Coping with ADD

[Seabass1974]

gp

[BvlyHls90210]

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I think you guys are mistaking the actual Medical condition of ADD with the affect that electronics are having on our life.

With computers, IM, et. al... you are able to multi-task... not the same as ADD... my nature, true ADD patients CAN'T multi-task


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You really don't know what you are talking about.

[BvlyHls90210]

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There are cures for ADD/ADHD/OCD. One doesn't have to "cope" for a lifetime. The cures don't involve drugs. The cures do involve aggressively treating the source of the problem.

(Drugs just treat symptoms)

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Another person talking out of their ass. "The source of the problem" is a chemical imbalance. The drugs go a long way towards leveling the playing field. I guess you can change your life, but the drugs have been a miracle for me.

[keikiwai]

In breaking news I may have ADD.

I've been seeing a therapist, and she suggested I may have ADD. My gf bought me a book about the subject. And the descriptions in the book, combined with reading this thread, combined with the suspicions of my therapist (we haven't met many times), combined w/ my experiences in school, etc.... really lead me to believe that I may have ADD to one degree or another.

The books is called "Driven to Distraction" by Hallowell and Ratey and some of the examples in it are very very eerily similar to how I feel what I do.....

Not sure where I go from here. I'm reading the section that describes methods of adding structure to your life so that you can get stuff done....

I'm having some issues getting past the whole "IMA RETARTED" feeling, since it is called a "disorder".... not completely rational, since my degrees / results show I'm not.... and obv. many other examples in this thread and history.... but that feeling of not wanting to consider ADD as a possibility due to the stigma of "mental disorder" is still there.

Anyway, we'll see...

[keikiwai]

I'm reading a book called "Driven to Distraction." I find it very insightful.

One interesting thing, that I've never really realized, is that in some cases ADD may cause depression like symptoms / feeling.

Basically you're not completely disabled and sitting at home alone not interacting with other people, you don't lose sleep over it, etc.... so it's not really depression. But you do feel like crap / sad, over and over and over again.

It's an example of hyperfocusing. Basically your brain hyperfocuses on the negative. So, everytime your brain wanders.... and it does so often, since you have ADD.... your brain searches for something to focus in on, and it hyperfocuses on the negative.

So, tiny mistakes will feel like huge deals, little things will make you super sad, you'll feel like a complete fraud if you screw up one small thing, etc.... Basically you organize around a bad mood and don't let go. Once you realize you're doing this, you can try to offer alternatives to your brain and ignore the negative focusin... go for a run, think of something positive, etc.... pretty sure this wouldn't work for the clynically depressed, but it def. helps me...

.... and of course stimulants help you while anti-depressants (dopamine reuptake inhibitors, etc.) will NOT help you.

The book focuses on getting the proper diagnosis.... and you can see why that is so important from this example, since the treatments for different problems is different, and the importance of realizing that you have ADD, if you do. It talks about treatment with drugs, but it also has many suggestions about ways to deal with / look at things differently, and it has a lot of info on ADD in adults, which is, in general, hard to find.



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There's alos a list of questions to try and identify people with the potential of having adult ADD in the book. Out of all the similar questionnares I've seen, I've found this one to be the most illuminating by far:

[i have left out explanations / comments after each number]

Suggest diagnostic criteria for attention deficit disorder in adults

note: consider a criterion met onlyh if the behavior is considerably more frequent than that of most people of the same mental age:

A: A chronic disturbance in which at least fifteen of the following are present:

1) A sense of underachievement, of not meeting one's goals (regardless of how much one has actually accomplished).

2) Difficulty getting organized.

3) Chornic procrastination or trouble getting started.

4) Many projects going simultaneously; trouble with follow-through.

5) Tendency to say what come to mind without necessarily considering the timing or appropriateness of the remark.

6) A frequent search for high stimulation.

7) An intolerence of boredom.

8) Easy distractibility, trouble focusing attention, tendency to tune out or drift away in the middle of a page or a conversation, often coupled with an ability to hyperfocus at times.

9) Often creative, intuitive, highly intelligent. (not a symptom)

10) Trouble in going through established channels, following "proper" procedure.

11) Impatient; low tolerance for frustration.

