ADHD/ADD Victims
 

Who suffers from ADHD/ADD here?

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The benefits of ADHD are often overlooked. However, there are many qualities of ADHD Children that are actually advantages of ADHD. As a matter of fact, many famous people with ADHD got there because of their disorder.

Full article: http://www.adhdchildparenting.com/th...ges-of-add.php

I got dx'ed with ADD in high school, and again a few years ago.

Do you have a diagnosis, LovelyxBlack Lace? (Why is that 'x' in there by the way?)

I certainly can see how having ADD/ADHD can be a good thing. One with this 'disorder' must do their research and learn about it to use it to their best advantage though.

Will try to check out that link later, need to get my potential ADDer babybat from school now.

Thanks for posting.

Hey. Yes, i've been diagnosed with ADHD and ADD since I was thirteen; school and normal life were generally pretty hard to get by, but I managed anyway.
I used to take Ritalin and Concerta. Now I've switched to Strattera.
Which meds do you take?
Thanks for posting in this thread; the article is really helpful btw.

You can't be diagnosed with both (well these days you can only get diagnosed with ADHD as ADD is now under ADHD in the DSM but that is beside the point if we are talking about past diagnosis), you would have either been diagnosed with ADHD, ADD, or ADD with hyperactive tendencies but not ADD and ADHD unless your doctor was completely incompetent.


There are some advantaged to the disorder but most of what would have been an advantage in the past have been nullified by the education and corporate systems that we now.

Are you drunk?

Me? Not at the moment, check back in an hour.

You're OK and all, but that post made very little sense. Or maybe I'm drunk?

[ face fucks Duck ]

Gag, bitch, GAG!

Reading it over I left the word "have" out of the last bit which does make it completely nonsensical and I didn't really explain the why behind the statement but stick "have" before "now" and it should make sense.

Gobblety fucking gobble.

I have ADD. You can have ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER. Or you can have ATTENTION DEFICIT with HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER, which is a subset of the range of disorders covered by ADD, not the other way around.

Also, the title of this thread annoys the hell out of me. Anyone who has ADD and wants to claim victim status should be criticized for leaning on the illness like a crutch.

Does it make my life difficult? Hell, yes! Does it make me mad, depressed, irritable, irrational and moody? Sure it does. And it makes many things in my life harder to do and/or accomplish. But once I was diagnosed, it became my responsibility to account for my illness and to adapt/adjust to meet the challenges of my life.

I've seen a man with one leg become an Olympic class downhill skier. I've seen quadriplegics play "knock the other guy out of his chair" basketball that made me want to cheer. I've seen a woman with MS reduced to getting around with leg braces and cuff canes, and yet she had more joie de vivre than many perfectly healthy people I know.

So don't call me a victim. And if anyone else here with ADD wants to claim they are a victim ... well, don't waste my time.

Do I think it helps in any way? Well, the general opinion is that people with ADD tend to be more intelligent and creative than the average person. I think there haven't really been enough empirical studies to determine that, and the disorder itself is still too much of a mystery to researchers.

But I would trade being a little less creative for being able to remember things better ... or being able to finish a project without losing focus.

Sorry Ben but that is not the case. First of all ADHD is Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, there is no "with", and the word "hyperactive" does not refer to the hyperactivity that the people with it frequently display but instead to the hyperactive brain functioning brain functioning. Originally ADD and ADHD were classified as different, but related, disorders, as they were better studied they were found to be different presentations of the same disorder. There are three different types of ADHD: predominantly inattentive type, predominantly hyperactive-impulsive tipe, and combined type, most people refer to the predominantly inattentive type of ADHD simply as ADD but the DSM IV does classify it this way.

Just read the Wiki, it is correct and rather informative.

Well, I've been dealing with this since before DSM IV. The hyperactivity listed in the ADHD label originally did refer to hyperactive behavior, and it may have been re-defined, but that doesn't make me wrong.

But I'd be interested in reading the wiki. I see no links to it in this thread, except for the initial link which was to a questionable article with no credible sourcing, fact checking or even a listed author name.

If you could point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it.

BTW, I think there is a cruel irony in redefining the terms associated with an illness, when people who have it have a difficult time paying attention and retaining information.

Doesn't ICD still keep them separate?

