· Is inexpensive

· Is cost-effective

• The most common reason patients choose homeopathic treatment is the positive results they have heard from others with similar problems or because they have been referred by another physician or practitioner who is familiar with homeopathic treatment of ADD.

• The patient or parents have read about homeopathy, and the philosophy and approach make more sense to them than conventional medicine.

• Many adults and parents choose homeopathic treatment because it is safe, nontoxic, and effective.

• Conventional medications for ADD act very briefly. A dose of Ritalin, for example, lasts only about four hours. One dose of the correct homeopathic medicine usually lasts at least four to six months.

• Homeopathic medicines often result in growth spurts in children and never suppress a child's normal development. Nor do they cause such side effects as tics, appetite suppression, and insomnia.

• Homeopathic medicines are very inexpensive. The only significant cost of homeopathic treatment is office visits. Once the person has responded well to the homeopathic medicine, appointments are infrequent.

• Homeopathy treats the whole person. Not only do learning and behavioral problems improve, so do most or all of the other physical, mental, and emotional complaints of the person. Conventional medication for ADD works only on specific learning and behavioral problems. Sally Smith, a parent of an ADD child formerly on Ritalin, describes this phenomenon by holding up a ruler and pointing to the one-inch mark: "Ritalin makes you available to learn. You and your parents and teachers have to work on all the rest."

• Homeopathy will not make a child depressed or dull. Parents sometimes complain that, although stimulant and antidepressant medications have eliminated some of the more severe problem behaviors, their children's spirits seem dampened and they do not seem like their former selves.

• Homeopathic medicines are generally given infrequently and over limited periods of time. Conventional medications put only a temporary lid on ADD symptoms. Doctors often recommend that these medications be taken for the rest of the patient's life.

Homeopaths have high expectations for their patients. We generally do not consider a homeopathic medicine effective for a patient unless the person's symptoms are at least 50 percent (usually 70 percent or more) improved and this improvement lasts for a year or more. This requires that the patient stay with homeopathic treatment for at least a year. The homeopath keeps a careful record of all of the symptoms and characteristics that were elicited during each interview. As treatment progresses, these symptoms should get better and better. An improvement can usually be noticed within one month, and often within days or weeks.

A patient can expect his energy and overall sense of well-being to improve as well as an improvement in most or all of his mental, emotional, and physical complaints. This means, as you will see over and over in the cases that we present in this book, that not only does attention and behavior improve, but headaches, growing pains, constipation, nailbiting, and other symptoms improve after the homeopathic medication has been prescribed.