Re: My Story

[Anonymous]

Alex….this can be a long inexact process (at least from my perspective) that could take…..hmmmmm….quite a bit of time to sort out. Psychiatry has a distinct disadvantage over other medical professions in that the human brain and behavior is not a black and white issue and the profession struggles with that. An MD can look at an x-ray and see a broken leg….take blood pressure…..a blood test, even then there are medical issues that make some medical diagnosis more difficult than others. Determination is the result of elimination, or the process of exclusion rather than discovering a tangible like a rash or a broken arm.

If I may add, when one is trying to determine a diagnosis like ADD…. the process can be even more difficult by being a spectrum condition. Folks suspecting ADD behaviors can and do fall everywhere on the spectrum, with any of the properties of the condition being expressed with different severities. The more severe the condition exhibits a trait, the more easily a diagnosis can be made, especially if the exhibiting behaviors or traits are particularly problematic, and have a clear historical element as well.

Comorbidities further complicate the process because traits or behaviors can leach across the various conditions, which can be very difficult to determine or isolate, or determine which is the root issue, and therefore which to treat???

Being 18 might pose further complications….just because of where a typical 18 year old falls in the cycle of physical and maybe more importantly social development. Teen years can be an interesting time of life if memory serves me……great fun, great pressure, great heart ache……great times!!!! Enjoy…….I did!!! I digress…..

I didn’t see in your posts any indication of attempting to work with a counselor…..talk therapy. I guess if one reads past posts, it would be evident that I am a huge advocate of “talk work”…… It I believe the potential benefits can be enormous at any stage of life, regardless of the condition. Either way a multi-point approach seems to provide many folks benefits in excess of that of a single point approach. Diet, exercise, talk therapy, meditation and for some yes, Rx………is a great help.

Reading, reading reading and educating oneself on the subject can only help one gain knowledge and understanding, and that will be an enormous help. If nothing else it will assist you in communicating with your Shrink or MD….and they do need us to be active participants, otherwise they are left to grope in a huge grey cloud….trying to eliminate possibilities. We may not think so, but we are experts on “US”…..and as such our contributions are invaluable. Active participation ( I believe) is key!!

Hahah…taking a book or your Ipod to the waiting room is a good thing too!!!

I’m not Lazy Crazy or Stupid…..is a decent read….written by two ADD people all about ADD and provides some very good support as well.

Some people like Barkley’s books…….and find his take on ADD/ADHD quite illuminating. So maybe shop around on this site, get some perspective……do some reading…what is the down side to that????

Toofat

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