A User’s Guide to Digital Therapeutics for ADHD

“We eat the way we eat because we are afraid to feel what we feel.” ~Geneen Roth

$106.45 (queen size)“I have to take my ADHD medication later in the day in order to do homework efficiently, and sometimes that can make it hard to wind down and fall asleep. This pillow is pricey, but to me it’s worth the money.

December 3, 2022Over the years, persistent concerns by clinicians about the safety of ADHD medications have hampered treatment, particularly in middle-aged and older adults. The notion that ADHD stimulants were intrinsically toxic to the cardiovascular system, despite reliable evidence to the contrary, has now been debunked.A new meta-analysis of studies from the last 15 years, involving more than 3.9 million participants, concluded that “ADHD medication use was not statistically significantly associated with the risk of any CVD (cardiovascular disease) among children and adolescents, young and middle-aged adults, older adults, or overall.” The analysis, published in JAMA Network Open, was the most comprehensive to date on the association between ADHD medication and CVD risk.1The study found:[Download: ADHD Medications – Comparison Chart of Stimulants & Nonstimulants]Moreover, there was no increased risk of cardiovascular disease, regardless of the type of CVD the patient had when starting the ADHD stimulant, or that developed while they were taking ADHD medications.

My husband once explained to me, in pain-staking detail, why J. R. R.

Stimulant medications and behavioral therapy are considered first-line treatments for ADHD in children, but caregivers know that multimodal treatment plans work best for easing symptoms. What does “multimodal” look like in real life? In a recent ADDitude poll of about 1,000 webinar attendees, about 50% said stimulants and/or non-stimulants have “improved their child’s ADHD-associated learning and behavior challenges the most.” The other half said the following lifestyle factors had the biggest impact:Comments and questions submitted during the webinar, titled “Genes and the Environment: How Biology and Exposures Contribute to ADHD in Children,” centered on the lifestyle and environmental factors with the biggest impact on ADHD symptoms.Diet, exercise, and sleep are the Big Three — the lifestyle changes with the most significant, most scientifically proven effect on ADHD.

“I appear very organized to the outside world, but only because I spend an immense amount of time and energy putting everything together.”“My house is an embarrassing cluttered mess. I don’t let people come over.

Not available January 11? Don’t worry. Register now and we’ll send you the replay link to watch at your convenience.Does your tween or teen seem to lack all motivation? Do they need aggressive reminders to begin tasks — especially those they’ve put off for as long as possible? Is it almost always a struggle to finish?Many adolescents with ADHD stall out when trying to start and/or complete assignments and tasks, especially when they are no fun, boring, or challenging.

November 28, 2022ADHD medications — both stimulants and non-stimulants — do not place patients of any age at greater risk for cardiovascular events such as heart failure and hypertension. This groundbreaking finding comes from a new meta-analysis of 19 observational studies, including 3.9 million participants, that found no statistically significant association between ADHD medications and cardiovascular disease (CVD), even among middle-aged and older adults.1The analysis, published November 23 in JAMA Network Open, is the most comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal observational studies to date on the association between ADHD medication use and the risk of CVD.

November 23, 2022The Adderall shortage first reported this summer and confirmed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in October, is dragging on — and dragging down many patients’ mental health in the process.

Thanksgiving is not about perfectly mashed potatoes or a beautifully basted bird. It’s not about baking a picture-perfect pumpkin pie, or even squeezing in a turkey trot before supper. If we embrace the brief respite that it offers, Thanksgiving is a much-needed pause that encourages us to express gratitude for our families, friends — and ourselves.To that end, we recently asked ADDitude readers to share a moment they felt thankful for a specific trait associated with their ADHD.