How much nutritious food, sleep, and daily exercise is my child getting? Is there room for improvement?.Is there a strong team of counselors, doctors, teachers, and others involved in making things go as smoothly as possible for my child?.Do I have a good handle on behavior modification strategies (cognitive behavioral therapy) and how they can help?.Is it possible ADHD symptoms are lessening and we can back off treatment a bit? Or have the symptoms increased?.Has anything changed for my child recently?.What does my child say about how they are doing?.How is my child doing with managing school, friendships, and life at home? What’s the most difficult thing for them right now?.Here are some questions and angles to consider for your child’s next doctor’s visit.
Skills training, and family and individual counseling can be valuable, as can understanding why and how ADHD affects your child and involving your child’s teachers and coaches. What’s more, medication should represent just one of the multiple ways you help your child manage at home, at school, and in their relationships. When building a treatment strategy, you’ll need to take into consideration your child’s unique needs and circumstances: their age, whether they’ve tried stimulant medications already, and if they have other issues they struggle with, such as depression or anxiety. (And if you don’t have a care team like this, consider assembling one!) Put another way: While certain stimulants or nonstimulants might work now, that could change.Ī team of experts, including your child’s teacher, guidance counselor, doctor, psychiatrist, or therapist, can help you monitor your child’s condition and manage their treatment. Since as many as 6 in 10 children with ADHD have another behavioral, mental, or emotional health condition, such as depression or anxiety, according to the CDC, it’s extra important to adapt to changes in your child’s needs over time. “Number one,” says Jeffrey Newcorn, MD, director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, “What aspects of the condition are causing the greatest problem for the child? Try to get a treatment that homes in on that.” Many experts stress that ADHD treatment has to be individualized and work for your child’s situation right now, at this point in their life, with the recognition that it should be revisited several times as your child develops and issues rise or fall in importance. Other possible reactions include tics, anxiety, weight loss, and sleeplessness.
This, along with other potential side effects, can be a deal breaker for some families. That said, stimulants are controlled substances and carry a risk of addiction and abuse.