Areas › Focus, starting, and ADHD › Treatment and medication
If a treatment comes with a contract, take it to a solicitor before signing. Not because you cannot read it, but because that puts a few days between the pitch and your signature.
Being told not to sign rarely helps, and it asks somebody to admit in the moment that they might act rashly, which almost nobody does in front of a salesperson. Getting it checked is a reason to pause that costs no pride at all and is hard to argue with. Very often the delay does the work on its own, and the enthusiasm that felt overwhelming on Tuesday looks quite different by Friday.
This explains how treatments work. Never start, stop or change a medication because of something you read here.
Qur’an and Sunnah
Call two just witnesses from your people (Quran 65:2). Bringing a third party into an agreement is presented as normal prudence, not as distrust.
فَإِذَا بَلَغۡنَ أَجَلَهُنَّ فَأَمۡسِكُوهُنَّ بِمَعۡرُوفٍ أَوۡ فَارِقُوهُنَّ بِمَعۡرُوفࣲ وَأَشۡهِدُواْ ذَوَيۡ عَدۡلࣲ مِّنكُمۡ وَأَقِيمُواْ ٱلشَّهَٰدَةَ لِلَّهِۚ ذَٰلِكُمۡ يُوعَظُ بِهِۦ مَن كَانَ يُؤۡمِنُ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلۡيَوۡمِ ٱلۡأٓخِرِۚ وَمَن يَتَّقِ ٱللَّهَ يَجۡعَل لَّهُۥ مَخۡرَجࣰ ا
When they have completed their appointed term, either keep them honourably, or part with them honourably. Call two just witnesses from your people and establish witness for the sake of God. Anyone who believes in God and the Last Day should heed this: God will find a way out for those who are mindful of Him
Qur’an 65:2read it in the library
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.
What the research says
A crossover trial compared once daily extended release methylphenidate with dosing three times a day, in the laboratory and in ordinary settings, testing whether a formulation that removes the need for a midday school dose performs as well. It is a different subject, and the shape of the thinking is the same one: change the structure so success no longer depends on somebody remembering or resisting at the crucial moment. Design around the difficulty rather than asking people to out will it.
William E. Pelham; Elizabeth M. Gnagy; Lisa Burrows-MacLean; Andy Williams; Gregory A. Fabiano; Sean M. Morrisey (2001). Once-a-Day Concerta Methylphenidate Versus Three-Times-Daily Methylphenidate in Laboratory and Natural Settings. PEDIATRICS doi
Strength of evidence: one line of research. A single study, or a theoretical account.
Why it works
A delay with a respectable reason attached is easier to accept than being told to slow down.
This one is still a draft. It is waiting on a scholar and a clinician to read it before it is published.
Near this one
Rather than memorising which treatments to avoid, keep a few questions you can put to any of them. New products arrive faster than anyone can keep a list.
CBT has more research behind it than most other therapies, and part of that is because it is easy to count. Its steps and its outcomes can be scored, so it gets studied more often.
Massage may well leave you calmer, and calmer is worth having. It is not a treatment for ADHD, and the two are worth keeping in separate boxes.