A stimulant sharpens attention while it’s active. It won’t teach you a skill, repair a relationship or reorganise your kitchen, and it won’t quiet the voice saying you should have sorted this out years ago. Each support below works on one of those.
Psychological therapy
Cognitive behavioural therapy adapted for ADHD is the best-studied non-medication treatment for adults. It has moderate effects on symptoms and larger effects on the anxiety, low mood and self-criticism that often come with a late diagnosis.
Psychologists also use skills from acceptance and commitment therapy and dialectical behaviour therapy for the same reasons. Therapy is most useful once you know what medication did and didn’t change, which is why many psychologists suggest starting a month or two after a medication trial begins.
With a Mental Health Treatment Plan from a GP, Medicare pays part of the cost of up to ten sessions a year. The psychologists in the network are in Brisbane and available by telehealth Australia-wide, and each profile lists their approach and fee.
Occupational therapy
If the hard part is the practical side of the day, an occupational therapist can change the task and your surroundings to suit you: the morning routine, how a workspace is set up, sensory needs, the school report.
OTs are AHPRA-registered. Their services can be funded by the NDIS, private health extras or a GP chronic condition management plan, but a Mental Health Treatment Plan doesn’t cover them. The network has paediatric OT in Brisbane now.
Coaching
Coaching is practical, forward-looking work on executive function: starting, planning, finishing, and building systems simple enough to survive a bad week. It isn’t therapy or a health profession, and it’s unregulated, so credentials matter.
The coaches in the network trained at the ADHD Coaching Academy, and most hold an International Coaching Federation credential. If you work at least eight hours a week, JobAccess can fund coaching.
Daily habits with evidence
- Twenty to thirty minutes of moderate aerobic exercise lifts attention for about an hour afterwards, so do it just before the hardest part of your day. Our exercise post has more detail, including safety if you take stimulants.
- Getting up at the same time each day does more for ADHD symptoms than almost any supplement, and it matters even more if you take stimulants.
- Stimulants suppress appetite through the middle of the day. Eating at set times, with a proper breakfast before your dose, protects your weight and mood. The nutrition post explains how.
What has little evidence
Omega-3 shows a small effect at best, mostly in children. Elimination diets have little evidence in adults and carry real risks. Homeopathy has no reliable evidence for any condition, and neurofeedback has mixed results and a high price. None of these is dangerous in itself. The cost is the money and the months they take away from treatments that work.
How to choose
Start by naming the problem. If it’s how you feel about yourself, try therapy. If it’s the practical side of the day, see an OT. If it’s starting and finishing things, try coaching, and for an afternoon slump, exercise just before it. Try one thing at once, set a date to review it, and read the profiles before you book.
Sources and further reading
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