9 Drug-Free Approaches to Managing ADHD

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ya i have adhd, like insanely and i love it, so i hate the video, it talks of adhd like its cancer, you can find me hyper learning online all the time jumping from one thing to another and back again for hours, i know the most insane stuff and i wouldnt trade adhd for anything, if you can control it or focus it even a little it is simply amazing

nun-ya of FL 11:03PM August 20, 2012

It is clear that Megan Johnson does not have a child with ADHD, nor has she ever dealt with a child with the disorder for any significant amount of time.
I grew up with a brother with ADHD, (the REAL disorder, by the way, not this misdiagnosed kid with a lot of energy crap). I could tell you stories you wouldn't believe... but I shall refrain.
Anyway, my family has been hearing about misdiagnosed kids and how Ritalin is not the answer blah, blah, blah for years. It's all a bunch of crap. My parents tried EVERYTHING. I don't actually advocate using Ritalin all the time. We actually never gave my brother Ritalin unless we were going out somewhere... and boy did it help. The problem was that he was in a sort of dazed state when he was on it, which wasn't cool.
A number of the techniques you wrote about in the article, didn't exist when my brother was growing up (or I'd never heard of them) but reading about them... they sound like a lot of BS.
It's really insulting to families with kids with ADHD when people write articles like this. Techniques like "Positive Parenting" suggest that the parents never tried to parent their children positively. Give me a break. My parents were the best parents my brother could have ever had (and he turned out great, by the way. He is a successful and popular grown man now).
I only ever heard my Dad swear a few times growing up, and NEVER to my grandparents (his parents). But one afternoon, toward the end of my high school years, my grandmother said that she'd read that ADHD was a myth and that she thought maybe Nick didn't really have it. My Dad turned to her and just shouted "bull sh*%!" My grandmother was a lovely woman, but Dad was sick and tired of people saying stuff like that. My grandma used to take care of Nick from time to time when Mom and Dad were on vacation for a few days or maybe a week at a time. They'd have him take Ritalin every day he was at their home.
Stop writing articles about stuff you know nothing about and go get some real life experience before writing crap like this again.
Thanks

Chris of OR 4:24PM December 30, 2010

some one posted:
"So to sum up, with the exception of EEG feedback, ADHD kids require: (1) parents and teachers to lighten up (a.k.a positive parenting), (2) band/choir/dance (a.k.a. interactive metronome training), (3) quiet time without electronics (a.k.a meditation), (4) outdoor recess (a.k.a. natural environment), (5) nap time (a.k.a. better sleep), (6) real food instead of junk food, and (7) P.E. (a.k.a. exercise). "
Actually this is also the solution to not getting to the point of ADHD in the first place. Kids need to be kids and run around to use their energy, play and learn from more "old school" ways. All the TV, electronic games, adults being out of shape and cant keep up with the kids energy, tons of precription drugs for everything, additives in food, chemicals in food and environment....the list goes on. No one is getting more healthy, people are using more drugs to mask the problem instead of looking at the root cause. Fuuny how with all our modern progress we keep getting more and more problems.

jack of NY 12:25PM November 11, 2010

For the one millionth time, the MTA study did not remain a controlled study after 14 months. The groups originally randomized to drug and placebo, later were able to choose their own treatment, and ended-up choosing just about the same thing.
8 year follow-up didn't show a difference between the two groups. This was not an 8-year study of drug-effect. The lead author was very afraid of this being misinterpreted, as indeed it has been.

Dave of MN 9:44AM November 01, 2010

Dear Megan Johnson:
I am writing to you in connection with your article, 9 Drug-Free Approaches to ADHD, which appeared in U.S. News and World Report on August 12th and in MSN Health and Fitness. I read your earlier articles about neurofeedback, and would like to thank you for again presenting clear and well-balanced information about this training modality. As Dr. Eugene Arnold from Ohio State University comments, it is a promising approach. Your article notes very relevant information about neurofeedback, for example, that it is safe, its effects are lasting, and research that supports its benefit is accumulating. Dr. Arnold mentions that neurofeedback can also be costly, labor intensive, and difficult to carry out. As I may have said in my previous correspondence to you related to your previous articles, the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (www.bcia.org) is an organization that provides certification to health care professionals who meet high standards of training in neurofeedback and biofeedback. By doing so, we help the public identify practitioners who can safely and effectively offer neurofeedback and biofeedback to ameliorate conditions such as ADHD, among many others. BCIA also collaborates with professional organizations such as the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (www.aapb.org) and the International Society for Neurofeedback and Research (www.isnr.org) to promote the highest standards of practice, education, and research.
I hope that you will continue to write about neurofeedback, and also biofeedback, and that your articles in the future might address some of the other health conditions that can be treated with these technologically sophisticated methods for training self-regulation. I will look forward to reading more of your excellent writing. Please let BCIA know if we can be a resource in the future to you for any articles related to neurofeedback or biofeedback.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. John Davis
Psychologist and Associate Clinical Professor
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences
McMaster University
Board of Directors
Biofeedback Certification International Alliance
Wheat Ridge, Colorado

