Coping with ADD

[jba]

farva,

what kind of work do you do?

I could have written that entire post btw.

[Officer Farva]

jba,

I'm a quant analyst at a hedge fund. I posted in the Occupations thread.

Just hearing that others have similar thoughts/problems is making me feel better. I like what you wrote about remembering dumb things you've said in social situations for years. I often will be having the time of the my life with my friends then say something stupid or get made fun of and proceed to allow it to ruin my day. The less I know the person the more trouble I have letting go of the shame. This was especially difficult while I lived in a fraternity, as the environment is one of constant ridicule. I am actually glad I went through this experience as I was forced to develop some kind of thick skin and learn to tell myself that "its ok, everyone says/does dumb [censored] from time to time".

Anyways I could go much deeper on this topic, but I don't know if this is the place? I have began to analyze my actions of the past several years and have begun to observe a coping pattern of behavior. Basically I think I have tended to behave in self-destructive ways in order to justify my focus on negative things; for example, I'll be upset about my laziness at work, go home and tilt off my bankroll in a no limit game. In that way, I will have justified feeling negative because I have just lost money. In actuality, I am masking the deeper problem. I guess this is a form of self medication through poker but at this point I am rambling so I will stop.

[MelchyBeau]

I'll give you some things I figured out on my own while trying to figure out how to get around my ADD.

When studying, I like to change locations every hour or so, This can be as simple as changing to a different area of the library to going to a different building.

Also study away from where you live. I tend to find myself too easily distracted by things in my apartment either the computer or tv or different books or even that rubik's cube I can't seem to solve.

I find jobs that require alot of hands on work such as in a lab much more enjoyable than for instance sitting at a cubicle trying to contact suppliers and such, even if the hands on work is tedious and not very mentally stimulating.

Exersize before going to work. Running helps clear my head and I can generally focus better on the day if I ran in the morning.

I even found if I dress better (slacks and button down shirt instead of t-shirt) I focus better, though that could just be me.

Hope this helps

[EvanJC]

all i have to add is that i've tried strattera on two occasions. both times i had really nasty side effects, the worst of which was extreme dizzyness. i never lasted more than two months.

my mother has been nagging me to try ritalin/adderal for years. i've resisted for years, but may give a stimulant type a chance at some point.

[keikiwai]

[ QUOTE ]
all i have to add is that i've tried strattera on two occasions. both times i had really nasty side effects, the worst of which was extreme dizzyness. i never lasted more than two months.

my mother has been nagging me to try ritalin/adderal for years. i've resisted for years, but may give a stimulant type a chance at some point.

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i think about 80% of people respond to medication... so not everyone responds

[EvanJC]

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all i have to add is that i've tried strattera on two occasions. both times i had really nasty side effects, the worst of which was extreme dizzyness. i never lasted more than two months.

my mother has been nagging me to try ritalin/adderal for years. i've resisted for years, but may give a stimulant type a chance at some point.

[/ QUOTE ]

i think about 80% of people respond to medication... so not everyone responds

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my add symptoms improved, also...i should have put that in my first post. i just didn't like worrying if i was going to faint everytime i sat/stood up

[ALawPoker]

This thread has hit home for me. I never really put much thought into whether or not I had ADD, but I certainly have a lot of the symptoms you guys are talking about. I always did pretty well in high school; show up, take test, easy enough. But when I got to college I found out I was a really horrible student. I always just thought it was basically a motivation issue, and that my school was a tough school, blah blah. And while it's true that you need to apply yourself, I think it's definitely easier for some people. Some people definitely have a natural organizational edge.

Waking up on time, scheduling time to study, meeting deadlines, and all that stuff is easier said than done for some people. And reading. I HATE to read. Even if it's something that interests me, the actual reading is a chore (the stimulation of learning is sort of separate, and what ultimately drives me to do it). But being forced to read a certain set of pages, forget about it. Even if I really made myself sit down and crank it out, my mind would wander so much that I'd get very little out of it. Reading internet forums is really a good way for me to learn stuff, I guess because of the way it's broken down, and the personal aspect (and occasional interaction) helps stimulate me. But even longer posts on here I just can't bring myself to read, even if it's something that I think would interest me.

I've always been bad with those things (organization, deadlines, reading), but good with small, concentrated tasks. Like Pete said in the OP, some people don't see it as a disorder, but more a trade off. Personally, I like our side of the coin. Though I'm not sure what I would actually be doing if I didn't stumble upon poker a few years ago.

Another thing. Movies. If a movie sparks my interest, then I'm totally engaged in it. I'll enjoy it so much and catch every detail. But if someone else puts one on (say I'm hanging out with a few people) and it's not something that I particularly want to watch, I'll have a hard time even following basic plot lines. And I mean that quite literally. I'll just totally space out. I might occupy my mind by being intrigued by a certain person's accent, then wandering again, then maybe catching a stimulating scene or line or two. But I'm not really "following" the movie (even a blatantly simple one).

I've always had it in the back of my head that maybe I have some sort of (maybe mild) case of ADD, but I've never really bothered to connect the dots. After reading this thread, I think I'm in the same boat as a lot of you guys. I don't know if I really "have" ADD in the sense that the drugs would do much for me, but I certainly might. If nothing else, I exhibit similar behavior. I guess "it is what it is" in my mind, and I'm not too concerned about labeling it. I always thought it was just sort of the way I was, and didn't realize a lot of others had similar behavior patterns. This has been interesting to read.

[jba]

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Anyways, I'm thinking about seeing someone professionally. My first step is to find someone, and I'm at a loss. I have a HMO plan through work but have no idea where to get started. I want to find someone good/smart but don't want to wander around work asking people. Any good ideas of ways to find a good therapist? I live in SD if that helps...

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can anyone with experience answer this?

[Back In Black]

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Anyways, I'm thinking about seeing someone professionally. My first step is to find someone, and I'm at a loss. I have a HMO plan through work but have no idea where to get started. I want to find someone good/smart but don't want to wander around work asking people. Any good ideas of ways to find a good therapist? I live in SD if that helps...

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can anyone with experience answer this?

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This thread has also struck a chord with me and I think I would like to see someone, but don't know the process. ADD is something that I have never even thought about, but the posts in this thread are describing the way I fell almost exactly. It's kind of eerie. Coincidentally, I am also in San Diego.

[sirio11]

I would like to be able to read all the posts in this thread, but my lack of focus doesn't allow me [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] Damn it!