Medication-Free Children's ADHD Treatments: Building Better Habits

Education & Development Blog

If your child suffers from ADHD, focusing for extended periods can represent a significant challenge. Although medications can help your child manage ADHD symptoms, developing healthy habits to cope with ADHD can have lasting benefits.

Here are some steps to consider as you look into children's medication-free ADHD treatment options:

Identifying Triggers

ADHD creates unique challenges for children. Because sitting still and maintaining focus is an expectation in many social and educational settings, it can help your child figure out the triggers that exacerbate their ADHD symptoms.

• Digital Footprint: for many children, ADHD symptoms often correlate with increased use of digital devices like phones, computers, and video games. One of the most accurate ways to figure out when your child's ADHD symptoms become too intense to handle is to look at when they interact with their digital devices. For instance, if your child sees that they unlocked their phone more frequently during a period, they can begin to figure out what might have compelled them to interact with their phone so many times.
• Journaling: another way to help your child become more cognizant of their ADHD triggers is to maintain a journal. Because ADHD symptoms can manifest as unnoticed actions, journaling should include several short entries per day. Encourage your child to focus on differentiating when they feel in control versus when they feel more out of control.

Out of Sight

Once your child begins to identify their ADHD triggers, they can begin to eliminate them systematically.

• Eliminate the Urge: simply being near an ADHD trigger can be exhausting. For instance, if your child attempts to reduce the impulse to interact with their phone during school when it's within reach, the emotional toll of resisting the urge can be draining. Because eliminating phones and other ADHD triggers completely isn't feasible, your child will need to develop strategies to eliminate them for specific periods.

Healthy Scheduling

ADHD doesn't have a cure-all solution. If you're hoping for medication-free ADHD treatments for children, creating healthy schedules might be the best way to cope.

• Intervals Training: everyone needs rest. If your child is empowered to create intervals of productivity and rest, the pressure to cope with ADHD can feel more manageable. For instance, if your child is hoping to study more productively, they alternate between periods of focus and relaxation. The intervals of focus might start relatively modestly and equal to periods of relaxation. As your child builds confidence, they can increase the duration of focus while decreasing the periods of relaxation.

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31 January 2023