Cognitive Behavioral Therapy As A Sole Treatment For Adhd

Lindsay Lamp Jeffery Vittengl PSYC366 14 July 2015 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as a Sole Treatment for ADHD in Adults According to the International Journal of Neuropsychiatric Medicine, about 4% of adults in the United States are affected by ADHD. It’s a disorder that usually emerges in childhood and in the past was thought of as exclusive to a person’s earlier years. More recent research has proved this to be untrue, instead revealing that many people who are diagnosed with ADHD in childhood will continue to have symptoms into adulthood (Ramsay). It is primarily treated with stimulant medications such as Adderall, Vyvanse, Ritalin, or Focalin; however, the long-term use of stimulants to treat ADHD may not be the best option. Through†¦show more content†¦A method was outlined that involved CBT sessions over the course of a semester. The early semester sessions were centered around creating goals relevant to college success, increasing motivation, and guiding the student to a mindset where they are willing to acknowledge and begin working to change the behaviors which present as problematic. The mid-semester sessions aim to review the results up to that point, build on the treatment plans, and work on solving any issues that have arisen, psychological and otherwise. Finally, the patient moves on to the end of semester sessions, by which point they should have had time to test out what methods and strategies for coping are successful (Ramsay). The article concludes by discussing how college is a time where ADHD can be caught before harmful behaviors develop, and be treated as a person transitions into adulthood so that lifelong habits can be formed. An actual experiment on college students was not performed, however Ramsay laid out a blueprint for how it would be achieved. One weakness in the methodology of the study is that the time period only extends through a single semester. As a student gets farther into their studies, their schedules can change quite a lot, and the structure of classes may also change. To help ensure that they can transition betwee n semesters smoothly, it may be more effective if the treatment occurred throughout an