Treating Adult ADHD

Lawrence Choy, MD
Thrive Global
Published in
5 min readNov 7, 2017

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Image by Andrii Zastrozhnov (Shutterstock)

In adults, ADHD is often characterized by difficulty performing daily work, managing household tasks, delaying gratification, regulating emotions, maintaining relationships, and much more.

While most people associate Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with distracted, fidgety, and misbehaving kids, in recent years, we’ve come to understand that the condition greatly impacts the lives of adults as well. In adults, ADHD is often characterized by difficulty performing daily work, managing household tasks, delaying gratification, regulating emotions, maintaining relationships, and much more. Fortunately, using a combination of medications, psychotherapy, coaching, and lifestyle modification, we can effectively control symptoms so people can live productive and fulfilling lives with adult ADHD.

Adult ADHD Medications

Illustration by Beatriz Gascon J (Shutterstock)

Essentially, ADHD medications work by enhancing the transmission of brain-signaling chemicals — neurotransmitters called dopamine and norepinephrine — to help the higher-level brain regions function better.

The mainstay of treatment for adult ADHD is medication. Oftentimes, I encounter patients who view medications negatively and…

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Lawrence Choy, MD
Thrive Global

Stanford Trained Psych MD in Silicon Valley. MentalWellness, Adult ADHD, & Clinical Neuroscience Expert. Co-Founder & Medical Director of Elite Focus Clinic.