Recently one of my neighbors stopped by to tell me that he had heard the herb witch hazel could be used for treating ADHD symptoms. He must have noticed my eyes starting to glaze over as he assured me that the information had to be credible after all it was posted on the internet.

I knew enough about witch hazel to know that in the natural health community it is widely used in many natural skin and anal care products including those for hemorrhoids but this was the first I had heard of it being used as a cure for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. I thanked him for the advice on ADHD herbal remedies and suggested he might ask his doctor about his revolutionary new found cure for ADHD just to make sure that it was right for him.

My recent encounter briefly summarized above may sound pretty crazy to some but most people with ADHD are willing to try just about anything to effectively manage their own, or their children's, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms.

This frantic rush to find a solution may be driven by one of many disturbing numbers. Among these are the 80 percent chance of academic under achievement along with a myriad of problems which arise during the teenage years. The condition also follows many into adulthood affecting their ability to hold a job, manage finances, stay organized, sustain a happy marriage, and maintain social relationships.

One of the challenges of finding an effective ADHD treatment

Perhaps part of the problem with effectively treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is that this condition only exists on its own about 30 percent of the time, with the other 70 percent being comprised of a co-existing condition or two. So in seven out of every ten instances not only is someone struggle with ADHD trying to manage the primary symptoms of inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity but also are attempting to rein in depression, bi-polar disorder, learning disorders, anger issues, social phobias, and anxiety.

What next? For those struggling with ADHD finding an effective treatment option is an important first step. The most common forms of treatment are prescription stimulants such as Ritalin, Adderall and nonstimulant medications such as Intuniv or Strattera. While effective, all stimulant medications come with a number of serious label warnings.

The risk of side effects, or perhaps lack of success (30% of the time), has prompted many to consider non-prescription options. A couple examples of these are behavior modification therapy and/or natural remedies. Natural remedies for ADHD are a side effect free way to address such problematic symptoms as inattention, distractibility, impulsivity, erratic behavior and hyperactivity and can be used both as a standalone treatment or as a compliment to other non-prescription alternatives. They also have been shown to produce long term lasting benefits about half of the time.