Dr. John Davis 8:55PM September 02, 2010

Sorry to say, but articles like this usually frustrate me to no end. As a pscyhotherapist in private practice and someone who works often with adolescents and their families to understand and respond to ADHD, I: have to put in a plea to readers to assess this article with more than a grain of salt. There are now plenty of studies in peer-reviewed journals that discount the use of some of these approaches as effective treatment for ADHD (which is often co-occurring with other diagnoses that are also not effectively treated by these approaches). For example, there are not currently any credible studies that show significant and consistent alleviation of symptoms through use of diet modification. Does this mean that if your child has ADHD (hyperactive type) and consumes a lot of sugar, that it might not be able to limit the sugar intake? In fact, it might be a helpful diet modification for many reasons. But this doesn't mean that modifying a child's diet is a cure or treatment for ADHD. Interventions for ADHD (primary inattentive type) often do not work for ADHD (hyperactive type) or combined type. The jury is also still out on neurofeedback as an effective treatment for ADHD (hyperactive type). Every child is different (biologically, psychologically, socially, etc.). Anecdotal evidence about what works may lend hope, but it isn't good science. I can suggest that you check out the work of Dr. Stephen Hinshaw, Chair of the Psychology Department of University of California, Berkeley. Hinshaw was one of the principals in the MTA Study (with Peter Jensen), the largest study to date on the assessment and treatment of ADHD. There are so many folks out there who claim to tell us what ADHD is REALLY about (a disorder of motivation; a disorder of the prefrontal cortex--a disorder in executive functioning; a disorder of anxiety, and on and on). We are getting closer to understanding ADHD, and I believe that we will see some very solid and reliable science coming out in the next decade to help parents, children and clinicians. But the major magazines like U.S. News and World Report or Time or Newsweek often get it wrong when they try to translate science for the lay public. I'm not one of those clinicians who believes that drugs are the answer for everything. In fact I'm wary of how much our population is being medicated. But sometimes medication is part of a thoughtful, safe, effective and reliable treatment for a very debilitating disorder.

Michael Simon of CA 11:21PM November 01, 2009

Sorry to say, but articles like this usually frustrate me to no end. As a pscyhotherapist in private practice and someone who works often with adolescents and their families to understand and respond to ADHD, I: have to put in a plea to readers to assess this article with more than a grain of salt. There are now plenty of studies in peer-reviewed journals that discount the use of some of these approaches as effective treatment for ADHD (which is often co-occurring with other diagnoses that are also not effectively treated by these approaches). For example, there are not currently any credible studies that show significant and consistent alleviation of symptoms through use of diet modification. Does this mean that if your child has ADHD (hyperactive type) and consumes a lot of sugar, that it might not be able to limit the sugar intake. In fact, it might be a helpful diet modification for many reasons. But this doesn't mean that modifying a child's diet is a cure or treatment for ADHD. Interventions for ADHD (primary inattentive type) often do not work for ADHD (hyperactive type) or combined type. The jury is also still out on neurofeedback as an effective treatment for ADHD (hyperactive type). Every child is different (biologically, psychologically, socially, etc.). Anecdotal evidence about what works may lend hope, but it isn't good science. I can suggest that you check out the work of Dr. Stephen Hinshaw, Chair of the Psychology Department of University of California, Berkeley. Hinshaw was one of the principals in the MTA Study (with Peter Jensen), the largest study to date on the assessment and treatment of ADHD. There are so many folks out there who claim to tell us what ADHD is REALLY about (a disorder of motivation; a disorder of the prefrontal cortex--a disorder in executive functioning; a disorder of anxiety, and on and on). We are getting closer to understanding ADHD, and I believe that we will see some very solid and reliable science coming out in the next decade to help parents, children and clinicians. But the major magazines like U.S. News and World Report or Time or Newsweek often get it wrong when they try to translate science for the lay public. I'm not one of those clinicians who believes that drugs are the answer for everything. In fact I'm wary of how much our population is being medicated. But sometimes medication is part of a thoughtful, safe, effective and reliable treatment for a very debilitating disorder.

Michael Simon of CA 11:19PM November 01, 2009

having used neurofeedback for many years to treat ADHD (and other conditions), I have been very aware of it's success as an "alternative" treatment. It is always nice when this is recognized in mainstream media. However, it is frustrating that this article, and others like it, continue to suggest that "the jury is out" when it comes to research and evidence supporting neurofeedback in its treatment of ADHD. A recent metanalysis of this research which included multiple German studies concluded that neurofeedback was efficacious and specific for treatment of ADHD. Perhaps one day, popular press articles will familiarize theselves with this research before writing with a skeptical or negative bias.

Jeff Tarrant of MO 5:40PM October 21, 2009

I would not accept a diagnosis of ADHD from anyone but a Neurologist. I would also have your child tested by an Occupational Therapist.
Another good brain training program is PACE.

OT of TX 11:38PM October 18, 2009

Readers may also want to know that recently (Sept 1st 2009) a beverage was released that is both natural and has many years of research behind it. Dr. Kyl Smith, the author of Brighter Mind, was the former inventor of Focus Factor or years past, and more research and beneficial changes have been made to this product, which is a think-drink and also improves mood, energy, and concentration.
While those are big statements, they backed up with over 1,400 scientific peer reviews in his book. There is NO sugar or artificial sweeteners in this drink- though it is sweet. (using Stevia, a natural herb) Can be found at focusuponline.com Dr. Kyle has a passion around ADHD and naturally treating that and other disorders, but the interesting thing is that he says the average American is under-consuming specific nutrients that would optimize the brain. So, many with no specific difficulty are taking this just to feel on top of their game.
Also, as the article points out- Ritalin stunting growth and wearing out over time have significant down-sides.

Tim of MO 4:07PM September 15, 2009