Resources Focus on Medication and Therapy for Children with Tics or Tourette’s
Medication for tics and disorders such as Tourette’s, ADHD, or OCD can be helpful for treating such disorders, which can upset or disrupt children’s lives.
But clinicians who are prescribing should take into consideration that many children with one condition often have another, the Child Mind Institute notes.
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Clinicians will want to prioritize treating what is causing the child the most difficulty, the Child Mind Institute writes in a new set of resources - which is often not the tics, but the disorder.
The institute’s resources examine the two main types of medication that are effective in reducing tics as well as the pros and cons of each and the steps leading to an effective treatment plan.
The first recommended step in treatment is a specialized therapy known as comprehensive behavioral intervention for tics (CBIT), rather than medication, which may be prescribed if therapy alone doesn’t alleviate tics.
If a child also has ADHD, it is important to ensure that their ADHD medication isn’t making the tics worse. Occasionally, when a second disorder causes a child a lot of stress, treating that can alleviate tics as well.
Below are the Child Mind Institute’s resources on how to treat tics and disorders such as Tourette’s in children.