Her FAST MIND – Women With ADHD

Perhaps the most under-served segment of the ADHD population are adult women.  So often, their ADHD is overlooked, not on anyone’s radar, or misdiagnosed as Anxiety or Depression.

Our friend, Zoë Kessler, author of ADHD According to Zoë  kept telling me, “YOU HAVE TO MENTION DR. TIM BILKEY!”   He has developed some amazing stuff around women with ADHD!”

Being a woman with ADHD, I trusted her opinion.

Zoë first told us about Tim three or four years ago. A couple of years back, I finally met Dr. Bilkey as we were waiting at the airport, each heading home after an ADHD conference.

Then he coauthored Fast Minds.

Dr. Bilkey and coauthor Dr. Craig Surman cleverly subtitled their book, How to Thrive If You Have ADHD (Or Think You Might) because what works for those of us who have the disorder will certainly benefit people who may struggle with some of the issues. What the doctors call ‘sub-clinical.’

And what are those issues? Well, F A S T  M I N D S is an acronym, and it’s a condensed, concise catalog of the key issues we face:

• Forgetful
• Achieving below potential
• Stuck in a rut
• Time challenged
• Motivationally challenged
• Impulsive
• Novelty seeking
• Distractible
• Scattered

Here’s an excerpt from Fast Minds

Enjoy! –  Rick Green

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Excerpt from FAST MINDS: How to Thrive if You Have ADHD (Or Think You Might),

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by Dr. Tim Bilkey and Dr. Craig Surman

Chapter 8: Feel Well; Function Well

For Rachel, ADHD isn’t something she has. It’s something she is.

ADHD colors every minute of her life when she’s awake, and even possibly when she’s asleep.

Some people bound out of bed in the morning restored and full of energy. Not Rachel. She struggles to get to work by 9, despite three cups of coffee.

The sinking feeling in her stomach that comes with realizing she slept through her second alarm clock – again – is all too familiar for her. The realization that she forgot to bring her lunch in with her is all too familiar also, as are the selections at the vending machine downstairs.

On a good day, she gets home in time to watch a show at 7 p.m. On a bad day, she doesn’t eat her microwave dinner until 9. She eventually gravitates from the TV to the computer – and somehow, she ends up going to bed too late again.

The next morning, bleary-eyed, she has to drag herself through the first two hours of her day, until the third cup of coffee kicks in.

There is an unhealthy rhythm to the life of many people with FAST MINDS traits – a pattern where the needs of the person themselves are neglected. We see so many people managing to hold together one domain of their life, often work or school, and lacking dedicated time or energy for much else.

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FAST MINDS: How to Thrive if you Have ADHD (Or Think You Might),

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by Dr. Tim Bilkey and Dr. Craig Surman, Harvard Health Publications, 2013

 

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