I want to take a few minutes to share my perspective on the role that alternative therapies can play as a part of an overall treatment plan for someone with ADHD.
First I want to make it clear that medication and therapy have been scientifically shown to produce the best treatment outcomes in the management of ADHD. In addition, coaching has been shown to be very helpful in the areas of goal setting, support and accountability. With that being said, for different reasons, there are people that may turn to alternative therapies as a way to either complement more traditional treatments, or as a first stepping stone to deciding how to proceed with treatment. There are some people that do not tolerate medication well, or that may have another underlying medical condition that prevents them from using medication. Should you decide to experiment with alternative therapies, I encourage you to discuss it openly with your Dr.
ADHD affects people to differing degrees and in different ways. For each individual the remedies can look as different as the symptoms can. For me personally, I have never tolerated medications very well. I can probably even count on both hands the number of times that I have taken aspirin. Not because I don't like the idea of it, more that I would always experience a side effect (no matter how mild) that just made it "not worth it" to me. This pushed me to look for other ways to feel better.
My whole purpose in doing this project, of taking small steps to improve my ADHD baseline is to find out a few things. For example,
if I tried all of the things or suggestions of things that can potentially help me to feel better in general, how would I then experience my ADHD? Would it shift on the scale of how disruptive it is to me?
As it is, I find my days varying greatly. Some days are fantastic, others are a struggle, some are exhausting, more than a few feel unproductive, others feel like a sprint and some feel like a marathon. I get that some of this is to be expected, even "normal", but in my world, the ADHD world, these seemingly small things can throw a person greatly off course.
Would improving my overall wellness baseline help with continuity? Would it help to pull together some of those extreme variances into more of a steady constant?
I'm curious by nature and so have decided to test it. All of it. And then share the results with you.
Acupuncture, essential oils, meditation, nutritional supplements, herbal remedies, biofeedback, flower remedies, exercise, music, Reiki, Craniosacral therapy, the list can go on and on. What truly helps? What doesn't? My guess is that it will be different for each person. I am trying what I'm curious about and sharing how I feel about it. If there is an alternative therapy that you are curious about, submit a request to me via email and who knows, you just may find a blog post about it! Stay tuned, more next week. ~Shaun
