Instructing parents and children in common techniques for improving sleep improved children’s sleep somewhat and also tended to reduce many of their ADHD symptoms, according to a study in the British Medical Journal.
Australian researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial involving 244 children aged 5-12 who were getting treatment for ADHD. The intervention involved three consultations about common techniques for improving sleep. They tested outcomes related to sleep problems, behavior, quality of life, daily functioning, working memory, and parent mental health. “Intervention families reported greater improvements in all other child and family outcomes except parental mental health,” the researchers reported.
Hiscock, H., E. Sciberras, F. Mensah, B. Gerner, D. Efron, S. Khano, and F. Oberklaid. āImpact of a Behavioural Sleep Intervention on Symptoms and Sleep in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Parental Mental Health: Randomised Controlled Trial.ā BMJ 350, no. jan20 1 (January 20, 2015): h68āh68. doi:10.1136/bmj.h68. (Abstract and Full text)
And yet this “condition” is “treated” with stimulant drugs, which tend to disrupt sleep patterns and reduce the total amount of sleep!
— Steve
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Which in turn leads to putting these kids on wonderful stuff like Seroquel to “help sleep” and down it goes from there.
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