Researching ADD:

Quote from a patient with ADD:

"...It's like being super-charged all the time. You get one idea and you have to act on it, and then, what do you know, but you've got another idea before you've finished up with the first one, and so you go for that one, but of course a third idea intercepts the second, and you just have to follow that one, and pretty soon people are calling you disorganized and impulsive and all sorts of impolite words that miss the point completely. Because you're trying really hard. It's just that you have all these invisible vectors pulling you this way and that, which makes it really hard to stay on task."

Symptoms:

The Hallowell Center identifies the following indicators to consider when ADHD is suspected and recommends that individuals with at least twelve of the following behaviors since childhood�provided these symptoms are not associated with any other medical or psychiatric conditions�consider professional diagnosis:

1. A sense of underachievement, of not meeting one's goals (regardless of how much one has actually accomplished).
2. Difficulty getting organized.
3. Chronic procrastination or trouble getting started.
4. Many projects going simultaneously; trouble with follow through.
5. A tendency to say what comes to mind without necessarily considering the timing or appropriateness of the remark.
6. A frequent search for high stimulation.
7. An intolerance of boredom.
8. Easy distractibility; trouble focusing attention, tendency to tune out or drift away in the middle of a page or conversation, often coupled with an inability to focus at times.
9. Often creative, intuitive, highly intelligent.
10. Trouble in going through established channels and following "proper" procedure.
11. Impatient; low tolerance of frustration.
12. Impulsive, either verbally or in action, as an impulsive spending of money.
13. Changing plans, enacting new schemes or career plans and the like; hot-tempered.
14. A tendency to worry needlessly, endlessly; a tendency to scan the horizon looking for something to worry about, alternating with inattention to or disregard for actual dangers.
15. A sense of insecurity.
16. Mood swings, mood instability, especially when disengaged from a person or a project.
17. Physical or cognitive restlessness.
18. A tendency toward addictive behavior.
19. Chronic problems with self-esteem.
20. Inaccurate self-observation.
21. Family history of AD/HD or manic depressive illness or depression or substance abuse or other disorders of impulse control or mood.

Output on these:

1) Number 1, the sense of underachievement, is hard to get past, but i'll seek encouragement from others to reassure myself that i've done well. I seem to try to get an awful lot done to feel that sense of accomplishment, but i often get so bustled up in the midst of doing a kajillion things at once that none of them ever really get finished. Which is a pain.

2) Organisation has always been a problem. I don't have a coping strategy for this, but i'm gonna buy a wall planner for long-term organisation. It makes me late a lot, and despite working at WHSMiths for 2 years now and going to work at least every Sunday , i still don't what time the bus comes in the morning. I'll only remember to check it when i'm going off for work, but i'll always forget by the time i get home, or loose the piece of paper i've written the time down on.

3) Procrastination is a horrible thing, so i'll set myself dates i have to stick to, with rewards for completing the taks when it was set to be done. I'm currently doing really well on this actually

4) Many projects going at one time: This is one i have a gret deal of trouble with still, as mentione din (1). At work, it manifests itself as me getting distracted by many customers at one time. Bah. Sometimes, they all follow me in a big queue, ala the classic game 'Centipede' (or 'Snake' on mobile phones). I'm reading 5 or 6 books at the moment.

5) This one, impulsiveness, i think i've done really well on too. When talking, i try to speak as though my words were being written, considering the way they will sound together, how to time sentances and phrases to make them sound poetic to listen to. However, as briefly touched on in the above comment, i will be distracted a lot, impulsively following the train of thought that appears in my head when something new to do occurs to me.

6) Frequent search for high(er) stimulation. This is frustrating, but i try to find great enjoyment in whatever i'm doing at one moment in time. This makes me more enthusiastic at things than is normal, but i get 'em done, and i put a lot of effort into the things i do because of this.

7) Heh, yeah, i hate being bored, but i'm working on it. Again, i use the same coping stragety as in number 6, above. I'm kinda bored of this already, but i'm determined to keep going, because i know i'll be satisfied when i've completed it. This

8) Distractable: In conversation, i try to consider how impolite it is of me to be so distracted. This helps me. In work, i'll go for a walk or do something which i enjoy but doesn't drain me a lot. This normally makes me more able to settle down and be less distractable. I'll also eliminate most distractions and set my background up so that it's easy-going and stimulating while not being throughly distacting. Dance music (ie, drum 'n' bass, or 'DNB') helps a lot, since it's very constant, helping me to keep a constant pace at whatever i'm doing. I'm listenign to DnB right now, and i'm feeling the flowing energy in the music and converting it to a flowing type spawn! I just noticed that i haven't completed (7) because i was distracted by (8)!

