How to treat ADHD without medication

11.10.2022 • Well-being •4 min read

Therapy

As mentioned by Harvard Health, you can start to attend therapy sessions. Since there is not any “one fits all” method to learn how to handle what you struggle with, consider choosing what seems like a better fit for you. You can decide if you want to try to handle your symptoms on your own or give it to the hands of a professional.

Professional therapists have a lot of experience in handling similar symptoms. Each person is individual so it may take time for the therapist to get to know you and find what suits you best. Cognitive-behavioral therapy and emotional-focused therapy are recommended for people suffering from ADHD.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (also known as CBT) is all about changing your mindset. It can help you work on an “all or nothing attitude” that many people (not only with ADHD) struggle with. The therapist will help you work on a coping mechanism for dealing with stress and working on your self-esteem.[1]

Emotional-focused therapy is a better fit if you often find yourself in a situation where you abruptly change your emotions in reaction to the smallest things or you suffer from sudden anger attacks or get irritated easily. This can make your everyday life unpleasant not only for you but also people around you. A trained therapist can help you learn how to understand your emotions and keep them under control. [2]

Create and keep a regime

If you think you know yourself better than anybody there are also many things you can try to get yourself more focused and present. The key, however, is to stick to them, to see if they work which can be hard if you have ADHD. What you can do on your own may seem as a simple task at first, but keeping a regime is not always easy.

Develop daily habits. Shopping lists, sticky notes, short news breaks, proper water intake. Do it once, and then keep repeating. If you keep forgetting stuff, use notifications or visual cues to help you remember. This all may seem so stupid written down, but only if actually implemented in your daily routine they will bring you some results.

If you want to introduce new habits and stick to them it is important to have a schedule. If your phone is keeping you away from doing what should be done you can use AppBlock’s Scheduled Blocking where you can create multiple schedules based on the time or location.

So for instance, if you want to stay focused during work hours you can set up blocks from Monday to Friday and restrict the apps that would otherwise take your focus from what needs to be done throughout your day.

If you would like to separate your private and work life, you can also set scheduled blocks over the weekends and block work emails or chat groups.

Exercise

Exercise is a thing that gets recommended basically everywhere. The best way to stick to some exercise is having it connected to a place, ideally outside of your house so any distractions do not tempt you. Do powerlifting at the gym, run outside, go swimming to a pool, try yoga in a group, and not just from YouTube videos. All of these things will not allow you to get distracted. If you are also hyperactive they may either make you calm down and focus on your body or are a perfect way to get some healthy use of your extra energy.

Sharing is caring

Sharing your struggles with friends and family. If you constantly forget something or keep interrupting conversations because of your symptoms, try explaining to people around you, why you are doing it and make them understand your feelings. Don’t feel silly to ask them to remind you of things or stop you if you feel overwhelming to them at times. If you keep your struggles to yourself they may start to feel that you don’t care about them enough if you always forget or you can seem rude or uninterested in other people.