The treatment process for ADHD has five main components. For the most part, these components can happen in any order and don’t all have to be present.
One of the components of ADHD treatment is the diagnosis. The diagnosis for most medical conditions is really not a part of the treatment, it’s just a declaration of what the condition is. ADHD is a cognitive condition and particularly for those diagnosed later in life symptoms of ADHD are only part of the story. You see, when we’re diagnosed later in life we have spent a significant portion of our life living with the effects of undiagnosed ADHD. This often creates a sense of shame, a sense of struggle, and at the very least a desire to understand why our lives have been the way they have been. So for most of us diagnosed with ADHD as adults there is an immediate sense of “Oh, that explains a lot.” ADHD is not an excuse, but a reason for many of the things that have happened in our lives. When adults who have been diagnosed later in life talk about their diagnosis there’s almost an inevitable sigh when they talk about it because it was such a significant point in their lives.
The only one of the components in ADHD treatment that has a sequence connected to it is medication. In order to be prescribed ADHD medication, a diagnosis must exist. It’s always been fascinating to me, that the subject of medication is such an emotionally loaded question. None of us really want to be on medication or have our children on medication for any reason. However there is strong scientific evidence that ADHD medication is both effective and safe. I hear people talk sometimes about how many children in our school system seem to be on some sort of medication. I’m sure there are some situations out there where someone is on medication that is not correct for them or isn’t right medication or isn’t necessary. However, I think we do ourselves and our children a great disservice by just rejecting medication out of hand.
Medication for people with ADHD was described by Dr. Hollowell as being similar to putting on a pair of glasses. The medication gives us the ability to pause and think before reacting. Medication in and of itself is never the whole treatment plan for ADHD.
ADHD medication comes in two major categories. One category is non-stimulant medication an example of this category is Strattera. The other category is stimulant medication such as Adderall.
Studies tell us that about 70% of the people diagnosed with ADHD are helped by one form of medication. 70% of the remaining people are helped by another form of medication.
Ultimately, medication is a personal choice. Many of my clients take medication while many others don’t. Some people with ADHD use medication for a period of time to help them create strategies and habits that they can maintain when they are not taking medication.
Another key component of the ADHD treatment plan is education. Education about ADHD and education about a specific person’s ADHD. ADHD is a very individual condition. There are many characteristics and they can be experienced with varying levels of intensity by individuals who have ADHD. And a person needs to understand how their individual ADHD manifests itself.
Education can come from the person who does the assessment. They can also come from a doctor or therapist. It can also come from coach. As coaches, many of our clients begin to see us before they’ve been officially diagnosed with ADHD and we help them understand the diagnostic process.
Another component of the ADHD treatment plan is coaching. Coaching provides many benefits to people with ADHD. One of the most important things that a coach can do for client is to be an objective outside observer. Coaches can witness the things that a client is going through and then reflect back to them what they’re hearing, which helps the client to become more aware of their thoughts and reactions. People with ADHD often have difficulty with details which can lead to a person having difficulty with self-observation.
Coaches can also help a clients discover beliefs that they have about themselves. People with ADHD, especially those diagnosed later in life, have collected beliefs about themselves that may or may not be valid. This comes from our parents, our friends in school, and many other people that we come in contact with. Often we don’t even realize that we as adopted a particular belief. A coach can help us have the space to think about how our beliefs are serving us.
Of course the coach also helps in practical ways such as helping to identify structures and habits.
This brings us to the fifth component of ADHD treatment, structuring. One of the main ways that we manage our ADHD is we learn to create environments and structures which support us in accomplishing whatever it is that we want to accomplish. The structure might be in the form of accommodations at work or school. But very often the structuring is in creating habits or using tools that help us maximize our strengths.