ADHD: alternative approaches to symptom management
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, is the most prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder in Australia. ADHD affects the brain’s executive functioning, therefore the ability to self-regulate and control thoughts, words, actions, and emotions doesn’t come as easily for individuals with this diagnosis. People with ADHD often have various challenges that they need support overcoming, such as:
Difficulty paying attention or focusing
Difficulty organising, planning or problem-solving
Impulsivity (leading to increase likelihood of addiction or risk-taking behaviours)
Increased sense of isolation
Rejection sensitivity
Increased likelihood of having co-exisiting mental conditions such as depression and anxiety
Nonetheless, people with ADHD also have lots of strengths! When channeled correctly, people with ADHD can be more energetic, hyperfocus, creative, courageous and resilient.
There are a variety of helpful treatment approaches and medications that treat ADHD. Medications that act as a stimulant (e.g. Ritalin) and non-stimulant medications (e.g. Strattera) are used for treating this condition with much success. But people can benefit from counselling support and skills programs as well as medications, or as an alternative to medications. Such interventions include:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
This is generally considered the gold standard for helping manage ADHD symptoms (particularly for young people). Generic CBT can be helpful, but there are also ADHD specific CBT variations available. The CBT model for treating ADHD involves psychoeducation, learning practical coping skills and adaptive thinking. Involvement of partners can also be added to this therapeutic process.
Interpersonal Therapy
A child/young person struggling with poor social relationships is one of the biggest predictor of problems in adulthood. In order to maintain friendships, children/young people need to learn to use the right social behaviours at the right time, which is difficult for those with ADHD due to differences in their brains. Research has found interpersonal therapy can be beneficial to help them see the difference between their inner experience (e.g., time blindness, distractibility) and how their behaviours may affect others to learn to cope with these through skills training. Interpersonal therapy is also beneficial for adults with or without ADHD as it helps individuals develop their communication skills, and consequently improve their social relationships leading to improved quality of life, social connectedness and improved mental wellbeing.
Parent Management Training
Having a child with ADHD can be stressful for the parent and family dynamics. Even when parents have optimal parenting knowledge, the frustrations can lead to parents unintentionally using parenting techniques that aren’t helpful for children/young people with ADHD. Parent Management Programs run for approximately 12-16 weeks to teach parents how to effectively communicate with their ADHD child, model appropriate behaviour, build their child’s self-esteem and effectively problem solve with their child.
Hopefully this article helps broaden your understanding of ADHD and the different treatment options available for you, your child or someone you know.
