The research is conducted in order to find the effectiveness of healthy environment in curing disorder such as ADHD.
The research is important because it will enable people with various psychological disorders to cure their problem living a healthy lifestyle without using medications.
The researcher has done a review of previous works on psychological disorders, the causes, symptoms, treatment and effectiveness of these treatments. However, the previous research was not aimed at any specific psychological disorder and did not aim to compare two different treatments. A summary of the five articles that was reviewed previously for the chosen study will be provided that encompasses varied spectrum of psychological disorder. The current research has specific aim to compare between healthy living and use of medication to cure ADHD disorder. In order to conduct a review in this area, it is important to understand clearly about the disorder.
Howes et al. (2017) discussed in their article, the role genes, dopamine and stress play in the development of the psychological disorder schizophrenia. The article states that recent studies concerning stress have found that elevated striatal dopamine synthesis and hike in dopamine release in schizophrenic patients as related to stress. Further, the article also shows that environmental risk factors like social isolation and childhood trauma for schizophrenia affects presynaptic dopaminergic function. The article was mainly aimed at understanding the role of dopamine and genes in releasing stress for schizophrenic patients that could help stratify them.
Another article based on psychological disorder mainly depression was reviewed. The article, authored by Grunberg et al. (2015), focused on the effects marijuana and temperament could have on anxiety and depression. The authors first talk about the increasing consumption of marijuana amongst adolescents especially amongst those who suffer from anxiety and depression. The authors drew the conclusion that marijuana use has an impressive connection to temperament post anxiety or depression amongst adolescents in particular.
Distel et al. (2013) in their article, focused on the causes and the researchers for the study used effects of genetics on borderline personality and trait anger using 5,457 twins and 1,487 siblings of these twins. The researchers found a significant phenotypic association between genetics and the two disorders. Their study found that genetic risk factor especially when shared is an elucidation for the covariation of borderline personality disorder and trait anger.
Parental influence also results in the emergence of psychological disorders amongst children that often stay for lifetime. The article written by Kerr et al. (2013) bring forth the effects on adopted children of their childhood spent with unknown people as parents. They conducted a comparative study to analyze the social and psychological influence on children due to the antisocial and abnormal behavior of both the biological mother and adoptive mother. The study is particularly effective in assessing the ADHD disorder.
Studies examining the influence of genes in psychological disorders have been done in large numbers and Xie et al. (2017) have carried it further. The researchers performed their study to find the risk genes that cause bipolar disorder. They performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) although it was difficult to find the genes that are indirectly responsible for bipolar disorder. Their research revealed that core hub genes were not related to bipolar disorders.
Although the above articles had no direct explanation of or association to the chosen ADHD disorder, these provide a better insight into the work that has been done to uncover possible reasons for the various psychological disorders. In the following section, the researcher will discuss in details, the ADHD disorder and compare the effect of healthy living to medicine use in curing the disorder.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD is a psychological disorder found in children and teenagers mostly but it can carry on to adulthood as well. As defined by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), “ADHD is a mental disorder marked by an ongoing pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development”. The NIMH further defines various components of ADHD that include inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity (Nimh.nih.gov, 2018). Inattention means an individual lacks persistence, has problems sustaining focus, and is not organized. Hyperactivity refers to an individual excessively fidgeting, talking or tapping, moving about restlessly and such. Impulsivity refers a person makes hurried actions without thinking that might have the potential for harm. In normal people, these traits are balanced but in people with ADHD, these occur excessively.
Psychiatrists prescribe medications to cure majority of psychological disorders. At times, medications are used as follow-up of some treatments. Maisel et al. (2013) have found that medications like acamprosate and naltrexone are effective in treating alcohol use disorders by promoting abstinence and reducing drinking as well as craving. In case of ADHD however, many scholars have found different and opposing influence of medications. Molina et al. (2013) conducted a study to check the efficacy of medications as both a complete treatment and as a follow-up and found that medications do not have any visible effect on ADHD. The authors concluded their study stating, “Medication for ADHD did not protect from, or contribute to, visible risk of substance use or SUD by adolescence, whether childhood or as medication at follow-up” (Molina et al., 2013). Aguiar et al. (2015) on the other hand, researched about the knowledge teachers have regarding ADHD and its treatment. They found that while majority of teachers had positive opinion about medication use in ADHD, special education teachers were more positive about it than were the general educators. Maia et al. (2017) further researched on the possible benefits of medication in reducing ADHD especially in adults. The study found “immediate methylphenidate as the only drug shown to reduce ADHD symptoms in adults with substance abuse disorders”.
In the context of this study, healthy lifestyle means that individuals have a home of their own, an organized room with healthy eating habits and being able to have a balanced diet every day. The diet must have limited sugar consumption. In addition, healthy living would include the individual’s ability to complete daily tasks, making the bed, maintaining a hygienic room and exercise for at least thirty minutes every day.
