J. Russell Ramsay, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology
University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine
(A blog from the Psychosocial Sub-Committee of APSARD)
Medications approved for the treatment of ADHD are required to list documented side effects. Some of these may be relatively mild and well-tolerated and are far outweighed by the benefits of the medication for symptom reduction and overall well-being. On the other hand, for some individuals these side effects may be significant or, in some cases, intolerable and require discontinuation of a medication.
The prospect of side effects in some common non-medical, psychosocial treatments for teen and adult ADHD, such as family behavior management training, cognitive-behavioral therapy, ADHD coaching, and mindfulness-based treatments does not immediately jump to mind as an issue when recommending them. However, a special edition of The ADHD Report was devoted to this very topic. The link below provides access to the website for this issue and the articles, as of the date of submission of this blog, are listed as open access.