Ritalin is a well-known medication used for ADHD. In most cases, the medicine ensures that the patient can experience peace and concentration. Unfortunately, this drug has many unpleasant side effects. To still experience peace and concentration, there are alternatives to Ritalin. These include psychoeducation, neurofeedback, a special diet, individual therapy, Cogmed and Braingame Brain.
Psychoeducation
The diagnosis of ADHD can be hard on parents and children. Even if the parent or child actually already knew that something was going on. The diagnosis also raises many questions. During psychoeducation, both the child and the parent learn about what ADHD is and what consequences it can have in daily life. This form of therapy helps people accept that they have ADHD. The therapy is intended for the child and his/her immediate environment. Psychoeducation is often individual for the child. The child will then receive information about ADHD and tips on how to deal with ADHD in daily life. For parents, the focus is mainly on finding support from each other. This can be done, for example, through a support group.
Neurofeedback
Brain consists of different parts of the brain. These communicate with each other via electrical impulses. These impulses are the brain waves. Everyone has them. They come in different frequencies, this is the number of vibrations per second. There is a certain frequency for everything you do. In children with ADHD, the frequency of the brain waves is different. This causes restlessness, hyperactivity and difficulty concentrating. With neurofeedback, a child learns to influence brain waves. This is done with the help of exercises and games. Children are taught how to find and maintain the positive frequency of brain waves that they need when doing homework, for example. This ensures better concentration. This also relaxes the child. This is possible for children from the age of five. The treatment may take a while. On average, this lasts between twenty and forty sessions. This form of treatment is usually not reimbursed by the health insurer.
To eat
Everyone knows that food is important to you. It is usually well known that healthy eating can ensure a healthy mind. What is less known is that a certain diet can ensure that ADHD causes less of a problem. It is important that you do not just follow this diet. This must always be done under the guidance of a dietitian. The diet can also be inconvenient. The diet was invented by Lidy Pelsser and is called the elimination diet. In this diet, Pelsser looks at which products a child is hypersensitive to. By eliminating certain foods that are known to cause allergies from a child’s diet for a few weeks, the dietitian tries to find out what a child is sensitive to. It does this by always adding a new food to the diet. From there you will find out whether the food makes the ADHD complaints worse or not. By continually trying this out, you will get a good overview of what makes the complaints worse and what does not. The foods that increase the symptoms are then banned from the child’s diet.
Individual therapy
Individual therapy can also help reduce the symptoms of ADHD. Some children are easily distracted by others. Then it is wise to first opt for individual therapy. In addition, individual therapy ensures that the child receives more personal attention. In individual therapy it is important to look at what burdens the child with ADHD experiences. By looking at these burdens and offering tools to deal with them, the child is helped. This way, the child can function again in the classroom, for example, without any other help.
Computer therapy
Various therapies are possible on the computer. These are individual and offer useful tips and tricks to deal with ADHD. Two examples of this are Cogmed and Braingame Brain.
Cogmed
Cogmed looks at working memory. This is the memory that retains information for a short period of time and then processes it. Something is done with the information in working memory. You need working memory to remember instructions, solve problems and control impulses. Children with ADHD often have a weaker working memory. In the Cogmed training, you practice on the computer for five weeks and five days a week. The training sessions last about half an hour and contain eight exercises that can be done at home. This is done under the guidance of a special training aid. The parent can take on this role after the coach’s explanation. The program is suitable for children from seven to seventeen years old.
Brain game Brian
Another computer training is Braingame Brain. This therapy trains executive functions. These are the skills you need in your life to accomplish tasks. Examples of this are planning skills and being able to organize things. Many children with ADHD have difficulty with these skills. In therapy these skills are addressed, trained and learned. This is done using a game world. In this world the child has to complete tasks. The nice thing about this training is that children see it more as a computer game than something they can learn from. This provides good motivation. There are twenty-five game sessions, each lasting approximately forty minutes. The game is intended for children aged nine to twelve. Braingame Brain is not only for children with ADHD, children with ADD can also benefit from it.
