ADD ADHD, ADD Treatment, ADHD Help, ADHD Support

Treating ADHD Without Drugs

More and more parents are demanding the safest treatments for any disorder or disease for their children.  No one wants to see children harmed in any way.  Too often we are seeing more warnings about the dangerous possible side effects of ADHD drugs.  An ADHD treatment that has proven to be most successful includes using EEG Biofeedback.

Biofeedback for ADHD Treatment has been used by a few medical doctors throughout the country as the focus of their practise.  These doctors have seen and compiled clinical charts for 10s of thousands of patients.  Utilizing biofeedback many of these patients, who were using adhd drugs, no longer require them. Biofeedback has had many success stories but few researchers are taking the time to prepare a large study that will remove the controversy from this treatment option.

Integrative Therapy is the term most commonly used in the medical community to describe a doctor's practice that utilizes biofeedback and other treatments while using medications as a last resort.  Medication is only used when the patient can not handle treatment without it or by not using it, the patient's life is in danger.  This could happen with some anxiety or depression that can accompany ADHD.

 

Biofeedback Video Games

Video games have changed a lot since the early days.  Pong and Pac Man were the big hits and now most kids have no idea what the fascination with it was. Today the games are 3D, with better effects then most movies.   These games have many controls to use with your feet and hands.  Most parents say that video games are bad for kids but doctors think otherwise.

Using video games for biofeedback and other learning outlets have been show to be incredibly effective.   Biofeedback for children and adults have increased it's success rate as the games become more advanced.  The controls for the game are still very basic as there is only a few specific areas of the brain that will be exercised at one time.  As time goes on the biofeedback games will be so interactive that it will help you overcome ADHD while teaching all sorts of new ways to manage your brain.

Biofeedback video games have one main objective and that is to hold your attention to a specific brain wave.  As the games improve then the easier it will be for the patient to concentrate.  At a certain point the game might be too interactive causing more ADHD, maybe.

 

Using Biofeedback For The Brain

For some reason biofeedback has been a controversial treatment for the past 40 years.  Neurotherapy, which primarily uses neurofeedback as a treatment method, is designed to change brain activity.  This treatment is also know as EEG Biofeedback.

The critics of using neurotherapy or biofeedback in treating mental illnesses, stress and other disorders say there is not enough data available.  Many of those who have used this treatment method, continue to use it today because it has real life working results.  There are studies on biofeedback but there are few compared to medication based studies.

Biofeedback for the brain in most cases today is used for the treatment of ADHD.  The ADHD child will sit in front of a screen and play video games.  The game is controlled by brain activity.  The right type of brain activity will translate into some sort of reward on screen instantly.   The session lasts for about 40 mins and a therapist is there monitoring the biofeedback machine and rewarding the patient when he has the right brain activity.

 

Biofeedback And Other ADHD Treatment Methods

The most common way to manage ADHD is through diet.  Doctors have long argued that this is not possible but they are now coming around.  As you take medication that changes your body function orally then certain types of food will have an effect on the body.  We see this often from athletes.  Parents will cut out processed foods, sugars and food additives from a children's diet.   Most adults do not associate food with behavior.  Most adults suffering with ADHD will benefit greatly from biofeedback.

Other then Biofeedback people will try, vitamin supplements, fish oil, massage, meditation and yoga.   Biofeedback is becoming more popular as the equipment and the availability of practitioners increases.   Biofeedback hasn't been a popular choice for treating ADHD because it is very time consuming.  A biofeedback treatment program will require 30 to 40 sessions spread over 6 to 8 months.  Each session will take about 1 hour.  

Studies have found the biofeedback alone is not as effective as when it is combined with other treatments.  Social Skills, Supportive Therapy, Parent/Teacher Meetings, Captain's Log, Fast4Word and other learning tools are required for the most effective treatment to occur.  Biofeedback has been actively used by a Los Angeles ADHD Clinic since 1992.