Then again, the DSM is from the APA, so I guess the ICD is rather irrelevant.

I do agree that there is way too much redefining going on in the psychological community but the redefinition of ADHD is something that some people have always been fighting for (things were pretty unclear and the underlying processes weren't known when the diagnosis was first made)and it is more than just a redefinition for the sake of redefining since so much new information has been learned since the original definition was created.

Sorry, I suppose I should have linked it but something about this thread seems to be keeping me from thinking clearly so here you go: Wiki article


If you want further reading I highly recommend Dr. Larry Silver's Advice to Parents on ADHD, it focuses mainly on adolescents but the info does apply to adults as well and, in addition to being a widely respected expert on learning disorders, he was the only psychiatrist of the many I went to who ever seemed to really understand what I was going through, perhaps because he has ADHD himself. He also has a book called The Misunderstood Child that is on a variety of learning disorders and is also full of wonderful insight.

Autism I believe is going through the same sort of issues. Frankly I'm sick and tired of this cure everything that is different mentality that society is going through right now. I can only pray that society will see through the lies soon, and see the parallels to many previous issues before they wipe out any semblance of mental diversity.

Yeah, what's with this victim shit?

I was diagnosed with ADD in August, and my entire life has made sense after being treated with Vyvanse for Add and Seroquel for anxiety and depression. I was only able to get the diagnosis after having my anxiety and depression issues treated, becuase the three were so closely related. So, my advice to everyone since has been "Find a shrink". Regular docters aren't trained to deal with psychological issues, and the prescriptions I was prescribed by my family docter only made things worse, and I never would have guessed that I had ADD. Now that I have an actual psychologist who prescribes my medication and has an idea of how the brain works, I would never go back to the way I used to live.

The cycle was aweful. I couldn't concentrate to the point where I would have panic attacks from the anxiety, and then I'd feel really depressed and inadequate, and still unable to concentrate, and so on. As a result I've had shitty grades most of my life, but I always passed because I could write well (even if I had to get an extension on the dealine) and I scored well on tests. It was just really hard for me to study, and I really never did homework, no matter how hard I tried to sit down and do it.

But, now I know some coping skills and I'm properly medicated, so things are generally looking a lot better.

Victims of ADHD? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?

I was "diagnosed" by my drug dealer, erm, PSYCHIATRIST, when I was in grade school. Guess what happened? They tried every fucking drug in the book, they all made me depressed as hell, and one combination sent me to the hospital with a weird heart beat.

Then I learned the "cure" to ADHD.

GET THE FUCK OVER IT. Sure, you've got to bust your ass a little harder, push a little farther, buckle down and focus, but for fucks sake, take your lumps.

Of all fucking 'diseases' people are getting pumped full of meds with in this country, ADD/ADHD is the fucking worst. Seriously, I've met COUNTLESS people DIAGNOSED (YES BY A DOCTOR) and ALL OF THEM have felt better after they got OFF THE BLOODY MEDICATION.

It's true that Ritalin can cause mood changes and make you less sociable, but it helps me a lot with school work and studying. Without my meds, I would be jumping around the house, inattentively wasting all my time.

Well Joker, there is also a high tendency for ADD to be mis-diagnosed. So, it is highly likely that those people who you know that didn't have a good result with the meds don't have ADD in the first place. Or maybe they were on the wrong med.

ADD is known to be co-morbid with many other disorders like SweetJane mentioned. If someone has ADD but also a side order of anxiety, depression, or what ever else on the menu and only the ADD gets 'fixed' but not the other issues then problems will still present themselves. Me, I've probably got mild Bi-Polar with my ADD. I found that when I was on a mood stabilizer along with my ADD med I had noticeably better results.

Some people really CANNOT just "GET THE FUCK OVER IT." Trust me, I tried. I resorted to doing illegal drugs for a while even. Then the light bulb went off that there were things that could help me without risking jail time for me and misery for my family.

Just curious to know how old you are Joker, and if you've always lived in the US.

Carakitty brings up a good point about bi-polar- the chemical imbalances that cause AD(h)D are so similar to manic-depression that it's sometimes very hard to tell the difference.

Joker,I know what I'm like without my meds. I whent 19 years without them, so I DID suck it for WAY too long. If I had diabetes, would you advise me to stop taking my insulin? I am a danger to myself and others without my medication at worst, and unproductive at the best.

