New Help for Adults With ADHD: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Doctors have prescribed pills to adults who suffer from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) for decades, but a new study has found something that will help sufferers even more when used in conjunction with the medicine that they have already been prescribed. Cognitive behavioral therapy has recently been proven as a way to help adults who suffer from the affects of ADHD.

Cognitive behavioral therapy, or talk therapy requires ADHD suffers to sit down with a therapist and talk about the causes behind their moods and ADHD symptoms. They need to identify any dysfunctional thoughts that one might have and then the therapist teaches them how to replace them with positive thinking.

The idea of using cognitive therapy on adults is important because some adults simply cannot or will not take the medicine that they are prescribed. Or, they have been on the medication for so many years, that it no longer works for them.

During the study all of the participants were taking their ADHD medication and they were divided into two sub-groups. One group received the cognitive therapy and the other used a form of relaxation therapy, which has also been used to treat ADHD sufferers. The findings of the study show that the subjects who were in the cognitive therapy group were able to lessen the affects that their ADHD had on them at a greater rate than those who were in the relaxation group. The complete results of the study are going to be released in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Aug. 25.