Dear Readers: One of the most important roles of a psychologist is to correctly diagnose and treat a condition, such as ADHD, anxiety, depression, and other conditions. It is very common for a psychologist to diagnose ADHD, and then discuss possible treatments with the patient, or with the patient's parents (if the patient is a child or adolescent). Once the person with ADHD starts treatment with medication, it is extremely important to know that the process of finding out the correct medication and the correct dosage of the medication for each person is a very crucial part of your treatment. I would like to enlist a few elements and points to take into account when someone is in this stage of treatment for ADHD (or for any other condition as well):

1. Make sure that the psychologist who conducted the diagnosis and assessments provides all information to the psychiatrist, neurologist, or any other doctor who will prescribe the medication to you. All professionals working with you should communicate about your health. If you have an internist, you need to make sure that this doctor will provide your health information to the physician prescribing the medication for you.

2. It is important to have information about your symptoms, their severity, and about your impairments associated with your symptoms. For instance, if you have difficulty sustaining attention at work, or driving at night (you may have several speeding tickets every month) due to the symptoms of ADHD, then this is your "baseline" symptoms and impairment. We need to have an idea of how you are functioning before you start medication. There are scales and other instruments that can be used to actually have a "number" associated with your situation before you start medication and/or other treatments.On the same note, if the patient is a child, parents may complete a scale with their symptoms and how impairing they are to the child in various situations, such as school and home. It is best to have input not only from one person, but from more than one source. For an adult, it is helpful to have the person's spouse (or significant other), or a family member answer questionnaires as well. In the case of a child, it is usually good to receive information from parents as well as from teachers.

3. Once you choose a physician to prescribe the medication for the adult or for the child, make sure that you not only trust the doctor, but that you feel comfortable asking questions and having a conversation with the doctor whenever you need. Make sure you know about the medication you will be taking (or giving to your children), including the side effects of it. In addition, you should ask questions about any conflict with taking the medication with a specific diet or with combination with other medications you may be taking already. Do not assume that your new doctor knows about your medical history: provide all information regarding any health condition or history you may have.

4. Once you start the medication (or your child), keep a diary of your symptoms (improvement), and of any side effects. Do not trust that you will remember everything in one month when you will visit your psychiatrist again.

5. It would be helpful to answer another questionnaire or scale again once you have been on a specific medication (and dosage) for a while to find out if anything improved significantly with the symptoms you were presenting when you were first recommended for medication treatment.

6. Similar measures should be implemented by a psychologist or by any other mental health professional who is providing treatment to you or to your child. Measuring improvement helps in deciding whether a specific treatment really works or not.

7. Be patient with your doctor: He/she may have to change medication dosages slowly and with caution before you decide that "it does not work". Your doctor may also decide to change medication after a while. There are protocols that physicians follow in deciding on dosage and what medications to prescribe for their patients. Trusting your doctor's professional ethics and expertise helps you feel more comfortable with the process of finding the right medication and the right dosage for you or for your child.

I hope the above points have been helpful to you in deciding about choosing a physician to work with on medication treatment, and how to work as a team with all professionals involved with your treatment, including the psychologist, mental health professionals, psychiatrists, child neurologists, pediatricians, internal medicine as well as family doctors. Sincerely, Vera Joffe, Ph.D.