9) (Often creative, intuitive, highly intelligent:) This is a good thing, yay! It helps me write, and makes for interesting conversations with me. I dislike it when people try to replicate this, since i feel it degrades my ability, which is something i cherish, since it's one of the only really positive things about ADD.

10) Procedure: scrupulous attention to detail helps me here. Making people aware that i have difficulty doing some things unless they're broken into smaller stages means that i don't have too many problems here.

11) Aah! This drives me crazy, but i've gradually taught myself to adopt a laid-back, easy-going approach to life which really helps me here.

12) The money thing's difficult, so i try to have someone reliable with me when i go shopping. I think a great deal more than i ever used to too, so i can consider things more carefully. Still, though, it's hard not to act on impulse sometimes, but i make company with rational people, or ttry not to perform unrequired actions, instead sticking firmly to routine. This 'routine' thing is an enemy of ADD, but also it's greatest friend. Although i find it hard to learn routine, having a set way of doing things, if it's written out or reminded to me, really helps me prevent impulsiveness. Also, in almost everything i do, i try to consider the repercutions of my actions, which is a great fallback if i've forgotten my routines, since my mind is normally in gear to question all of my actions and consider them carefully.

13) Again, sticking to what i know helps here. Unfortunately, i don't know all that there is to know, which is where an inquenchable thirst for discovery plays a helpful part. But, yeah, i try to stick by the rules i've learnt to work.

14) Obsessive worrying? Check. But i have a sense of humour to it, like with all the other stuff. I never developed a coping stragety for this, and it still bothers me a little, but i try to pile on and ignore negative thoughts, or consider the actual plausability of them. Plus, my little pills have helped immeasurably.

15) Insecurity: This is where the need for a lot of reassurance comes from. However, most people are insecure. A person who's not is probably lying. Nobody's perfect, and i'm a very insecure person, but other personality traits i've developed mask this or turn my insecurities into something different. Hard to explain right now. A positive outlook is essentially what guides me out of negative ruts. I try to keep optimistic, and so hate pessamistic people. They bug the shit out of me, and pull me down, since i'm forced to consider that either: They're stoopid, or if not, then their perspective is just. So, i figure needlessly, insistantly pessamistic people are all fools. Ha! Bsides, why would anyone want to associate with anyone who's constantly negative anyway?

16) I've got a lot more stable, but yeah, i get more unstable when i'm not working on something and have too much time to think. So i keep the people i need close to me, and have regular dates for, for sinance, seeing Miranda. This structure kinda keeps me sane somehow.

17) Not too bad on the restlesness, although i used to be. If it gets to be too much of a problem, i'll focus my mind on something specific. Ie; in bed, if i'm not really "into it" and am feeling overly restless, i'll set my mind to one thing: closeness, horniness, sleepiness, etc. It's very hard to break out of these mind sets, and i'd prefer an alternative coping strategy.

18) Yeah, and what? I'm off drugs now, and im staying off. But i've always been hooked on something, wether it drink, drugs, self-hamr, hate, love, sex, work... Uh, i dunno what to do with this one. Meh, it's not problematic right now, so i'm not currently bothered by it.

19) Yeah. I tried really hard to think of what i do to combat the insecutiry (15), but it didn't make a lot of sense, and i think i bulshitted. It's horrid feeling this way, but again, i try to adopt a happy demeanor. It generally works well.

20) I think i'm pretty ok when it comes to considering myself, but others seem to disagree. I encourgae them to communicate with me more, but sometimes they refuse, which makes it incredibly hard to improve.

21) Yeah, me mam and granny are on happy pills. Mum's got a few problems of her own. But, it's kinda comforting to nkow that i'm not the way i am because i fucked up somewhere in my life.

Funny example of life for an ADD-er:

Frequent and frustrating memory lapses punctuate every day in the life of the person with ADD. Brian has attention deficit disorder. He also has a dog. They take each other for walks every day. As Brian puts on his coat, hat, and boots the dog lies under the kitchen table, waiting. Brian leaves the house, the dog doesn�t move. The dog will not move until Brian has come back into the house for the third time for key, wallet, or whatever other items he has forgotten to take the first two times. "My master may take some perverse pleasure in this bizarre in-and-out-and-in ritual," the hound probably says to himself, "but call me a bird dog if I�ll follow his example." The dog has learned from experience, which is more than can be said for his owner.

Links:

LOTS OF READING (WORTH IT!):

Fabulous chapter excerpt with patients' input
('Brian & his dog' taken from this)

2 INTERACTIVE ACTIVITIES:

Try the 'Experience firsthand' activities.

HUNTERS, EXPLORERS & DREAMERS:

Alternative ways of looking at the "disorder

BASIC:

Simple outline to ADD