ADHD Toronto

Attention-defici/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects a person’s ability to effectively manage a task, role, or situation, due to concentration, organization, and memory difficulties. Symptoms and severity can differ between people but adults with ADHD may: 

• Make careless mistakes or miss important details about something 
• Have difficulty listening when spoken to
• Have difficulty following through on instructions 
• Lose things often 
• Be easily distracted
• Have difficulty sitting still 
• Talk excessively and/or talk very quickly 

According to the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), ADHD symptoms need to begin before the age of 12 for a clinical diagnosis to be given, however, many individuals presenting with ADHD symptoms aren’t diagnosed until adulthood. If an adult was not diagnosed with ADHD in childhood, but recognizes that they experience symptoms, they can still seek ADHD testing and treatment. 

ADHD treatment options for adults are usually medication and psychotherapy. Medication can help improve core symptoms of ADHD like distractibility, short attention span, and impulsivity, while psychotherapy can help develop the habits and skills necessary for self-management, and emotional and interpersonal functioning. Likewise, psychotherapy can address any coexisting mental health challenges like anxiety and depression, which are commonly reported among ADHD adult populations. Incorporating mindfulness-based interventions may also be beneficial for the person to learn how to stay in the present moment. 

At Greystones Health we combine the tools of Psychotherapy and Naturopathic Medicine to truly take on a Mind-Body approach.  As Psychotherapy explores the individual’s thoughts, emotions and past events, we add in the Naturopathic tools to look for inflammation, food intolerances, gut-brain concerns, blood sugar problems that don’t show up on standard blood work, hormone balance (testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone need to have a healthy balance for both females and males), and consider stress hormones like cortisol levels.  There are natural products to help balance serotonin and Gaba to help keep the nervous system calm and better able to engage in the psychotherapy process.  This combination of Psychotherapy along with Naturopathic support has been very powerful and has been very successful.  

As the individuals, biochemistry improves and their emotional coping skills develop, we additionally improve energy and health behaviours like diet and exercise that the person had often found too challenging to start or maintain.