ADD Student

Archive for September, 2007

You can find herbal treatments for Attention Deficit Disorder in health food stores, online, even advertised on tv. Do they work? That’s a difficult question to answer, but the short answer is probably not.

Here’s the long answer:

Prescription drugs are made of chemicals, for the most part. Some of those may be derived from herbs, but you can’t compare them equally. Prescription drugs are designed to work in a predictable way each and every time they are taken.

Herbs, being a natural element, have more variability. How long since they were harvested, how were they harvested, how were they prepared afterwards? These factors affect the herb’s properties and it’s effectiveness, although if you buy from a reputable manufacturer, you can be reasonably sure that you have a consistent product.

However, many of the herbal supplements that I have seen marketed specifically for Attention Deficit Disorder consist primarily of herbs designed to calm. Calming the hyperactivity that may accompany AD/HD is fine and good, but what’s equally or more important are the issues of inattention and distractibility. I have not found a single herb-based product on the market that addresses this.

I do, however, have one recommendation: Marguerite Wright, of Mother Knows Best, is a Certified Herbalist and Health Consultant. I have taken the time to get to know Marguerite and her philosophy when it comes to treating the symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder, and I am impressed. If you are considering treating AD/HD without the use of prescription drugs, I urge you to contact her.

Not at all. There is no relationship between Attention Deficit Disorder and intelligence.

Based entirely on my own experience, I would say that people with AD/HD tend to be above average in intelligence, and are highly innovative and creative thinkers. I personally have worked with 2 clients who had genius IQs and yet struggled with AD/HD to the point that they were barely passing high school.

Most scientists today agree that Attention Deficit Disorder, or AD/HD, is a biologically based disorder which affects how the brain functions. There is strong evidence that ADD or AD/HD is hereditary, and is often found in families where there is a history of alcoholism and/or depression.