The Drake Institute now offers remote treatment for ADHD, autism, and other brain-based disorders. With the help of our trained clinicians, you can get the help you need from the comfort of your home.
Learn More >>The Drake Institute now offers remote treatment for ADHD, autism, and other brain-based disorders. With the help of our trained clinicians, you can get the help you need from the comfort of your home.
Learn More >>Limbic ADD is one of the popularly theorized “7 types of ADD” (Classic ADD, Inattentive ADD, Over-focused ADD, Temporal Lobe ADD, and Ring of Fire ADD). Limbic ADD involves a series of complex structures in the brain—known as the “Limbic System”—which are involved in regulating emotions, motivation, memory, behavior, olfaction, and influences both the endocrine system and autonomic nervous system.
People suffering from Limbic ADD are thought to be suffering from an overactive limbic system and an underactive prefrontal cortex, leading to brain dysregulation and the unwanted symptoms associated with the disorder. At the Drake Institute, we use advanced qEEG brain mapping technology to evaluate brain functioning and determine if a patient’s ADD issues are related to symptoms involving the Limbic System, allowing us to determine the best possible treatment for ADD.
Please note that the theoretical 7 types of ADD, including Limbic ADD, are not official disorders or diagnoses recognized by the American Psychiatric Association. However, because the general population has become aware of these labels due to popular media promoting their existence, we feel that they are still worth addressing.
And while it is debatable about whether or not there may be such a thing as “Limbic ADD”, people with ADD or ADHD definitely can and do experience the symptoms outlined below, and some people with ADD may be experiencing negative symptoms as a direct result of irregular functioning in their Limbic System.
When the limbic system becomes overactive, people afflicted by Limbic ADD tend to experience an array of negative symptoms. Below is a list of common Limbic ADD symptoms:
These symptoms may sound familiar to you because they’re almost identical to the symptoms associated with clinical depression. While a diagnosis of Limbic ADD may be controversial, everyone in the medical community has accepted the existence of clinical depression.
It is possible for an individual suffering from Limbic ADD to be misdiagnosed as having simply clinical depression since the symptoms, at least on the surface, can be indistinguishable.
If left untreated, both of these disorders can have a severe impact on a person’s ability to live a happy and functional life, which is why it is imperative for anyone experiencing these symptoms to seek a medical evaluation immediately.
The effect that Limbic ADD can have on a person’s life can be truly devastating. Limbic ADD can cause marriages to fail, poor performance at school or work, and result in painful low self-esteem.
Limbic ADD can put a real strain on intimate relationships, especially since it may hinder one’s capacity for bonding with their peers. People suffering from Limbic ADD are vulnerable to becoming isolated and cut off from others around them.
Many people suffering from ADD really can’t help it: their brains are limiting their ability to experience successful careers, joy, happiness, and love.
Compounding the severity of these issues, Limbic ADD can reduce a person’s ability to get a good night’s rest; a person suffering from Limbic ADD may have difficulty staying asleep throughout the night. Although the person might be able to fall asleep quickly, they may wake up numerous times throughout the night with feelings of anxiety or hopelessness.
After waking, these individuals may be able to fall asleep again, but only temporarily, as the process repeats itself: they sleep; they wake, fall asleep again, only to wake up again.
During restless nights, people tend to find themselves worrying about things excessively as their “fight or flight” system is overstimulated.
It is widely known that sleep deprivation can cause a variety of issues, including short-term memory loss, fatigue, irritability, and poor concentration. When you combine sleep deprivation with the symptoms of Limbic ADD, it’s easy to see how a person’s struggles can become exponentially worse.
Typically, Limbic ADD treatment plans encompass a range of Limbic ADD medications and at times Limbic ADD nutritional supplements, but this is far from a long-term strategy. Even in the best case scenarios, medication typically only offers temporary relief and can cause unwanted side-effects.
Simply put, when the pills stop, the symptoms may return.
At the Drake Institute, we approach ADD treatment in an entirely different way, relying on qEEG brain mapping technology to identify the severity of the dysregulation within the Limbic System, then developing a treatment plan that is not only highly effective but individually tailored to the patient’s specific needs (linking symptoms to the dysregulated brain activity).
Our treatment plans utilize both neurofeedback and biofeedback therapy to strengthen the brain’s natural ability to regulate itself better. Neurofeedback and Biofeedback are both non-invasive treatment methods, but what’s more, they’re capable of providing patients with self-regulation and long-lasting results.
By helping our patients develop the mental skills and improved brain functioning required for self-regulation, this reduces the patients’ needs or requirements for medications. Though in some cases medication may still be necessary.
The patient can now rely on the resources of their own brain to improve their symptoms. In fact, many of our patients find themselves able to titrate off of or at least reduce their reliance on expensive, and sometimes potentially harmful medications.
Limbic ADD is a serious disorder involving a very specific set of complex structures within the brain, and manifesting symptoms similar to clinical depression.
Without proper treatment, those experiencing the effects of Limbic ADD are at risk of having their lives becoming very dysfunctional and unhappy.
At the Drake Institute, we help patients rediscover their full potential and get their lives back on track, without relying solely on drugs.
Get the help your family deserves at the Drake Institute today. Contact us at 1-800-700-4233 to schedule a no-cost screening consultation.
We’re here to help you put the pieces back together, and, no matter how broken things may seem, relief may be possible at the Drake Institute.
If you or a family member need help, please fill out our confidential online form
Interview with Dr. David Velkoff
Seth's Story
Interview with Dr. David Velkoff
Spanish News Feature
“David F. Velkoff, M.D., our Medical Director and co-founder, supervises all evaluation procedures and treatment programs. He is recognized as a physician pioneer in using biofeedback, qEEG brain mapping, neurofeedback, and neuromodulation in the treatment of ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and stress related illnesses including anxiety, depression, insomnia, and high blood pressure. Dr. David Velkoff earned his Master’s degree in Psychology from the California State University at Los Angeles in 1975, and his Doctor of Medicine degree from Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta in 1976. This was followed by Dr. Velkoff completing his internship in Obstetrics and Gynecology with an elective in Neurology at the University of California Medical Center in Irvine. He then shifted his specialty to Neurophysical Medicine and received his initial training in biofeedback/neurofeedback in Neurophysical Medicine from the leading doctors in the world in biofeedback at the renown Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas. In 1980, he co-founded the Drake Institute of Neurophysical Medicine. Seeking to better understand the link between illness and the mind, Dr. Velkoff served as the clinical director of an international research study on psychoneuroimmunology with the UCLA School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and the Pasteur Institute in Paris. This was a follow-up study to an earlier clinical collaborative effort with UCLA School of Medicine demonstrating how the Drake Institute's stress treatment resulted in improved immune functioning of natural killer cell activity. Dr. Velkoff served as one of the founding associate editors of the scientific publication, Journal of Neurotherapy. He has been an invited guest lecturer at Los Angeles Children's Hospital, UCLA, Cedars Sinai Medical Center-Thalians Mental Health Center, St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California, and CHADD. He has been a medical consultant in Neurophysical Medicine to CNN, National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel, Univision, and PBS.”
