# Non-drug/pharmaceutical treatment for ADD/ADHD **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 11, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-drug-pharmaceutical-treatment-for-add-adhd/643659 "2012-12-11T01:09:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-drug-pharmaceutical-treatment-for-add-adhd/643659/1 "2012-12-11T01:09:26Z")
The standard way ADD and ADHD seems to be treated in the US is with central nervous system stimulants. Antidepressants or similar drugs have also been used and show some promise. Are there any _non-drug treatments_ that show promise? For example, have there been any studies indicating that talking therapy (e.g. Freudian psychoanalysis, cognitive-behavioral therapy, Gestalt therapy, etc.) _alone_ can significantly help, _without popping meds every day_? How about ECT or light therapy? Anecdotes are ok, but I’m especially interested in studies. This is a request for medical information, not a request for help making a diagnosis or selecting treatment options outside of a doctor or therapist’s supervision. ---
**Author:** ![wheresmymind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@wheresmymind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheresmymind)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-drug-pharmaceutical-treatment-for-add-adhd/643659/2 "2012-12-11T01:48:13Z")
Sorry, anecdote to follow: I took Ritalin from around 2nd grade up through 8th grade to control my ADD. It worked wonders on me, when I took it I went from basically a living personification of Calvin at his most hyperactive to a docile, studious, serious fellow. Like flipping a switch, which is a pretty common description. Unfortunately, it also turned me into the stereotypical “Ritalin zombie.” Despite efforts at tweaking the dosage, while my friends would be laughing and carrying on at lunch as kids do, I would just be sitting there with a flat affect, not really enjoying myself. I secretly stopped taking it in 8th grade for this reason. After a couple weeks I confessed to my parents, described why I stopped taking it, and told them that I’d learned more about controlling myself in the past 2 weeks than I had in the past 6 years of being medicated. Since I didn’t want to be on medication my whole life, I figured now was as good a time as any to figure out life without it. My grades slipped a little bit, but not enough to worry about (went from straight A’s to A’s and a few B’s). In high school I tried medication again for a brief period, but we soon discovered that the benefits weren’t worth it anymore and I discontinued them for good. I consider myself a pretty good example of an ADD/ADHD success story: I started on medication, gradually learned how to control myself as I matured, and was able to go off medication as an adolescent. I don’t even really consider myself to have ADD anymore. That said, I think the big key to my success is that I had consistent counseling throughout my childhood, from 2nd grade up through the beginning of high school. Talking with a professional about the successes and failures of controlling myself the previous couple weeks really helped me hone the skills I needed to control myself. ---
**Author:** ![Titanium\_Dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/838e76/32.png) [@Titanium\_Dragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Titanium_Dragon)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-drug-pharmaceutical-treatment-for-add-adhd/643659/3 "2012-12-11T01:56:04Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > The standard way ADD and ADHD seems to be treated in the US is with central nervous system stimulants. Antidepressants or similar drugs have also been used and show some promise. > > Are there any _non-drug treatments_ that show promise? For example, have there been any studies indicating that talking therapy (e.g. Freudian psychoanalysis, cognitive-behavioral therapy, Gestalt therapy, etc.) _alone_ can significantly help, _without popping meds every day_? How about ECT or light therapy? They’ve actually found that while medication has a short term positive impact, taking them for long periods of time has no positive impact at all; it is not entirely clear why this is, but it is so. Conversely, therapy actually has been proven effective in the long term. So, in short, meds are useful for treating the symptoms temporarily, but therapy is the only thing that actually improves outcomes. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-drug-pharmaceutical-treatment-for-add-adhd/643659/4 "2012-12-11T05:15:52Z")
There is a large body of work on neurobiofeedback for ADD. See this [google-scholar search](http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=neurofeedback+attention+deficit+disorder&btnG=&as_sdt=1%2C14&as_sdtp=). [This article](http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1744-9081-3-35.pdf) presents a particularly overall positive but still somewhat skeptical take. > [@](#): > > Although stimulant medication has proven as the most > efficacious strategy in the treatment of ADHD, there is a > considerable need for effective treatment alternatives to > help the sizeable number of children who do not respond > to medication, suffer from intolerable side effects or > whose parents are reluctant to administer stimulant medication to their children. In addition, stimulant medication seems to alleviate primary symptoms of ADHD in > children, but long-lasting effects on the underlying > pathology are uncertain. Neurofeedback is arguably the > most promising alternative treatment for patients with > ADHD [1]. Clinical trials have been described since the > seventies [2], but controlled studies on the effectiveness of > neurofeedback training in children with ADHD have only > been published in recent years (see [1,3,4], for reviews). > Positive effects of neurofeedback training have been > described on primary symptoms of ADHD as rated by parents, on cognitive testing, and, in some studies, on teachers’ ratings of behavioural symptoms [5-10] … > > … conclusions must be > twofold: On one hand, behavioural improvements can be > related to the effects of neurofeedback training and to specific electrophysiological mechanisms, at least in a subgroup of children who learned to regulate cortical activity. > These effects seem to account especially for changes in > behavioural regulation. On the other hand, the advantage > found for neurofeedback compared to group therapy > according to parents’ and teachers’ rating cannot be > explained by electrophysiological mechanisms in the full > group, but rather seems mediated by unspecific factors, > such as parental support or certain properties of the therapeutic setting and content. These effects are mostly > related to cognitive aspects of regulation Anecdotally I have seen it work for some. Not cheap and takes some time investment. Insurance usually is not covering it. ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-drug-pharmaceutical-treatment-for-add-adhd/643659/5 "2012-12-11T05:29:54Z")
Light therapy has shown to be effective: > **[An open trial of light therapy in adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity...](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17107243/)** > > These findings suggest that during the fall/winter period, LT may be a useful adjunct in many adults with ADHD. Strikingly, the strongest correlate of improvement in core ADHD pathology was a phase advance in circadian preference rather than... Of course it is impossible to do double blind studies on light therapy. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-drug-pharmaceutical-treatment-for-add-adhd/643659/6 "2012-12-11T05:32:27Z")
> [@DataX](#): > > Of course it is impossible to do double blind studies on light therapy. I see what you did th… wait.