[ipsofacto]

Talking of cupboards (and drawers); the best tool I have found to keep from filling them with clutter is to use various small boxes and baskets. These are designated for specific things, and if there isn’t a box for it, it doesn’t go there. It’s working so far……

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[ipsofacto]

There’s definitely something about the top of a microwave that makes it a magnet for clutter. These days our microwave has the paper plates and the bananas on it. I like to have the bananas out so they are eaten quickly, and paper plates save a lot of dish washing (is that an ADD thing?).

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[ipsofacto]

From my own experience I think there are a couple of important things you may have missed from the description above. The first might be a co-morbidity; mine is anxiety. My ADD symptoms are much worse if I am anxious. I deal with anxiety by regularly practicing relaxation response techniques. the second and maybe more important thing for me is to change the way my brain works. I use mindfulness. Even ummedicated, I am sharper, my memory is better, and I have a better perspective on what needs to be done. I know that meds alone would not make me the person I would like to be.

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[ipsofacto]

I find interesting the whole phenomenon of denial of anything new or novel, especially in this new age of unprecedented access to knowledge. Whether it’s climate change or a new medical disorder; the refusal to accept science because it’s not what you want to believe is so pervasive it must have some now redundant evolutionary basis.

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[ipsofacto]

ashockly, I hope this makes sense. I am really just starting to see how much of an impact this is having for me, and I have to say, I can’t claim to fully understand it yet.

But, as I understand it (and please correct me if there is a better way to explain this, anyone?) Mindfulness is at the heart of meditation. It’s what we do with our brain while meditating, which is we learn to be conscious of and maintain our focus; we learn to be observant of detail and also of the entirety of the present moment. We learned to observe our thoughts, feelings and emotions, and most importantly learn to make a conscious decision on our reaction (in thought and deed) in the same way we would observe our breath and decide whether to take control of it or not. Mindfulness practice extends the application of the things learned through meditation to every aspect of life. Just as in meditation we have to consciously practice observing, feeling and controlling our breath, in day to day mindfulness we can consciously practice observing our feelings and consciously deciding whether to act on them. With the exaggerated emotional reaction that is common with ADD, learning to be mindful of what we are feeling is a game changer (at least for me).

Could this learning to be aware of the present moment and to be conscious of our presence in that moment be learned in other ways? I’m sure it can to some extent by many activities that require open monitoring and conscious shifting of focus and reaction in a fluid environment. The great thing about meditation though is that you can carry the anchor of your breath to hold you steady while you practice being mindful.

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[ipsofacto]

Those are great suggestions g.laiya, but going back to the OP, I really believe that the plasticity of the brain is the key to living better with ADD. The whole field of mindfulness is based on this. I think that training the brain not to run on auto-pilot would be a good way to describe mindfulness. Being aware of the present moment, our thoughts, and our emotions, being in control of our focus and reactions, these things are what make mindfulness life changing. The new medical understanding of how mindfulness can not only help us with the logistics of living, but the same process can give us control over our very thoughts and emotions is a huge step forward. The emotional response issues of ADD seem to have been overlooked until recently. I guess because of the previous focus on ADD has been on children where calming hyper-activity and improving educational outcomes seem to have been the main concerns. It’s the lifetime effect of ADD that is now becoming more fully appreciated. It’s not just forgetfulness and silly errors, but the toll in dysfunctional families and the consequences of unchecked emotionally triggered reactions that are the real tragedy. Whether it’s snapping back a hurtful answer to an inconvenient question from a family member, or feeling like it’s the end of the world because a few things went wrong, ADD tends to distort our perceptions and reactions. Confirmation by science that the brain can be rewired is one thing, training the brain to work in a different way is another thing.

Though I didn’t know why at the time, years ago I saw real improvements in my general cognitive abilities using mindfulness. Now with tools to use mindfulness practice to improve all aspects of my life, I am seeing benefits in my relationships and in the way I see and react to other people in general. It is a most profound change.

I would thoroughly recommend “the Mindfulness Prescription for Adult ADHD” by Lidia Zylowska MD as a way to get started with mindfulness. I would stress that changing the way your brain is wired is not something that comes from reading a book, but takes time spent practicing. From my own experience I can also say that mindfulness also takes continuing practice if it’s benefits are to be maintained.

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[ipsofacto]

I can imagine how you feel. I don’t know that the meds alone are the magic bullet you seem to want, but they sure might help. All I can offer is what works for me. A calm mind helps with not only tackling something you don’t feel like doing, but reducing the stress you are feeling. Maybe just start with a simple breathing exercise http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-4386/A-Simple-Breathing-Exercise-to-Calm-Your-Mind-Body.html or a simple PMR exercise http://www.mckinley.illinois.edu/units/health_ed/stress_audio/PMR%20Toe%20to%20Head.mp3

I know mindfulness is the best way to actually improve the way the my brain functions, and the relaxed state that comes with the practices makes you feel like a different person (eventually). Even the simple exercises above are a way to start on that journey to controlling your attention and focus.

