ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is most often treated with a combination of medication and therapy. Treatment for sufferers of this disorder is typically prescribed by a specialist pediatrician or a psychiatrist but day-to-day monitoring of the condition can be performed by a general practitioner.
ADHD treatment uses medication as the initial approach for school-age children that have severe symptoms and for older subjects and those with moderate symptoms that do not show signs of improvement with counselling and/or behavioural therapy.
While behavioural management is often used for pre-school aged children, where the problem persists into school-age they are usually prescribed stimulant medications that have proven effective in controlling behaviours associated with the condition. These treatments, however, are most effective in the first 14 months of treatment while long-term treatment can result in serious side effects has been shown to be less effective.