DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL AND THIS INFORMATION IS PARTIALLY OPINION. DO NOT USE THIS INFORMATION AS A MEDICAL OPINION AS I AM NOT A DOCTOR.

There are a few different treatment options for ADHD, the most medically accepted being behavior therapy and medication. Medication is much more common and is often preferred due to its immediate effects, however it is also the more disputed of the two treatment options mostly due to its side effects. Due to the most commonly discussed side effect of stimulant medication, loss of appetite, it is often argued that medication slows the growth of people who take it but studies show that any effect of that sort that medication may have eventually fades away as children on stimulant medication may fall behind the average height and weight for their age but almost always catch up later. Medication is also argued to be used to “tranquilize” hyperactive children with ADHD but that is also generally not the case, in fact stimulant medication is the exact opposite of a tranquilizer. They are labeled “stimulant” medications as they do exactly what that title would suggest, they serve to stimulate the brain to allow ADHD people, who generally have lower brain activity, to be able to function on a level more comparable to a neurotypical brain. Medication is often most helpful with inattentive symptoms of ADHD but also helps with hyperactive-impulsive symptoms. Most medication prescribed for ADHD also falls into the category of “amphetamines” which sounds much more dangerous than they actually are. The definition of amphetamine is a synthetic medication that causes the nervous system to be more active. Many definitions confuse amphetamine with a derivative of amphetamine called “methamphetamine” which is an illegal substance. While there are some similarities in name and class of ADHD stimulant medications and this illegal substance, they are not at all the same thing. Two of the most common stimulant medications used to treat ADHD are Ritalin, also called methylphenidate, and Adderall, also called dextroamphetamine. Dextroamphetamine is an entirely different substance than methamphetamine; comparing the two is synonymous to comparing morphine, a painkiller commonly used in hospitals, and heroin, a commonly used illegal substance that is close in composition to morphine. There is no evidence that medication has any lasting negative effects on people who take it and it is also extremely effective in treating ADHD, despite the controversy sometimes surrounding it.

Behavior therapy is another common treatment used for ADHD which treats the behavior aspects of ADHD as the name would suggest. It is done based on the behavior model of ADHD rather than based on the neurocognitive model, as medication is. Behavior therapy uses the help of a therapist as well as parental training in order to train a child with ADHD to modify their behavior into actions that are deemed acceptable and positive. Behavior therapy uses a type of operant conditioning focused on modifying behaviors and replacing behaviors that cause problems. Behavior therapy is only effective if the parents continue the training outside of the therapist’s office.