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Non-Drug Treatments
These interventions can have profound effects in mild to
moderate ADHD .
- Increasing
dietary fish oils, has been shown to stabilize brain membranes and
decrease agitation.
- Decreasing
carbohydrate, increasing protein and physical activity have been shown to
decrease hyperactivity and improve concentration.
- Competition
increases focus, energy and motivation via adrenaline and dopamine.
- Mind-body
interventions such as meditation, T’ai Chi and yoga which focus on
stretching and breathing, increase the brain chemical GABA, which help
patients relax, decrease agitation and improved stress resilience.
- Coaching
helps patients learn new techniques to improve memory, planning,
prioritization and organization.
- Counselling
(psychotherapy) does not specifically improve ADHD symptoms, it is more
effective at helping people manage other symptoms such as anxiety and
depression.
- Probably
the most valuable non-pharmacological treatment for ADHD is to build your
life around things that capture your attention. Anything that is fun,
challenging, meaningful, exciting, rewarding or satisfying stimulates
dopamine circuits, which is not only helpful while engaged in the
activity, but for a significant amount of time afterwards. This includes a
huge range of activities from playing video-games to playing with your
grand-children to snow-boarding.
Seminal research findings, such as those from the Multimodal
Treatment of ADHD study which included nearly 600 subjects, have shown that
while non-pharmacological interventions improve ADHD by approximately 30%;
pharmacological interventions improve ADHD symptoms by more than 70% and the
combination of both kinds of interventions improves symptoms by 85%. As such,
in order to get the best outcomes, we advocate a combination of both types of
treatments.
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