It’s not much, but I hope it might help.

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[ipsofacto]

Talking about elementary school teachers, that’s my wife’s occupation. She has been teaching K-3rd grade for about twenty five years and has her masters plus another sixty credits, or so. It was only last year when she she started teaching a gifted program and had to take a lot of classes, including much about twice exceptional (2E) children, that she realized that I probably had ADD. She had often described me as an absent minded professor type, but had never made the connection to ADD before.

So even these days, with so much information about ADD out there, the inattentive types are not so easy to spot. I’ve read that social anxiety can mask much of the impulsiveness that would otherwise be a indicator.

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[ipsofacto]

This is a very sad part of my diagnosis, realizing that so many members of my family are (or were) ADD. Looking back at the struggles various uncles and aunts went through (and especially my father), I now see them in a whole different light. Most interesting though, is that many of them married people who also had ADD traits.

I know I will have to make some calls to cousins (who I haven’t seen since childhood), and at some point in the conversation will slip in the ADD thing. Hopefully it may help them understand their parents better, and maybe themselves.

There is an aunt, who’s son died several years ago. His whole life had been marred by addictions and failures Perhaps it will help her to know there was a medical reason for the way his life turned out and that he was in fact a fighter, showing great determination in spite of his undiagnosed disorder.

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[ipsofacto]

I think the impulsiveness leads to clutter and the clutter becomes overwhelming. We don’t stand a chance unless we eliminate the clutter. It could also be that our lateral thinking finds a potential use for everything. Only long term experience eventually tells us the real potential for using stuff, and for most of it the answer is never.

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[ipsofacto]

Before moving to the US, I ran my own Electrical/construction business. In the US, I was lucky enough to get into the electricians union (IBEW).

It’s about as perfect as any job could be for ADD. The hiring and laying off is a bit fluid, so there is no stigma generally to being laid off. You often don’t work at the same site for too long, and there is ample opportunity to think creatively. Some industrial jobs can be very slow, and hard to cope with, but are easily avoided. The recession has been bad for us, and too much time off work contributed to my ADD symptoms becoming bad enough to lead to diagnosis.

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[ipsofacto]

It seems there really is a spectrum in terms of severity, and type of ADD. Intelligence appears to play a large role in outcomes from what I have read, but it also seems to be a taboo subject. Co-morbidities are common and range in severity. It seems to me that circumstance and chance are huge factors in how people end up in life even with an early diagnosis. Developing coping skills and a lifestyle that compensates for the deficits, and allows the creativity, conceptual thinking, and a degree of hyper-focus is very often left to chance.

Just as in the regular population where there are people who believe a pill is all you need to loose weight, or control diseases, there seems to be too many with ADHD who rely solely on medication. I think the factors above may have much to do with this. Unless you can see that things you have done in the past led to improvements in your ADD, it might be hard to give the other therapies a fair chance. I know that if I could not look back and see where various mindful activities had been directly responsible for improvements in my life, it would be hard be so enthusiastic about embracing such activities now. Medication for me is a way to enhance and speed up that process.

I had an uncle who was a brilliant engineer. It took him 2/3 of his life and much torment to himself and his family before finding a lifestyle that suited him. He became a consultant and would problem solve engineering for National Companies. He was offered executive positions, but by then he had learned his limitations.

So yes there are benefits for some in the way that our brains work, but there are also cost. I believe those cost can be overcome, but it requires determination and ongoing effort.

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[ipsofacto]

I think my ADD conceptual thinking helps me with animals. By that, I mean that being able to apply a little understanding of animal behaviors to pets in various situations rather than trying to discipline them by more human reactions. My husky would walk to heel without a leash (not usual behavior for huskies), and my indoor cat confines himself to a limited area when let outside (while I sit and watch him though). I try never to show anger towards animals, but would scold them in ways they understand and that would cause no fear or resentment.

Strangely, it’s much harder learning to use the same principles with humans.

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[ipsofacto]

I had a great time in photography for a few years. There is one huge stumbling block for the ordinary workaday photographer with ADD though – record keeping. Whether it’s recording exactly what you did to get that shot (because you won’t remember exactly what you did next time), or filing all the negs/transparencies (digital images these days). This has to be a self imposed discipline and is easily subject to procrastination. It may be different if you have learned to deal with these things, but at the time I had no clue about ADD.

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[ipsofacto]

That effect has worn off a bit for me after several weeks of taking Adderall. I try to have a meal routine, which seems to help. So although I have lost a little weight, That is more because I no longer snack as much, and can control the occasional desire to binge.

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