critical link between learning
and imagination. Eidetic images are key
in learning as they are an experiential
nucleus that involves thoughts, perceptions,
and sensation. Knowledge comes
from processing ideas through the medium
of visual images. While reading the
words on a page, one forms pictures in
the mind of what is being read. Reading
a history lesson about England during
World War II, one may visualize Nazi
airplanes dropping bombs onto London
buildings, or see frightened people hiding
in dark cellars. Reading instructions
on how to assemble a tent, one must
visualize which part goes into which
other to put the tent up. The reader must
convert the two-dimensional diagram
into a three-dimensional mental image.
All learning utilizes mental images to
concretize ideas, which then ignite the
mind with their various possibilities.
Without seeing images, comprehension
cannot occur. Traumatizing experiences
early in the learning process can block a
child’s ability to visualize images causing
the child to demonstrate symptoms and
behavior that lead to them being diagnosed
with ADD/ADHD.
Eidetic Imagery utilizes a course of
treatment in which an educator and a
person with learning problems engage
in a nurturing and pleasurable learning
dialogue about a series of photographs
of the natural world. During the process,
the specific blocks to visualization of
learning material emerge. For example,
does the student lack confidence in
his perceptions as he engages with the
photo? Does she get distracted? Does he
space out as he focuses on the picture?
Does she exhibit confused or impaired
spatial orientation? Is his auditory discrimination
poor? Does she fidget or
become hyperactive? Commonly seen as
symptoms of ADD/ADHD.
Once the conflict is brought to
light, re-learning can be initiated. The
responses are analyzed and turned into
a structured treatment through specifically
designed therapeutic interventions
that address each problem. Through a
30-step process of interacting with the
pictures, one’s ability to fully see images
is restored. The teacher becomes the
igniter for learning. Once fixed perspectives
are opened and repressions broken,
the individual’s original capacity to learn
is restored. In a warm and engaging
manner, the injured social nucleus is
healed and the person’s innate abilities
emerge.
As parents we are our child’s best
advocate and even when feeling powerless
the tool of imagery can be used to
support our child in succeeding. The
following is an example of an imagery
exersice that can help one be more sensitive
to a child’s situation.
Imaging your child learning
To gain deeper knowledge of your child,
allow the following image to form in your
mind’s eye. Let the image unfold naturally
and become aware of your feelings
as you see the image. (You can open and
close your eyes as you alternately read
and visualize the instruction.)
- See your child somewhere in a learning environment.
- Where is the child?
- What is your child doing?
- Notice his/her moods and attitude. What do you see?
- How do you feel as you see your child?
- Look into your child’s eyes. There is a feeling or story there. What do you see?
The choice is clearly in our hands. Do we
want to heal our children by supporting
their gifted imaginations and brilliance,
or do we want to drug them to conform
to classroom standards?
Jaqueline Lapa Sussman is one of the
foremost practitioners of Eidetic Imagery
in the world. She is the author of Images
of Desire: Finding Your Natural Sensual
Self In Today’s Image Filled Society (Forge
Books, May 2001) and Freedom From
Failure. (Forge Books, March 2003),
and is the author of numerous articles.
You can visit her Web site www.jaquelinesussman.com, or e-mail her at
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