ADHD: Alternative Treatments Main Menu ADHD: The Fact and the Fiction This project is intended to make connections between media portrayals of ADHD and their impacts on alternative treatments such as neurofeedback, behavioral therapy, parent training, and diet-alteration therapy. ADHD Medications Today, the use of ADHD medications such as Ritalin and Adderall is still the most popular treatment method for ADHD. Let's explore the adverse side effects of the medications, which are a reason alternative treatments have been gaining more attention recently. Common Misconceptions How YOU Can Avoid Parent Shaming This page is designed to promote an active learning style for parents to avoid feeling shamed by media surrounding ADHD. The media often uses fear and anxiety to shame parents into trying treatments they are not comfortable with or spreading false information. I will teach you how to spot these things and avoid them! Neurofeedback Behavior Therapy Behavior therapy is the most common alternative treatment for ADHD. It is currently recommended as a supplement to drugs but some parents believe that this treatment alone may be just as effective as a supplementation. Parent Training Diet Restriction Diet restrictions are gaining popularity as an alternative treatment for ADHD. The Feingold Diet has stood out as a diet that improves behavioral issues with manipulation of diet. About Me

Parenting Mediatization

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Parenting style is undoubtedly the most criticized cause of ADHD or ADHD-like symptoms in children and has gained its own term, "parent shaming". In debates on alternative medicine treatments, I have found that a majority of the audience feels that ADHD is something that can be “parented out” of a child. In my dataset, 63% of the articles I explored discussed parents as a contributor to childhood ADHD. Ayurveda, an alternative treatment page on Facebook, contained comments from followers on the laziness of parents today, their lack of interest in their child, and their desire to get benefits from their child being on medications. These where three of the ideas I observed repeatedly in my survey of social media debates on alternative medicine (7). The following are examples of the discussion on the Ayurveda Facebook page:

 Even educational websites such as ADDitude are targeted at mothers to help support their child. Blogs on this website have parent clickbait titles such as “My son hates how different he is”, or “How I am recovering from my ADD-induced mom guilt”, displaying that this website, while promoted as a tool to educate the public about ADD, is actually drawing in one specific group with their strategic advertising (12). Online magazines such as ADDitude are a perfect representation of how the media may be using fear and anxiety to target parents to think about the possibility of their child having ADD. The For Parents page has different stories posted such as "The Truth About Your Child's Lies", "10 Rewards to Inspire Your Child's Best Behavior", and "Organizing Your Child", suggesting that you can “parent” the disorder out of your child by attending parent training sessions or enrolling your child in a behavioral therapy class (12).
While the website does provide an outlet for parents to learn more information about ADHD and network with other parents, it is important to remember that this website is designed to reach parents for their subscribed viewership.
See if you can find any interesting "clickbait" articles on the ADDitude magazine website.

This page has paths:

  1. Parent Training Katy McCarthy
  2. Common Misconceptions in the Media Katy McCarthy

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