Abstract

MESQUITA, Cíntia Machado de; PORTO, Patrícia Ribeiro; RANGE, Bernard Pimentel  and  VENTURA, Paula Rui. Cognitive behaviour therapy and inattentive subtype of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A non explored area. Rev. bras.ter. cogn. [online]. 2009, vol.5, n.1, pp.35-45. ISSN 1808-5687.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is defined from a chronic course which leads to several impairments. In adults, the greatest difficulties are in organization, sustained attention and memory. The disorder presents as core characteristics: inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity and its diagnosis is mainly clinical. Our aim is to report the case of an adult client diagnosed with ADHD inattentive subtype and Major Depression, treated only with Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in 20 sessions. Initially we will present the clinical characteristics of ADHD and a brief review of the treatment of ADHD with CBT. We will then describe the search in the literature about the efficacy of CBT without medication in adults with ADHD inattentive subtype. The measures pre and post-treatment were: Beck Depression Inventory and Adult Self-Report Scale. Some interventions were psychoeducation, Socratic questioning and strategies to improve organization. After CBT, the client no longer meets criteria for major depression and there was a decrease in symptoms of ADHD

Keywords : ADHD; Adults; Cognitive-behavioral therapy.

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