Things to Know About ADHD Treatment?

Answer 1

In the last few decades more and more children have been diagnosed with ADHD. This diagnosis often frightens parents, and it can sometime completely overwhelm them. They should not let it do so, because ADHD is now treated with a very high success rate by health care professionals. Here are some things to know about ADHD treatment.

The standard treatment for ADHD is now a two pronged approach. The first prong focuses on medicating the illness. There are many different kinds of medication that can be prescribed. The second prong is a behavioral modification approach. This focuses on the parent, child, and teacher working together to modify the child’s behavior.

Medication

The most commonly prescribed medications for ADHD treatment are stimulants. These are divided into two classes. One is the chemical methylphenidate, which is sold under the brand names Concerta, Metadate and Ritalin. The second class is amphetamine, which is sold under the brand names Adderall, Dexedrine, Dextrostat and Vyvanse.

Other kinds of drugs that are prescribed for ADHD treatment are designed to affect neurotransmitters. These include medications that target the norepinephrine transmitters. These are sold under the brand names Intuviv, Straterra, and Wellbutrin. The other neurotransmitter-targeting drugs are commonly used for treatment of depression, and they target the serotonin transmitters. Some of these include Aventyl, Effexor, Lexapro, Prozac, and Zoloft.

Many times physicians will prescribe both stimulants and neurotransmitter-affecting drugs together. These can often work well together to control the symptoms of ADHD.

Behavioral Modification Therapy

This therapy helps the parents to understand that child’s negative behavior is the result of their disease. It promotes an incentive process to encourage a child’s positive behavior, while consequencing negative behavior. This incentive program follows a three pronged approach. The first is goal setting. The goals are for children to perform tasks and behavior that can be difficult for them due to the ADHD. The second is rewards and consequences. The children receive immediate positive reinforcement for positive behavior and immediate negative reinforcement for negative behavior. The third prong is consistency. The children must have the goals, rewards and consequences in their life consistently and over a long period of time for the behavior modification to become permanent.