Non-drug treatment

This section summarizes the non-drug treatment and therapy approaches known to us.
The (+) and (-) in the headings of the following articles reflect our personal assessment of the benefits for ADHD.

In our experience, drug treatment is the most important and sensible form of therapy for severe and moderate forms of ADHD.
Among the thousands of people with ADHD that we got to know via the forum, those who thought that they had achieved sufficient symptom improvement with psychotherapy were not only clearly in the minority, but even more clearly: barely represented.
in our opinion, (suitable) ADHD medications deem effective (or suitable) are given an efficacy label of (+++++).

• ADHD should definitely be treated with medication - at least temporarily - especially at the beginning of therapy.
  People with ADHD who have never felt what it is like to live without these distressing symptoms cannot understand the goal of non-drug therapy from their own perception. Edel/Vollmoeller argue in a similar way.¹ In addition, dopamine is a neurotrophic factor, which means that it is required for learning processes in the brain. The dopamine deficiency typical of ADHD therefore prevents learning success and should be remedied before psychotherapeutic treatment.
• A large meta-analysis of 190 studies involving 26,114 participants with ADHD found that stimulants appeared to be superior to behavioral therapy, cognitive training, and non-stimulants. Stimulants in combination with behavioral therapy appeared to be the most effective.²
• Medications show a much greater Effect size on ADHD symptoms than non-pharmacological treatments.³
• Presentation of the medication treatment at ⇒ Medication for ADHD - Overview.

Non-pharmacological treatments are important supportive measures which, in combination with medication, can lead to relevant additional improvements.
Psychoeducation, self-help groups, sports, psychotherapy, mindfulness techniques and neurofeedback are particularly noteworthy.