How To Treat It
To successfully treat ADD, there are therapies and behavioral strategies that are designed to help you as an individual. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which helps you better understand and change negative thinking and behaviors that cause ADD, will also focus on time management, organization, and problem-solving.
Another treatment option is psycho-education, which involves educating you about the different facets of ADD. Psycho-education will help you gain an understanding of your ADD and guide you in developing coping strategies that work. When treating a child or teen with ADD, psycho-education teaches parents and other caregivers ways to help manage the attention problems and hyperactivity that can also be associated with ADD. Through treatment planning, specific goals are set, and ways of achieving these goals are identified.
Medication is also very effective in treating ADD. Stimulants such as Adderall and Ritalin are often prescribed to effectively treat the disorder. They can help tremendously in helping you concentrate more effectively, clear up any jumbled thinking, and reduce hyperactivity. Combining medication, therapy, and psycho-education can be extremely helpful and is most often recommended.
People with ADD often suffer from other mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. It is essential that you identify any other mental health problems you may be having and treat those alongside your ADD.
Effective strategies to manage ADD symptoms include developing a daily routine. This helps because the steps required to complete certain tasks remain the same every day and are therefore easier to remember and complete. For example, if you struggle with getting out of the house on time in the morning (and find yourself late for work or school often), it makes sense to have a set bedtime, a set wake-up time, and a list of things that must be completed each morning that will allow you to leave your house on time, all the time.
It is also important to set realistic goals and prioritize them and the steps needed to meet your goals. Break down large tasks into smaller ones. It is extremely helpful to write down your goals and the steps necessary to meet them. Just as in life coaching, doing this helps keep you focused and on task.
Don’t forget: use reminders…I have certain tasks, such as when to take medication, on my smartphone calendar with double alarms set. One of the more frustrating things about having ADD is being forgetful and disorganized. Keeping a calendar with reminder alarms can help you track what needs to be done and at what time.
Meditation is another useful tool in managing ADD. Meditation can help clear your mind and clarify your thoughts. When used in concert with CBT, meditation can help you identify your negative thoughts. To change your negative thinking requires knowing what your negative thoughts actually are.
When working on tasks it is important to limit any distractions. Having the TV on while trying to complete a task can be maddening if you have ADD. You may even want to silence or turn off your smartphone (I’m not kidding!) If you are a social media junkie, looking at social media when you take a break can end up being a bottomless pit. You may find yourself wasting countless hours online and getting nothing done.
Yet, getting lost in social media is an example of the gift most ADD sufferers have. Those with ADD do report being able to hyper-focus on things they enjoy most. Certain projects can be so enticing that you may find yourself losing track of time while working on them. I SOMETIMES FIND MYSELF lost in a book. I also hyper-focus when I am working with a client or writing a blog post. Yet, the gift of hyper-focus can be a pitfall as you may ignore important responsibilities you may have. This can drive your partner crazy…
If you suspect you may have ADD it is important to visit a mental health professional for an assessment. Living life with undiagnosed ADD can be difficult. Living with undiagnosed ADD doesn’t allow effective treatments and living strategies that may be available to you to occur.