Thanks for the link. I prefer "Adult ADD: A Reader Friendly Guide to Identifying, Understanding, and Treating Adult Attention Deficit Disorder" by Dr. Thomas A. Whiteman and Dr. Michele Novotni. Tom has a mild case of ADD himself and Dr. Novotni has a son and father who suffer the condition. In addition to being very empathetic to an adult sufferer's perspective, the book is written in a very ADD friendly manner, with larger than average print and an easy to navigate organizational style which I very much appreciate. I can also personally endorse "Living With ADD: A Workbook for Adults With Attention Deficit Disorder".


*** WaRnInG *** <REPOSTING BULLSHIT> *** WaRnInG ***

</BULLSHIT>

I was initially diagnosed with ADD when I was 40, and have had the diagnosis confirmed by 2 other unrelated doctors on other occasions. It explained much of the difficulties I have had in my life. I absolutely find that the right medications can help me navigate the complexities of a job and daily life more effectively than I can without them. I am currently off the medications as I am out of work, uninsured and cannot afford them. And I do not feel "better", you jackass!

You should not speak for everyone, asshat! That rant was ignorant and ill conceived. And you DO NOT want to go toe to toe with me on this one, motherfucker, because I've been looking for someone to vent my anger on about the constant public dismissal of this condition as if it was something made up by the pharmacology machine!

Sometimes, I feel the same way. Sigh. :|

You are what I consider 'awesome'.

~Idol...

Aw, man, good luck with the unemployment and everything. I hope you can get that together soon... I'd be pissed if I couldn't get my meds. I completely agree with you on this.

Meds, helpful. but they can be a bitch as well...
They're only temp in getting your body going...

SweetJane, thank you very much. I haven't asked to be on the anti-depressant meds in a while. They did take the edge off the ADD meds but I find I prefer to manage the depression and other aspects of the emotional roller-coaster ride with natural techniques. And overall, since I could be taking six different prescriptions for this and other things I've been diagnosed with, I've tried to cut back on the meds I take overall. But the ADD medication, well, that just makes such a difference in my ability to maintain focus and do the types of multi-tasking that so many jobs require these days. It really is a boon and I do miss it.

Funny story: When I was first diagnosed, I was prescribed Adderall. My doctor and I refined the prescription to what strength worked best and settled on a time-release formula. And I stuck to that prescription through 3 consecutive doctors. And it wasn't until I got to my current doctor that I agreed to switch to Vyvanse. I found it to be much more effective, and in talking it over with my doctor I discovered that I should have been taking the Adderall TWICE a day and not just once! It would have been nice to know that nine years earlier!

So... what are your thoughts on the meds? Is it worth really taking themmm....?
My grades are hard to keep up cause I drift off on thousands of possible topics while working in school and then my body starts feeling so heavy like I just woke up. Same goes for my job, I get screamed at a lot and no one actually understands why I'm the way I am.... most people think I'm just a dumbass. I hate medication though and using products... this could be an exception.


~ I only am able to focus easier though when in motion, but then I end up power walking. Love being able to do that....

Meds can be an amazing help but if you are in a high stress environment then I would look more towards anti-anxiety meds (which have been shown to help those with ADHD) instead of the stimulants which are usually the first choice, as the stimulants can cause problems with increasing irritability. I'm not saying that you can't go on stimulants without any problems I would just look at alternatives first.


Oh and the reason why you are better able to focus while in motion is because the release of endorphins stimulates brain activity.

Well that's something new, thanks for telling me since it's good to better understand things then be unaware. "D thanks!

But I'm not really in high stress environments but that is a possible solution when it comes to projects and tests where I start to freak out and get tons of simple answers wrong.... I'm a bit say secluded from my life in general... since I don't usually talk much until a topic comes up that I find interest and I dream so much where I barely know whats going on when hanging out with friends or doing work in class... Would be nice to be active....

God dammit I think I may have ADHD. Fuck this thread.

Um, I think you've gotten a decent answer to this, but I addressed it in my previous posts.

Heh...

Creative Yes... it's not worth it though if you can't actually put it to use more often and so would I have traded for being able to cope with an simple life.


