[memzak]

Boy this thread takes me back. I have been “going to college” for an equivelent of 10 years. In all those years I only got one “A”. The one class that stands out in my memory was a class I had an A in until the final. The final consisted of memorizing a list of the names of the professors favorite house plants. I flunked the final because I could only remember one plant’s name. To this day I can’t memorize anything. I can “learn” things, especially if it is in paragraph form and not a random list.

I would often be unable to recall details or information when taking a test. I have learned to skip questions I can’t answer right away and answer the ones that I do remember. Then when I go back to that ones I skipped, quite often my brain will have had enough time to pull out the information and I can answer most of the skipped ones. I repeat this process until I answer them all or I realize I will not be able to answer any more. This has helped me bring my grades up a lot.

I have had professors pass me out of kindness for how hard I worked on the class. I would read the book and/or class notes multiple times to try to stuff the information into my reluctant brain. Some subjects however, just would not stick. Physics was one of them.

Get all the help you can get but look for someone that understands the add brain if at all possible.

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[memzak]

kc5jck

Solution to the disappearing posting problem-write your posts in Word or any other word processing software and then copy and paste to the site. I learned this the hard way. I became very inspired months ago and pored my heart into a post that took me 4 hours to write. When I went to post it…It had disappeared. I was so frustrated that I cried and just turned my computer off. Another advantage to copy/paste is the spell checker. The spell checker is my friend. Another thing that helps to keep posts from disappearing is to make sure the curser is in the post somewhere and blinking.

I agree with your analysis of the difference between Dr. Berkley and Dr. Hallowell. I also believe that the fact that Dr. Barkley’s twin brother had ADD and basically died because of it also colors Dr. Barkley’s focus.

In general, I have noticed that the successful people with ADD tend to be the hyperactive type with the naturally positive attitudes and the less successful mostly inattentive type are more prone to depression and allowing failures to influence future successes. I, unfortunately fall into the second category.

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[memzak]

I have been off the site for quite a while. I only skimmed some of the posts on this thread but I got the general idea. I have had too many events that are still too painful to talk about now but as to being creative and getting started, events have led me to start a small (micro) business where I make dolls that look like octopi (octopuses). I have posted a group picture as my avatar to show everyone.

I needed something to do with my hands while sitting and waiting for things to happen. I started with jellyfish then remembered a doll I saw 30some years ago and started making that octopus doll. I have sold 21 in the last 10 days. At $10 apiece it helped us through a tight spot in our budget.

I just did it. I did not think about it at all. Everyone just kept saying how cute they were. I made them totally hypo-allergenic and machine washable and it just took off.

I find that when I start thinking about doing something I start procrastinating. If I just do it without thinking then I get things done. The only problem with this method is that I tend to do things that I like. Then other problem is I will interrupt one project to take care of something totally unrelated but extremely important like paying my car insurance. I suppose as long as the important things get done it will work out for me. I don’t know. Almost everything in my life has changed over the last 2 months and I guess I’m still in a state of shock.

I will miss no_dopomine. We had a lot in common and I enjoyed reading her posts and our occasional conversations. I don’t know what has been going on with the site but I am not going to worry about it. Things will sort themselves out.

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[memzak]

Listen to Larynxa. Her experience is closer to your company than my experience.

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[memzak]

As far as the math goes, I was an insurance agent for awhile and I could sit down and do 200 calls in a day depending on how many people I would actually talk to. More talking = fewer calls but more money since I got a percent of each sale. In your situation you, depending on how much time you spend on each call, could make some nice money where you are. The field agent spends a lot of time out in the field “hunting” people. Your plan sounds like a winner as far as the number of people you talk to. Wether or not you persue the agent job should depend more on how much you like to talk to people face to face and how comfortable you are in crowds. If I were you I would go to some of these events as you discribed them and see how close you get to the event and the people going in and out. Security may prevent the senerio you discribe and again there may not be any security and you can talk to as many people as you want. It may help you make your decision.

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[memzak]

Before I found out that I have ADD I heard that one way to stop the negative loop where a thought goes round and round and builds on itself was to do something silly; things like flap your arms or make a silly noise or both. The point of this exercise was to do something so silly and/or outrageous as to make yourself laugh. Laughing breaks a negative loop. Once you break the loop you can look at the negative thought and decide if it is true or not. Not true can be dismissed, true plan a course of action to take care of it. It doesn’t always work the first time you try it but I have used this technique myself and had much success with it before I found out why I got into the loops in the first place. I now can break most negative loops without actually making a noise although occasionally I still have to do something silly.

I have a tendency to beat myself up for stupid things I had done in the past. Using this technique has helped me realize that the past is in the past, realize what I learned from the mistake and put the memory in the past. Once I learned about my ADD this became even easier because I found out why I did the “stupid” thing in the first place and could forgive myself for it and then watch for similar situations to prevent it from happening again.

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[memzak]

I have always hated the holidays. My reason is more along the lines of hating the disruption of my routine. It is so hard to establish a routine in the first place and to have it blown apart for 4 days every November is more than annoying. Along with the cost of all the food we don’t normally eat during the year. On the flip side I do like getting together with my 3 sisters and younger brother (older bro lives in Texas). I can tolerate the noise level of the collection of our 10 kids and a few grandkids (barely) for a couple of hours. We play our favorite card game called Fan-tan and have a ball. The kids are usually gathered around the video game having their version of being together. There are times when the adults are louder than the kids. This year I don’t have much of a routine because I am applying for disability and am not working so I was looking forward to a change. It does bother me that I don’t have enough money for Christmas presents but I have decided to make some gifts this year.

