11 to 14 pages, APA FORMAT masters level, CAPSTONE TOPIC UNDERSTANDING UNTREATED ADHD.... ASSIGNMENT NEEDED DONE ASAP

Running Head: UNDERSTANDING UNTREATED ADHD 1

UNDERSTANDING UNTREATED ADHD 6

Understanding Untreated ADHD Comment by Sharon: It would be better if you focused on: the problems in adults whose ADHD has been untreated. If you are on the forensic pathway, the Capstone needs to have a forensic focus, e.g. The relationship between untreated ADHD and offending behaviour. This is necessary for a forensic psych capstone.

Jailya Wooden

Walden University

April 23, 2020

Untreated attention deficit disorder has a grasp on the population of adult patients. The condition limits the potential of patients in limiting their learning, employment and socializing capabilities (Hamed et al., 2015). The most effective solution for this condition is the use of cognitive behavioral therapy with the intention of controlling poor social coping characteristics and replacing them with positive behaviors. Comment by Sharon: To fix the problem of untreated ADHD it’s not simply an issue of suggesting treatment for it, as there is ample treatment. But it’s about understanding WHY people don’t seek treatment for ADHD, or their parents don’t, and addressing that problem specifically.

Scholars in this field have continuously suggested the application of other non-pharmacological interventions for ADHD such as the use of parent training, class room interventions and social skills training. The solutions are all aimed at replacing the negative traits brought about by the mental condition with positive ones. However, the three interventions are not viable for the case of unmanaged, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. First, cases of untreated ADHD is majorly in young and older adults. This renders parent training unviable as the sufferers are past the children stage and cannot take parental instructions anymore. Comment by Sharon: OK, though the problem is not lack of treatment of ADHD. It seems to bey ‘why’ some ADHD is not treated - in which case the solution is how to encourage people to seek treatment.

Secondly, the classroom training is unviable for the sole reason that adult patients do not have the opportunity to be in classrooms anymore. Based on the untreated nature of their condition, the patients could have totally lost the ability to concentrate on classroom matters or even cooperate with the intervening professionals rendering the solution ineffective (Kemper et al., 2018). Further, the social skills training exercise is more oriented on young patients who have already finished and or continuing with other interventions which help them to cope with learning environments.

The cognitive behavior therapy entails the gradual correction of poor behaviors with positive and success facilitating social traits. Architects of this intervention postulate that the process banks on basic behavioral transitions which later facilitate gradual improvement of an individual’s social competence (Sprich et al., 2016). The end result of this solution is completely reframed thinking patterns that increase the social productivity of the individual. Although the solution has been utilized for long as a standalone, evidence based practice has indicated that the practice can be incorporated with group therapies to offer more successful interventions. Comment by Sharon: This is suitable if the problem of your Capstone is poor effectiveness of pharmacological treatment of ADHD. In which case the solution could be a psych treatment, such as CBT.

The suitability of this solution is based on its flexible nature allowing its incorporation of other interventions specific on personal needs as well as its ability to be bent to accommodate the social uniqueness of patient circumstances. Secondly, the solution is has the ability to resolve other secondary conditions that worsen ADHD such as negative attitudes towards life and the gloomy moods by replacing the counterproductive thoughts with positively motivated ones (Sprich et al., 2016). Additionally, the non-pharmacological intervention does not take much time in achieving its results. It is on the bases of the above features of the CBT that I have suggested its application.

However, cognitive behavior therapy heavily relies on the will and dedication of the patient for it to succeed rendering it difficult to administer to people with extreme attention deficits. Further, the condition takes much time for the patients to internalize the new copping skills and utilize them in their lives. Finally, experts have suggested that this method is only able to solve the current mental health complications with little capacity to change or affect the underlying conditions which could be the source of the manifesting symptoms (Sprich et al., 2016). Comment by Sharon: A very significant problem. You are recommending CBT but then saying there’s a serious challenge to people with ADHD benefiting from this solution. So how can you address this issue.

In this scenario however, the cognitive behavior therapy can only offer effective solutions once it is backed up by collective societal change as to how the community deals with patients of this social-psychological disease. Fortunately, the society has two opportunities for positive social change upon the adoption of the intervention. The community can be sensitized on the early diagnosis of the condition and as a result seek early treatments for the same. The sensitization will lower the social stigma associated with the conditions and which worsens the patient’s ability to cope or adopt facilitative positive behavior. Parents will be educated on the early intervention such as parent training and classroom training, both which will arrest the condition before it limits the social productivity of the sufferer (Coelho et al., 2015). Comment by Sharon: But your capstone is not about poor diagnosis of ADHD, but lack of treatment.

Moreover, upon the implementation and observation of the method, the community can adopt the change of lifestyle and instead incorporate positive behavioral patterns that will solve ADHD in its earliest forms. Such behavioral changes includes the uptake of nutritive diet and exercises which will promote intense physical exercises. The early societal initiatives have been touted as effective in lowering maladjusted conducts of the patients (Satapathy et al., 2016).

Jailya, you have made interesting comments re CBT as a treatment for ADHD. There are two important areas for improvement for this paper: First, you need a forensic psych topic. ADHD generally isn’t a forensic topic, so you need to link it in to forensics – see my comment near the title. Secondly, you need to make sure that the recommendation you suggest fits well with the problem. For example, if the problem is lack of treatment for ADHD, the solution needs to fit around ‘why’ there is lack of treatment. There are certainly many treatment options. Please focus on identifying a forensic psych topic, and craft a problem statement in line with that. Then start thinking about problems and solutions. I’m happy to discuss in this last week before you need to submit the final Capstone. Pls ensure ref list is in APA style, e.g. doi, page numbers. Otherwise generally a clear writing style, well done.

Content: 12.5

Writing: 7

References

Coelho, L. F., Barbosa, D. L. F., Rizzutti, S., Muszkat, M., Bueno, O. F. A., & Miranda, M. C. (2015). Use of cognitive behavioral therapy and token economy to alleviate dysfunctional behavior in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Frontiers in psychiatry, 6, 167.

Hamed, A. M., Kauer, A. J., & Stevens, H. E. (2015). Why the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder matters. Frontiers in psychiatry, 6, 168.

Kemper, A. R., Maslow, G. R., Hill, S., Namdari, B., LaPointe, N. M. A., Goode, A. P., ... & McBroom, A. J. (2018). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Diagnosis and treatment in children and adolescents.

Satapathy, S., Choudhary, V., Sharma, R., & Sagar, R. (2016). Nonpharmacological interventions for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in India: A comprehensive and comparative research update. Indian journal of psychological medicine, 38(5), 376.

Sprich, S. E., Safren, S. A., Finkelstein, D., Remmert, J. E., & Hammerness, P. (2016). A randomized controlled trial of cognitive behavioral therapy for ADHD in medication‐treated adolescents. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 57(11), 1218-1226.