›› Cures For ADD
I aint no expert
(though I am a patron, of sorts) to ADD—Attention Deficit
Disorder, but I must say I don’t think there are any such
things as cures for ADD. Granted, the pill manufacturing
industry will typically push the envelope and advertise
“instant” this and “immediate
relief” of that, and the doctors (particularly HMO doctors)
are strong-armed into pushing just as hard. So you
won’t find alternative information as readily as you might
find some false promises of cures for ADD.
As one who has ADD, I have (before I was diagnosed and medicated
effectively) research and practiced hard and long the possible
“cures” for ADD. Among the hoped-for
panaceas were, for example, St. John’s root (for the
depression component which is all too much conjoined with the
disorder), rigorous daily exercise, and years of psychotherapy.
There is no one drug or medicine, activity, or treatment to completely
obliterate the multi-dimensional disorder…just as there is
no one (if any) cure for most disorders or diseases. There
are wonderful medicines and alternative solutions to treat individual
symptoms. Some swear by natural herbal concoctions (which do
not list their ingredients separately) for focus. There are
pills for concentration or for curbing impulsivity. There are
potions for irritability and edginess.
There are medically prescribed (and monitored) amphetamines, Ritalin,
Adderall, Cyclert, SSRIs and MAOs, and even cocaine derivatives.
There is neurofeedback, biofeedback, behavior-modification therapy, and
psychotherapy. Years of dietary intervention studies have
proven this approach sometimes valid. Centuries of Eastern
medicine has contributed to effectively assuaging some of the more
intense and interruptive symptoms of ADD. And decades of
seeking out vitamin therapies has also helped some.
I guess it is the phrase “cures for ADD” that we
might consider more closely, knowing that what we realistically seek is
ease from suffering—relief from the hypertension, anxiety,
impulsivity, intrusion, disorganization that is Attention Deficit
Disorder. We seek the rare quiet that rest from perpetual
thinking and moving drains us with. We yearn for a semblance
of symmetry, of order, of peace.
And in combinations, the above-mentioned treatments take care of at
least 90% of the malaise that is ADD (and I use a personal percentage
here, not a scientifically established one). By getting
therapy once or twice a week and taking a prescribed medication daily,
for instance, we can focus, be on time, quit interrupting others (or
interrupt less), pay bills, study, work, and succeed in chosen fields
(preferably those that lend themselves to our creative and quirky
ways). Or by eating exceptionally regimented diet plan foods,
taking vitamins (in the right amounts!) and by getting energy healing,
we can calm down, quiet down, slow down. And by understanding
the illness, by reading the best works by professionals and
specialists, and by self-monitoring, we can eventually come to
self-regulate much of the time.
Such ADD experts as Thom Hartmann who has discovered and developed
whole analogies for who we ADDers are (the hunters, he says, in a
hunter-gatherer world; in his book ADHD Secrets of Success) will even
humorously, knowledgeably, and loving remind you to watch out for the
snake oil salespeople who promise cures for ADD! So best of
luck finding the combination and the “cure” that is
right for you.
››
A Healthy Dose of Good Advice
