Neural Feedback Training as Therapy for ADHD?

jamesh asks: "I asked Slashdot (anonymously) a while back about my daughter, who has been diagnosed with ADHD. The Ritalin has made a lot of difference but things are still not quite right, and she has developed various vocal tics (grunting, odd little noises, words and so forth... think Tourette's Syndrome, only not nearly as bad), which is one of the side effects of stimulant medication. She's now a lot less of an outcast and appears able to better interact with other kids, but we're still looking at alternate treatments. It may be the trendy new thing, but we've now started down the road of neural feedback therapy. Does anyone out there have any experience in this treatment? First hand 'I've tried it once and it changed/ruined my life' anecdotes would be great, but if you have a child, friend or acquaintance who has been through this treatment, it would be really useful to hear about their experiences." We also discussed ADHD treatments in another related Ask Slashdot but I don't see any mention of such a therapy in that discussion. Has anyone heard of studies or reports on patients of Neural Feedback Therapy?

"If you haven't heard of it, the idea is that by attaching sensors to the head, brainwaves can be measured, and by providing visual feedback, you can actually train your brain to regulate its activity. An ADHD person supposedly has a brain which isn't very good at keeping itself in 'concentration' mode. In a child, the feedback takes the form of a game or in the case of an infant, a pleasing pattern on the screen (an infant would probably be treated for sleep disorders, not ADHD, in case you were wondering). When the brainwaves are in the 'right' state, the game proceeds or the patterns get prettier. When the brainwaves are erratic, it all slows down.

Because it is a trendy new thing, it's been put forward as a possible treatment for many other things including sleeplessness, epilepsy and other disorders, but one of the better successes has been in the treatment of ADHD.

The whole thing sounds quite plausible, but it is also quite expensive. All of the stuff I've read has been either from the suppliers of the treatment, or from people trying to discredit it."

Comments

MOD PARENT SIDEWAYS

[Anonymous Coward]

Holy shit, the AC speaks the truth. goatse.cx has been revoked. Such an Internet icon, we must have our ass-stretching shock site back!

ADHD is not real.

[Xarius]

I don't believe in ADHD/ADD at all. Children are naturally naughty, curious, and full of energy. Why must Americans attempt to find something wrong with everyone, handing labels out willy-nilly.

At the end of the day "kids will be kids"--Yes, that is an actual saying folks. If you pump the little sods full of these sedatives or whatnot you are ruining the learning experience of a child, in respect to social rules.

A naughty child properly disciplined will grow up OK in most cases. A naughty child fed drugs will grow up to be one of the many idiots that populate the western world today.

Re:ADHD is not real.

[iron_weasel]

Why do they attempt to find something wrong?

Because they can get free money and welfare for it and make their lives easier. Not only will the child get it but the 'caregiver' also.

They also get to lay the blame for illness off on someone else instead of themselves and their dysfunctional family(if it even consists of the defintion of a family). Father, Mother , Children. Or more like Mother and optional sleeping partner and somebodies children , we're not sure.
Or Daddy and the slut of the day.

Re:ADHD is not real.

[PhoenixFlare]

I don't believe in ADHD/ADD at all. Children are naturally naughty, curious, and full of energy. Why must Americans attempt to find something wrong with everyone, handing labels out willy-nilly.

As someone that's suffered some mental health issues of his own, I can safely say you're full of it. Like it or not, some people DO have problems, and are "labled" correctly as having such. Often, it can be because something needs to be formally diagnosed before you can get certain treatment, extra help from the school system, etc.

At the end of the day "kids will be kids"--Yes, that is an actual saying folks. If you pump the little sods full of these sedatives or whatnot you are ruining the learning experience of a child, in respect to social rules.

As someone has already said, WRONG. One of the more common drugs, Ritalin (Methylphenidate), is actually a CNS stimulant.

Take your ill-informed attempts at US-bashing elsewhere, please. Judging by your other posts, you're not very good at it.

How about.

[DAldredge]

How about you spend time with her? I don't mean after school, I am talking about during the day. Teach her yourself if you have to. But, you won't, you are looking for a quick fix and damn what it does to your daughter. You appear to be more concerned with her IQ then you do her health. You describe what is happening to her as 'various vocal tics' but it could be more than that.