In contrast to the above findings on medication use, Halperin, Berwid and O’Neill (2014) suggest an alternative treatment for ADHD without the intake of medicines. According to the researchers, exercise has beneficial effects on several neurocognitive functions in children as well as adults with ADHD. Thapar et al. (2013) further find that environmental factors also have a great influence on reducing ADHD symptoms in patients. The researchers suggest that having a healthy physical environment has direct affect on human health especially those with ADHD. Although major studies in the previous years indicated the superiority of medicines in treating ADHD, recent trends have indicated otherwise. It has been found in many recent studies that medications provide positive results only at the three-year mark. After this mark, the effect of medication continues to decrease. Meppelink, de Bruin and Bögels (2016) also observe the side effects related to the use of medication in treating ADHD. The researchers instead state that having a balanced diet and exercising regularly Heilskov Rytter et al. (2015) found in a study that dietary interventions have significant effect on children with ADHD. As per the findings of their study, “elimination diets and fish oil supplementation seem to be the most promising dietary interventions for a reduction in ADHD symptoms in children”, (Heilskov Rytter et al., 2015).
After reviewing the literature, it can be stated that limited study has been conducted in finding the positive effects of healthy living in treating ADHD as opposed to taking medications. Most of the literature have focused on the benefits and limitations of medicines and hardly any research has been dedicated to check the efficiency of a healthy lifestyle.
In order to find credible and sufficient evidences of the positive effects of healthy living to treat ADHD, the researcher has chosen survey design to conduct the research. Survey design has been chosen for the research because it is useful when comparing the two opposite variables – healthy lifestyle versus use of medication in curing ADHD. Survey design will not only help explore the benefits of healthy living but also find the effectiveness of combining both medication and healthy lifestyle to see what works best for the patients. The researcher will implement this research design by conducting a three-year lengthy research in which the participants are to fill out numerous surveys periodically and assess their progress. The survey will be conducted within the ethical premises by following proper guidelines prior to involving participants. Participants shall sign consent forms prior to surveying them.
Conclusion
Therefore, as the literature review suggests, survey design would be a better research design to find the positive effects of healthy living in treating ADHD. The review of literature revealed that not many studies have focused solely on healthy living as an alternative treatment for ADHD without medication use.
References:
Aguiar, A. P., Kieling, R. R., Costa, A. C., Chardosim, N., Dorneles, B. V., Almeida, M. R., … & Rohde, L. A. (2014). Increasing teachers’ knowledge about ADHD and learning disorders: an investigation on the role of a psychoeducational intervention. Journal of Attention Disorders, 18(8), 691-698.
Distel, M. A., Roeling, M. P., Tielbeek, J. J., van Toor, D., Derom, C. A., Trull, T. J., &Boomsma, D. I. (2012). The covariation of trait anger and borderline personality: A bivariate twin-siblings study. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 121(2), 458–466.
Grunberg, V. A., Cordova, K. A., Bidwell, L. C., & Ito, T. A. (2015). Can marijuana make it better? Prospective effects of marijuana and temperament on risk for anxiety and depression. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 29(3), 590–602.
Halperin, J. M., Berwid, O. G., & O’Neill, S. (2014). Healthy body, healthy mind?: the effectiveness of physical activity to treat ADHD in children. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics, 23(4), 899-936.
Heilskov Rytter, M. J., Andersen, L. B. B., Houmann, T., Bilenberg, N., Hvolby, A., Mølgaard, C., … & Lauritzen, L. (2015). Diet in the treatment of ADHD in children—A systematic review of the literature. Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, 69(1), 1-18.
Howes, O., McCutcheon, R., Owen, M., & Murray, R. (2017). The Role of Genes, Stress, and Dopamine in the Development of Schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry, 81(1), 9-20.
Kerr, D. C., Leve, L. D., Harold, G. T., Natsuaki, M. N., Neiderhiser, J. M., Shaw, D. S., & Reiss, D. (2013). Influences of biological and adoptive mothers’ depression and antisocial behavior on adoptees’ early behavior trajectories. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 41(5), 723-734.
Maia, C. R. M., Cortese, S., Caye, A., Deakin, T. K., Polanczyk, G. V., Polanczyk, C. A., & Rohde, L. A. P. (2017). Long-term efficacy of methylphenidate immediate-release for the treatment of childhood ADHD: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of attention disorders, 21(1), 3-13.
Maisel, N. C., Blodgett, J. C., Wilbourne, P. L., Humphreys, K., & Finney, J. W. (2013). Meta?analysis of naltrexone and acamprosate for treating alcohol use disorders: when are these medications most helpful?. Addiction, 108(2), 275-293.
Meppelink, R., de Bruin, E. I., & Bögels, S. M. (2016). Meditation or Medication? Mindfulness training versus medication in the treatment of childhood ADHD: a randomized controlled trial. BMC psychiatry, 16(1), 267.
Molina, B. S., Hinshaw, S. P., Arnold, L. E., Swanson, J. M., Pelham, W. E., Hechtman, L., … & Greenhill, L. L. (2013). Adolescent substance use in the multimodal treatment study of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)(MTA) as a function of childhood ADHD, random assignment to childhood treatments, and subsequent medication. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 52(3), 250-263.
Nimh.nih.gov. (2018). NIMH » Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Retrieved from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd/index.shtml
Thapar, A., Cooper, M., Eyre, O., & Langley, K. (2013). Practitioner review: what have we learnt about the causes of ADHD?. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 54(1), 3-16.
Xie, Z., Yang, X., Deng, X., Ma, M., & Shu, K. (2017). A Genome-Wide Association Study and Complex Network Identify Four Core Hub Genes in Bipolar Disorder. International Journal Of Molecular Sciences, 18(12).
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