12) Impulsive, either verbally or in action, as in impulsive spending of money, changing plans, enacting new schemese or career plans, and the like.

13) Tendency to worry needlessly, enlessly; tendency to scan the horizon looking for something to worry about, alternating with in-attention to or dissregard for actual dangers.

14) Sense of insecurity.

15) Mood swings, mood lability, especially when diengaged from a person or a project. Quick mood swings. These mood swings are not as pronounced as those associated with manic-depressive illness or depression.

16) Restlessness.

17) Tendency toward addictive behavior.

18) Chronic problems with self-esteem.

19) Inaccurate self-observation.

20) Family history of ADD or manic-depressive illness or depression or substance abuse or other disorders of umpulse control or mood.

B. Childhood history of ADD.

C. Situation not explained by other medical or psychiatric condition. [lol - "what is it"... "idk... ADD?"]

[jba]

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So, tiny mistakes will feel like huge deals, little things will make you super sad, you'll feel like a complete fraud if you screw up one small thing, etc....

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wow sometimes I'll say something stupid or bad in a social setting and literally cannot stop thinking about it. I still think about some of these things that I've said 5+ years ago and when I remember I can't stop thinking about it and feeling terrible at it. These are really minor things that the other person probably thought "that's weird of him to say" and forgot about 30 seconds later.

[jba]

all,

Is this something that's generally better discussed with your md or a psychiatrist? How do you go about finding someone?

I basically never go to my PCP, like I've been 2-3 times in the last five years or so and even then it's just been to get antibiotics from the PA or something. So I don't even really know the guy.

[suzzer99]

I think computer programmers may be in the same ballpark as poker players for ADD-ish like symptoms.

I used to think I had hyper-focus went I got deep into some programming problem and 12 hours would fly by in 10 minutes. Usually this was aided by some kind of electronic music. But thanks to some insight from this site, I think it's much more likely that I was experiencing Flow.

So how do you distinguish between being a normally somewhat scattered person who can get into a very intense concntrating state under certain coditions vs. full-blown ADD/ADHD? Are there degrees? I know one thing - whatever I have is easily livable enough to me, that I have no desire to take drugs for it. Maybe that's the biggest requirement?

[keikiwai]

[ QUOTE ]
o you distinguish between being a normally somewhat scattered person who can get into a very intense concntrating state under certain coditions vs. full-blown ADD/ADHD? Are there degrees? I know one thing - whatever I have is easily livable enough to me, that I have no desire to take drugs for it. Maybe that's the biggest requirement?

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I think the basic criterion for mental illness... basically all mental illness, is whether the condition affects your life negatively and in a big way.

So, if you're disorganized to the point that you don't pay your bills and now you can't buy a house because your credit is shot, then you should look into what's up.

If you're a CEO of a fortune 500 and you're happily married w/ kids, but you sometimes forget where you put your tic tacs... but it doesn't really bother you or affect you.... well who cares?

Of course the tricky part is that mental illness is often hard to self diagnose, as the illness itself may distort your self-image.

I think adults with ADD often have secondary conditions caused by the effects of the ADD. Frustration, feelings of underachievemnt, social anxiety, etc. From reading that book, these feelings are often very strong, to the point where the people feel like they need help.

[Officer Farva]

Good posts all. This thread has indicated to me that I should probably research ADD and perhaps talk to someone professionally. I have many of the symptoms listed by posters above, but the hyperfocus aspect in particular struck a chord. Last night, for example, my GF came home later than expected. She called and told me ahead of time, and at the time I was hanging out with my roomates so it was not a big deal. But when she told me it made me angry, and I began to focus in on this thought. Even after she arrived and apologized, I was stil upset about this seemingly trivial event. I began to talk to her and told her I was angry but knew that I shouldn't be. Even as we laid in bed falling asleep I was focused on it and I could not for the life of me let go of it. Eventually we turned on the TV and I started to let go of it.

At work I have similar problems. I will spend most of the day surfing the net of finding some mindless way to entertain myself, then once every so often I will focus in on a project and accomplish in an hour what should have taken most of the day. My employers have figured this out and have tried to get me to "do more", but in the end they will not fire me because I still produce much more than I cost. But I spend most of my life in guilt/regret over thinking what I could do if I could maintain focus throughout the day.

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...