Still meds help which is the obvious, but I always get from a lot of people that taking meds would fk you up eventually... :/

I had some bad side effects from meds in the past but once I found what worked for me I didn't have any problems and the problems that I had with the other meds went away fairly quickly. Honestly I think the whole idea of meds eventually fucking with you comes form people being on something that is better than nothing but that isn't really working well, if you work with your doctor you should be able to find something that does work well, it may take a bit of trial and error but you should be able to find something that has benefits greatly outweighing any negatives.

As I said the last time you asked, I addressed my opinion about meds in several posts on page one. You just quoted the wrong post.

That's a great point. Thanks a bunch Solumina. :D


Whoops.... well that post seemed a bit inspiring and it felt as if you were against meds and dealing with it naturally.. but then again I could be wrong... I'll check them out soon. Thanks for responding Ben.

For some reason I've allowed myself to believe that there is no such thing as ADD. And that it's merely a person being themselves, which is a very naturally hyper person. Is that a bad thing? I'm always attracted to the people who are apparently "ADD". And I've always noticed that I like them better when they aren't on they're meds. I'm a dull, quiet, person and I don't want to be around other dull and quiet people. I assume it might be difficult for them in school though....I dunno.

Chances are that the people you are talking about are just what you think they are, hyper people. A lot of parents are responsible for children being diagnosed as ADHD because the parents feel that there must be something medically wrong that is making their precious little snowflake act up so they take snowflake to their general practitioner, who aren't really qualified to diagnose ADHD in the first place, and say they want their kid to be on meds and the doctors pretty much just go along with it. If seeing a specialist, who is actually able to properly diagnose ADHD, was required for a diagnosis I think there would be far fewer cases.

Overmedication and an abundance of diagnoses is certainly a problem when you talk about ADD/ADHD. It's really quite unfortunate. Those who do actually suffer from it are suffering from a MEDICAL condition and should not be viewed as anything else.

You make a good point, Jin. ADD is so thorough that it seems to become part of that person's personality. I learned this when I attended an adult ADD seminar recently. I always thought of myself as an empath, as being very frank and honest. But I've learned that people with ADD are more prone to blurting things out and can appear as harsh because it's harder to internalize some emotions. What I once thought was a charming part of my personality can be attributed to this condition. It was a sobering thought.

First off, did you just post that off the top of your head without reading any of the previous posts? Because if you'd read mine you'd know I explained how I was diagnosed at the age of 40 ... and have had 4 different doctors confirm the diagnosis.

Second, there are many types of ADD/ADHD. Mine doesn't manifest with any hyperactivity at all. In fact, you wouldn't know I have it unless you gather the clues from my changing the subject rather abruptly in casual conversation or when I get seriously irritated when you start telling a story and start laying out details of minutia that obscure and delay the story from concluding in a timely and succinct manner. As I am fond of quoting to my SO, tell me what time it is ... don't try to tell me how the clock works!

And most people like to embellish their stories because they think they are performing as story-tellers or dramatists, making their performance the focus of attention rather than the story itself. Believe me, most of you aren't that good at it, and you ought to be more self-critical before you audition with me.

Third, you have no clue what a person who really has ADD/ADHD has had to deal with. I have about 90 relatives show up at a family reunion every other year, and I've seen these people most of my life. But I can't remember most of their names. And I really want to. I can't remember most of my grade school and high school teachers ... not their names, not what they look like, nothing. I will never attend a high school reunion because it will just be too painful to acknowledge all night long, "I'm sorry, I'm sure I know you but I can't remember who you are."

People talk about their childhood memories. I have very few I can lay my hands on. I remember very little about all the Christmases we had ... and I know we had some good ones. I know I got great gifts, my parents treated us well ... but I just have no memories of them.

And memory is just one aspect of it. Without the medication that brings my observational skills into focus, I miss noticing things other people do notice. It's like living in a perpetual fog. It takes a great strain of effort to push myself through reading a book, and that has gotten harder over the years. And I love to read! I tried to take some online schooling recently and failed at it miserably.

I could go on, but there are other sources already listed in this thread that discuss the symptoms and treatment of ADD/ADHD.

Fourth (and finally), everytime some nitwit gets on the internet and post about how they don't believe that ADD/ADHD is real, I just want to strangle them. I'm serious, it pisses me off no end. It's like those jackasses that maintain that the Holocaust never happened (not that I'm comparing this to the devastating severity of that dark history) or as if you told someone with Parkinson's Disease that you think that is made up.

