Re: ADHD, working memory, and words. A battleground.

[Anonymous]

Dear Nathan, I just read your frustrations with being able to find or remember the right word. I share this problem and I have found that medication does help. I highly recommend finding a good therapist who is familiar with ADHD. I have one and she told me I have a good memory (to which I laughed) but she said that it is not my memory that’s bad it’s my ability to recall the info from my memory. What a relief! For years now I’ve been saying that my brain is holding the word I want hostage. And in effect, that’s exactly what my therapist was confirming! She based this observation on the results of a 4 hour exam I took at a different doctor’s office a few years ago when I was first diagnosed. I have found that the inability to find the word I want has gotten worse over the past 5 – 6 years. I also forget what I am talking about in mid sentence. I will be telling a story, usually to make a point, when all of a sudden I have no idea where I was going with this so-called ‘train of thought’ or even what I’ve just said. This happens to me a lot. And I used to get very angry about it, especially when others try to help me figure out which word I need or where I was going with my story. At first I would struggle and try to recall what I was saying or find the word I wanted, but after a while I just gave up. I gave up trying to remember because I had found that very often it would NEVER come back to me so I quit wasting time struggling to recall it . But I have had some improvement with the addition of medication. I really like John’s description of it – “you are still looking through a pile of paper with no designated folders” I do find it very frustrating, especially since it has become worse and more frequent for me over the past few years. Since it is a symptom of ADHD; I am hoping that there is a way to retrain the brain to make that ‘retrieval ability’ functional again or maybe we can even train another part of the brain to take over that function. I believe I have had ADHD my entire life and I find it very disheartening that it is causing me so much more trouble as I get older. But at least I have been properly diagnosed and found a great therapist and drugs that help. I think we all just have to keep trying and keep up to date on the latest information and keep reading the info of this website TotallyADD.com. These folks have the best information I have found on the subject. And it is a great relief to know that many of my issues are not due to laziness, or old age, or stupidity but are actually symptoms of a real disease with measurable symptoms. This is real, it is caused by something in my brain not functioning properly. So I don’t have to feel guilty or angry, I just have to accept it and work at trying to make the best of it. I hope this has been helpful. Hang it there and good luck to you!

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