Treatment for ADHD involves medications, therapy or a combination of the two. Recent research suggests that combination treatment that includes both medication and therapy leads to the best outcomes. Such combination therapy also allows use of a lower dose of medications. This research also suggests that medication alone is superior to behavioral treatments alone.

Most of the medications used to treat ADHD are from a class of drugs known as stimulants or psychostimulants. The main drugs prescribed are amphetamine, dextroamphetamine, and methylphindate and each one is sold under multiple trade names (examples include Adderall, Ritalin, and Dexedrine). These medications are available in both short-acting and long-acting forms. Another medication recently approved by the FDA to treat ADHD that works in a similar manner, but is not a stimulant, is atomoxetine (Strattera).

While medications cannot cure ADHD, they can help alleviate the main signs and symptoms of the disorder. They help many children focus and be more successful at school, home, and play and they can also help reduce hyperactivity and impulsive behavior. Medication may also help kids avoid negative experiences early in life and so may actually help prevent addictions and other emotional problems later. However, effects of the drugs wear off quickly and it can be difficult to determine the proper dose for an individual child. Some children experience side effects that make use of medication unacceptable. These include: decreased appetite, insomnia, increased anxiety, and/or irritability. Sometimes, adjusting the dose of the medication can help alleviate these side effects.

Scientists are still not exactly sure how stimulant medications work to prevent ADHD symptoms. At first glance, it seems counterintuitive that medications which stimulate the central nervous system can help people with ADHD decrease their activity level and improve their focus and concentration. This seemingly paradoxical effect makes sense when you look at how these drugs affect the brain. Stimulant drugs increase the levels of neurotransmitters including one called dopamine that is thought to be deficient in ADHD. Stimulants also change the activity in a part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex that is involved in impulse control and seems to be dysfunctional in people with ADHD.

Another way to help improve the symptoms of ADHD is therapy. Both children and adults can benefit from counseling or behavior therapy, which can be provided by a psychiatrist, psychologist, clinical social worker, or other mental health professional. However, like medications, therapies do not cure ADHD. Some of the main therapies available are:

• Psychotherapy, or so-called “talk therapy,” can help people with ADHD to understand their feelings and behaviors and learn how to cope with them.
• Behavioral therapy helps people with ADHD develop ways to deal with immediate issues that come up on a daily basis. Instead of helping those with ADHD understand their feelings about their disorder, behavioral therapy helps directly in changing their thinking and how they cope with individual issues when they arise. 
• Social skills training helps children learn and develop better ways to play and work with other children. In social skills training, a therapist discusses and demonstrates appropriate behaviors that children can use to nurture their social relationships, something that can be very difficult for children with ADHD.
• Support groups made up of other children with ADHD and their parents can help by allowing parents share their experiences — both the frustrations and successes — with others who are in a similar situation.
• Parenting skills training can gives parents techniques for managing their child’s behavior, including an effective system for rewarding good behavior and providing mild punishments (such as a “time out”) for bad behavior.