The Forums › Forums › What is it? › The Neurology › What am I missing?? › Re: What am I missing??
I understand that it takes decades, if not centuries, to arrive at “settled science.” I understand that we’re just beginning to plumb the mysteries of the brain, of the human personality. I suspect that what, today, we call ADD is likely in the future to be understood as a more complex congeries of various disorders, each with its own name or moniker.
Still, I find it disturbing is that “an expert” would suggest that attention deficit, which millions of us have to contend with, is nothing more than a figment of our overactive imaginations. That’s what the doctor seems to imply, above. If he’s right, we all need to go back to the drawing board and figure out what lies at the vortex of our inability to control our attention spans, our debilitating impulsive and compulsive behaviors. Cheeseburgers? Scented soap?
Moreover, it astonishes me that Dr. Hallowell lacks the perspicacity to understand that “successful” means a lot more than career “success.” Heck, I invented a product and started a business that made millions of dollars. I’ve been written up in the New York Times; in Entrepreneur magazine. So what? I’d trade it in a second for a serene neurology that would have allowed me to be a better father, a better husband, a better friend, a better employer or employee, a better everything. ADD is not just about personal success (though it certainly is about that, too), it’s about our ability—or inability—to connect with others, to give others the everyday support THEY need. When we talk about ADD sufferers, we’re not just talking about those of us who have it. We’re also talking about those poor folks who have to put up with us.
Lindstr, I’m glad Ritalin is giving you some relief. I can’t seem to tolerate any of the meds. And though it may be an ADD overreaction, I’ll admit I also have a hard time with people who want to call the plague a bad cold.
BTW, speaking of hope, someone once said that Gratitude is love projected into the past; Charity is love projected into the present; and Hope is love projected into the future. We all must hope. We just have to, whether we feel like it or not.
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