Natural Approaches to Childhood Behavioural Disorders
Childhood behavioural disorders like ADHD affect, according to the Centre for ADHD Awareness Canada, “conservatively…5% of children worldwide”(1), and cause issues in the majority into adulthood. In practice, I find this such a multi-faceted condition that requires a team approach from school, psychology, medical and naturopathic approaches, with the bulk of the hard work falling on parents to take recommendations and diligently study and apply management techniques. There is little data showing the effect of a dairy-free, or sugar-free, or whatever-free diet on ADHD, however with such a multi-faceted condition, this hardly surprises me. It is usually a culmination of diet, key supplements in the early days, and strategies, such as acupressure or craniosacral therapy, to support healthy cortisol levels in these children, as far as naturopathic tips go. And isn’t that the case for so many conditions? A newly published article on children’s health found that fast-food and sugar-sweetened beverages “…to be positively associated with unhappiness, poor sleep, perceived stress and depression” (2).
Craniosacral therapy has been one of the most visibly helpful technique in my arsenal for helping children with cognitive, behavioural, or even mood disorders. The patient lies on the table while the practitioners hands work on releasing trigger points to calm the nervous system using virtually no applied pressure. Many parents tell me the results are immediate and that they can tell the difference when it’s time to come again, generally monthly for most. Craniosacral therapy is gentle and helpful for so many conditions, as found on the Upledger Institute page (3).
References:
https://caddac.ca/adhd/understanding-adhd/in-general/facts-stats-myths/
https://hqlo.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12955-020-01657-w
https://www.upledger.com/therapies/index.php
