​
ADD & ADHD
With ADD and ADHD patients, they have a "creative" personality type that has "gone awry". This is very similar to a person with an "orderly" personality that has gone "too far" - they become obsessive compulsive.
​
Obviously our goal is not to change their creative-ness but rather to pull them back just a bit to where they can find paths to learning, focussing, and attention.
The treatment challenge in patients with ADD and ADHD patients is in finding "brain allergies". These often come in the form of food sensitivities, heavy metal toxicities, and yeast overgrowth.
Dr. Berglund's approach
For Dr. Berglund, helping a patient with ADD or ADHD is a multi-faceted approach. To start out, it helps to realize that the conditon is a personality type that has become dysfunctional. You probably don't want to hear it, but this person will most likely never be a traditional student in a classroom. They will likely never be the diligent, note-taking student that an organized personality type resembles. One of the best methods of success is in being creative with how they study, learn, and memorize. When their learning surroundings adapt to their personalities, the success rate increases.
In addition to this, Dr. Berglund looks for factors that affect the brain, such as food sensitivities, heavy metal toxicities, and yeast overgrowth. Combining these two treatment approaches (in removing irritants as well as adapting the learning environment), these students' success rates increase dramatically.
​
Dangerous drugs for your kids?
One of the key features of ADD and ADHD is that the brain functions better on stimulants. For example, most people who have been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD know that they do better with caffeine.
Most pharmaceutical drugs used to treat ADD and ADHD are stimulant-based amphetamines (e.g. Concerta, Ritalin, and Adderall). The problem with these amphetamines is that although they help the patient to be able to function more "normally", they also act as appetite suppressants, they stimulate weight loss, and cause insomnia. This is a problem for anyone, particularly in growing children.