Feeding a 6 year old drugs that we are unsure how they work is not a good thing. Most of the great thinkers of the past 1000 years have/had some/all of the symptoms assosiated with ADHD.

Regarding the story:

[Anonymous Coward]

America: Where cannabis is illegal but children are filled up with chemical drugs by incompetent parents and more incompetent "physicians".

I hope your "army", consisting of idiots failing to find their way (not just the blonde slut), will try to liberate ourcountry, too.

Re:Goatse.cx Dead

[Anonymous Coward]

This.

# Impotent Stiff: Please try to keep pants on.
# Try to touch other people's penises instead of your own.
# Lick other people's rims before pissing in your own mouth.
# Use a clear subject that describes what you are about to do.
# Offtopic, Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive comments are encouraged by our pro-homosexual moderators
# If you want replies to your comments brought to you, consider the consequences of CmdrTaco visiting your house and foot-fisting your son, your father, your grandfather, you and your canary.

Re:Goatse.cx Dead

[Anonymous Coward]

But remember: He will not teach you how to become a cracker.

Re:Goatse.cx Dead

[(TK2)Dessimat0r]

e-mail sent.

As a Slashdot troll, I always wish to redirect internet users to goatse.cx. As of late, I am unable to, due to your shutting down of the site. How could you shut it down? Goatse.cx was a PILLAR of the Internet! THE INTERNET IS NOT THE INTERNET WITHOUT GOATSE, DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND, DO YOU NOT, *DO YOU NOT*??! Please could you rectify the situation.

Thanks.

ADHD is BS

[EmCeeHawking]

How did this make the frontpage of Slashdot? ADHD is a contrived "disorder" invented by psychologist quacks and pharmaceutical marketing geniuses.

ADHD is a formal way of describing a person who is too lazy or stupid to get his/her shit together.

I could say I expected more from Slashdot, but then again, I didn't really, especially after the "Multiple Chemical Sensitivity" BS article.

Re:Not a disease

[the_2nd_coming]

thats nice...I have ADD, my Sone has it, and I have to tell you, getting it treated is better than what you have to live through.

ADD kids suffer from Low self esteme, they are considered stupid by their peers and many end up self medicating either by smoking a lot, becoming alcoholics, caffine addicts, or they use drugs.

you are very ignorent about the consequences of this disorder, so your opinions on it matter little.

of course it's true

[Anonymous Coward]

Haven't you ever had to get an esophagual irrigation? Sometimes I have to use pipe cleaners because there is so much old food caked on.

And don't get me started about my aorta. That thing is so full of old goo that I have a tap in my heart and I cup the blood down to my toes.

And my lungs are full of strange things, too. I have a breathing regimin which involves inhaling and exhaling as quickly and deeply as possbile for 45 minutes, 3 times a day. Without this kind of breathing, I'm sure I will suffocate.

1000s of people are helped by these methods DAILY. We need to save the children before they die!

(another AC)

Re:Goatse.cx Dead

[Anonymous Coward]

huh huh huh, huh huh, you said "rec"tify, huh huh huh

they should redirect goatse to slashdot

[Anonymous Coward]

the webserver would die within seconds i bet.

Re:Done the drugs, chose something better

[Anonymous Coward]

Ever notice the "beat the rush and see it early" link at the top of slashdot when a new story is about to come out?

Sounds good, doesn't it? To be able to view the pages linked to in the article before the tens of thousands of other slashbots click to view them.

Did it ever occur to you that you're taking part in cybor-terrorism?

That's right: Slashdot's editors are cyber-terrorists. They coordinate a DOS against small websites, and they attempt to collect moeny from people who wish to be spared the effects fo said DOS. Terrorism, plain and simple.

You can fight this and other crimes by slashdot's editors by joining anti-slash. Anti-slash is committed to forcing the editors to own up to their numerous crimes against the geek community. Until our demands are met, we will relentlessly discredit them as a news service through trolling and other means.

Also, props to poopbot and the alan thicke troll. We remember your accomplishments.

In sacred jihad,

jihadi_31337

Allah's.will,.our.keyboards. joinusinourstrug

[Anonymous Coward]

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Re:Goatse.cx Dead

[HarryCallahan]

The Christmas Island Internet Administration (CIIA) have a feedback forum and someone has already started this thread.

Slashdotters, get to work!