This text is borrowed from James Brown, who summed up a massive new study that has landed in The BMJ (one of the world’s earlier medical journals), pulling together 221 meta-analyses on ADHD treatments across the lifespan.
He says: “This easily the most comprehensive picture we’ve ever had about what helps… and what just helps your wallet empty faster. Here’s the short version (because ADHD):
Medications work in the short term, with moderate to high certainty.
Methylphenidate is the most consistent across raters. Atomoxetine also holds up well. Amphetamines help, but can be harder to tolerate. Adults: methylphenidate and atomoxetine show medium effects, but side effects show up more clearly.
Non-drug options: CBT for adults has moderate-certainty evidence. Everything else (mindfulness, parent training, physical activity, and acupuncture) shows mixed results with low certainty. Interesting, but not quite “throw away your meds” territory.
Long-term evidence? Basically none. For any intervention. (Yes, really.)
The team also built an open-access platform where you can look up any treatment, age group, symptom, and evidence certainty in a genuinely user-friendly way. It’s exactly the kind of resource people with ADHD and clinicians have been asking for.”