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[memzak]

Well said Larynxa!

I tried meds but after only 6 weeks they became ineffective. Things in my life are starting to fall into place in ways I never expected. I still need to be on disability for more than just my ADD and that process is progressing. If things continue to progress and the network I am building continues to grow I may not ever need meds again. Now energy drinks and coffee are another story 😆

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[memzak]

Forgive me but I would like to return to the title of this thread.

Last year during the holidays, my family members were all unbeilvers.

What a difference a year makes. My youngest sister goes from saying no one has it to trying to jump on the ADD bandwagon (she does not have it). My brother has figured out that he has it but is ok because we both think he picked the perfect profession and has done very well for himself. My other younger sister did not join in this conversation and I don’t know if she has it or not. She has had a wonderful 2 years with her new husband and is very happy so we did not push her to join in. I still don’t think my oldest sister has it. I know my mother and older brother both have it. I was in heaven. I finally had the support from my family I was looking for and needed.

I hope this happens for everyone on this site that your family will turn the corner and realize what is going on. I just didnt talk to them, didnt try to convince them of anything. Educating yourself on what ADD is and isn’t seems to be the best weapon in our war against ignorance.

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[memzak]

Billd and Peacock have excellent suggestions. I am very familiar with the “blah blah and don’t forget to blah blah” pattern. What I have done in the past is repeat back what I think they said. Something like, “Ok you want this done and this done and what was the third thing, I can’t read my own handwriting?”. Project boards are a wonderful tool with large projects. You can always holler “SQUIRRELL” when you lose track of the conversation, (just kidding). 😆

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[memzak]

I used to work in IT. Keeping track of passwords, etc. is a tough one. I had to write them down. Where I worked, I also had to give my password for the mainframe to one other person so if I was unavailable for any reason they could access the company computer. While I was with that company, I wrote them on paper and hid it in my office. Believe me, my office was always a mess but my filing system was color coded (still became a mess after a while) and I hid it in the back of an unrelated file. Still I was not doing government work. I know from experience that putting such a file on a memory stick is not a good idea. After I left that job I got into trying to find work online and developed a very long list of sites, logins and passwords. I had put it in an excel spreadsheet on a memory stick and last July that stick was lost due to my extreme depression. Whatever you decide to do be careful.

No_dop I love the ziplock bag. I have done that with receipts and other scraps of paper I have written things on especially when cleaning out my purse only I was using an actual ziplock bag.

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[memzak]

Amazing article. Thank you billd. I can’t tell you how many times I have had to return to the spot where I decided to go get something just to remember what I was looking for. I had done some research on different kinds of memory when my memory started getting so bad I thought I was getting dementia. I worry about that because my grandmother and aunt both had it when they died but they were in their late 70’s early 80’s when they developed it. Anyway my memory problems at the time, in addition to ADD, could be explained by menapause and stress so i stopped worrying about it.

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[memzak]

I find that about 45 minutes into a meeting, I will start yawning and get sleepy even if I am interested. I find that eating sugar like tick tacs or other small candies helps me stop yawning. I also fall asleep watching movies and tv shows. Sometimes if I am having touble going to sleep I will put a video in and 5 minutes later I am out.

Bulld I always thought this was part of ADD. Where did you get your information?

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[memzak]

LSA – I am curious about your class. The concept of “free will” has been debated since Greek times. A “good” God is a more recent concept.

Have you ever watched a show on PBS (maybe other stations) called “Closer to Truth”? It is one man’s journey to understand God, consciousness and the cosmos. The shows are on a website of the same name.

I would love to have some critique on my work. It will be awhile before I can piece together something to show someone. Well, I need to sign off for tonight. I fade out around 9ish. As to doing a project this big, it is a subject that is near and dear to my heart. I just need to be sure to not get lost in the technical aspects of tracking my work.

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[memzak]

Will power according to Dictionary.com is:

1. “Control of one’s impulses and actions; self-control.”

2. “The trait of resolutely controlling your own behavior.”

What bothers me is that we do not think of the brain and brain function as a physical thing. Part of the reason, I supposed, is that we cannot “see” thoughts. I propose that “will power” is part of “free will” and is under the control of our brains just as moving an arm is under the control of our muscles through our brain. If the part of our brain that controls the movement of the arm is damaged, the arm does not move or is limited. Therefor if parts of our brains are not formed the way most peoples are and are not functioning “correctly” then we will not be able to do things as well as they do if at all. No amount of yelling at your brain to do better is going to help.

Your problems with tests have more to do with the minimal functioning of the executive area of the brain. They harder you try the faster the glucose level in that area of the brain drops and the worse you do. Telling you to “try harder” just uses this glucose up even faster and stresses you out. Even while relaxed I can only do certain things for a short time unless it is something I feel passionate about. The passion is like self-medicating allowing the “hyper focus” which is actually getting stuck on something interesting. I even forget to go to the bathroom in that state. I know this explanation is a bit simplistic but long posts are hard for most of us to read.

Anyone else have thoughts on free will?

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