Comment by kuerbel
11 hours ago
I have the inattentive version but it's simply not bad enough to take meds.
What I don't like about this study is that they only take meds into consideration, but there are other treatment options. For example cognitive behaviour therapy. Also, they included studies that included self-diagnosed ADHD. Self diagnoses are on the rise and very often wrong (I.e. trauma response might present with adhd like symptoms). Aside from some other flaws I think the significance of this study is limited...
If I have any type its probably inattentive. Never taken stimulants. I was able to compensate for it without meds to an extent when I was younger - not perfectly but good enough to not get fired from most of the jobs I had. But now in middle age that no longer works. I like to call myself "early retired" now, certainly sounds better than being out of work for years.
I haven't been energetic about seeking stimulants because, well attention problems, but I hear there are shortages of the meds, they are a pain to refill (I can't even keep my non-controlled antidepressents going in the US system), and that docs nowadays don't really diagnose adults because they believe "it should have been diagnosed in childhood" even though the official pediatric diagnosis didn't show up in the DSM until I was 14. So close, but my parents who have their own issues _including_ attention problems, don't believe in mental health care.
> I have the inattentive version but it's simply not bad enough to take meds.
Count yourself very, very lucky. For those not as lucky as you, meds can be a gigantic relief or make a "normal" life possible at all. Therapy helps too, but can't like medically directly affecting your brain chemistry.
I did not argue against taking meds, I argue that there might be other treatment options available. I know a lot of other adhd people from self help groups, some clearly need meds and that is of course fine and good that they found something that works, but a significant portion don't and live a good life after therapy. It's like saying people need Mounjaro to lose weight. Some do (like me), and others don't. But I hope everyone agrees that exercise and dieting (with outside help e.g. nutritionist) should be tried first.
You be you and do what works for you. But cognitive behavioral therapy does not work by itself for ADHD. Stimulants are the gold standard treatment.
>But cognitive behavioral therapy does not work by itself for ADHD.
But it does exactly that. There have been enough studies about this. CBT and medication combined improved faster, but CBT alone catches up in a few months. E.g. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/108705471667119... or this study here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31280035/
>Stimulants are the gold standard treatment.
I'm not arguing that they don't help, but CBT also increases other metrics, e.g. self esteem, acceptance, self-efficacy, and so on.
> I'm not arguing that they don't help, but CBT also increases other metrics, e.g. self esteem, acceptance, self-efficacy, and so on.
I was recently diagnosed, and am on stimulants, which are definitely helpful.
That being said, I'd been going to therapy for about six years (currently winding that down), and I have to say that the therapy alone definitely helped with lots of the emotional/childhood stuff that I don't think would have been helped by medication alone.
I would be prone to believe that both therapy & medication are effective, and indeed my prescribing doctor called this out (although she focused on CBT, which is the easy one to test with controlled trials).
ADHD is a spectrum, not on/off thing. Someone with milder symptoms may do okay without stimulants, and find help from therapy. Those with worse symptoms typically need the stimulants.