You have offended me. It's real. It's not some affectation that makes people more interesting at parties. And you ought to be ashamed of yourself.

And now, to prove I can have a sense of humor about this thing, I'm posting the lyrics to a song I wrote:

Short Attention Span Blues

Being diagnosed with ADD makes a person kinda blue.
You try to make some plans but you never follow through.
Some people don't believe that this malady is legit,
but when you live it day-to-day you know they're full of ...

Why do I have hundreds of TV channels? I can never make up my mind! ... er ...

When you cannot maintain focus it makes for trying times.
Sometimes it's amazing that you actually write in rhymes.
And you try to tell some folks about the way you're stuck,
But you quickly realize that most don't give a ...

I think I could train my dog to do a backflip! ... um ...

Sometimes you can't remember names even though you know the mugs.
You see a doctor for it and he gives you crazy drugs.
Some expert says just cope and give the funky drugs a pass,
But in your heart of hearts you know he's just a pompous ...

Ask me about eating out some time. Why do the menus have to be so complicated? ... humph! ...

Reading a whole book is like a mountain climb to you.
You start a project just to find your mind is mired in glue.
You know you're bright enough to win but then you conclude
that when it comes to luck in life you really have been ...

screwed. ... Eh, sometimes you do manage to get it together.

... I'm only able to remember people I've stayed with recently but there are some many times i forget the names of a close friend, and I still don't know the names of 90% of my cousins. They always ask how I don't know who they are..

It is a fog, once I was walking and literally began day dreaming where I was automatically walking and I walked across a red light where I awakened when a truck beeped when it was inches away from hitting me.

I cannot manage to touch a book, I have not completed a book in about a year now and the books I touched last I only managed to read a good 7-10 pages before I gave. T.v. the same though, I only tend to play video games of interest because it requires motion.

So freaking true. I end up doing homework and projects around 10-11pm because I just can't stay focused until.

God damn dude...I think you have something else besides ADD/ADHD..to have gotten offended by what I said.

Well, it's in your nature to deny that you've said something offensive even when you have, and your twatty remarks were highly offensive.

That's just a fact. Don't bother stating your opinion. It'll still be a fact.

Well it's also a fact that you are an annoying idiot.

That's what I'm talking about. I expect you think that was clever. Well, it was certainly less offensive than your original remarks, I'll give you that.

*BAH* - I just need to ignore you.

Dun dun dun.........

~Game Over~

Interesting thread. I quite enjoy reading about other peoples' experiences. I am curious as to ADD and job choices and what kind of work you do and if you function well enough at it. I do research mostly online at my work and I find it so difficult just to stay on task when fun websites are just a click away...

I identify with everything you've said about your experiences. The stories, memory problems, the feeling of "fog." That being said, "you have no clue what it's like?" You can say that about everyone; no can can possibly understand how it's like to be you. I doubt Jin meant any harm. So many people are unaware about the real facts about ADD, including people who have it.

Yes please do so...You know you can BLOCK me if you want....that's just a suggestion that would bring both you and I some happiness.

Um, I'm sure you mean well, but this wasn't just someone who didn't understand the condition or what it's like to live with it.

For some reason I've allowed myself to believe that there is no such thing as ADD. And that it's merely a person being themselves, which is a very naturally hyper person.

Statements like that make it harder for people who have a real medical condition to get it treated seriously by the mainstream. She's not just unaware of the details of the illness ... she's saying it isn't really a medical condition at all.

And I've always noticed that I like them better when they aren't on they're meds. I'm a dull, quiet, person and I don't want to be around other dull and quiet people.

If I treat that statement with the most benevolent of perspectives, it's insensitive at best. I'd equate it with saying those epileptic people are more entertaining when they're off their meds.

Maybe she isn't really around people with true ADD/ADHD. And maybe I'm a little sensitive when it comes to people posting public opinions about it not being a real medical condition. But the comments were glib and ill conceived at best.

I spent the first 40 years of my life without anyone understanding what challenges I was dealing with. So when the world is just starting to train a spotlight on what really is going on, it should be understandable when I get irritated with someone who wants to unscrew the light bulb a little just to make what she thinks is "interesting conversation".