Psychotherapy for ADHD in people with IDD

Abstract

IntroductionPsychopharmacology and psychotherapy in children with ADHD is still well established and has been studied for many years. There has been a growing interest in treatment of ADHD in adults for some years. Whereas meanwhile the psychopharmacological treatment is well studied, the psychotherapeutic interventions are still to optimize.ObjectiveSince the acceptance of the diagnosis of “ADHD” in adults, there has been a growing interest in using medication as the first-line therapy. There is an established evidence base for psychopharmacological treatment in ADHD. The current therapeutic recommendations for the general population apply to people with ADHD and IDD. The study is a review of psychotherapeutic interventions in the treatment of ADHD in adults with and without IDD supported by a case study.MethodsA literature search was conducted in “Pubmed” and “PsycInfo” using the keywords “Psychotherapy”, “ADHD”, “Adults” and further “Psychotherapy”, “ADHD”, “Adults”, “intellectual”, “disabilities”. Exclusion criterion was ADHD as a sub-syndrome in the presence of other syndromes.ResultsOnly 2–3 publications on psychotherapy in adults with ADHD were found. Very little was found on people with IDD, and these were especially combined with the Fragile X Syndrome.ConclusionPsychotherapy in adults with ADHD is not yet well elaborated in the scientific literature. There are some common used intervention strategies like psycho-education, cognitive behavioural therapy, and attention focusing interventions such as mindfulness-strategies. Using the principles of Easy-to-Read language and modifying the general therapeutic settings as recommended by NICE, an adaptation of these interventions in the treatment of adults with ADHD and IDD has potential.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his/her declaration of competing interest.