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I am a 52 year old white man. So, after being driven to distraction with the inability to concentrate at work, I finally went to a psychiatric nurse practitioner and he diagnosed me with ADHD. He started me on Strattera, but it made me sick to my stomach. I'm now taking Adderall. It helps me concentrate, but it isn't a magic bullet.
I asked the NP about actual therapy (I've read that cognitive behavioral therapy can be helpful) but he made it pretty clear that wasn't his lane.
I see this NP because he's close, and his practice takes my insurance (which is a big deal).
Learn more about adult ADD/ADHD, treatments, and support groups in your area at the following two websites. CHADD is Children and Adults with ADD/ADHD - I linked the Northern Virginia group but you can redirect from there to the National website for more information. Also, at ADHDNova, you'll see one of the participant members is Herve LeBoef. He presented a workshop at my workplace and he himself was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult. I'd think most professionals who aren't just about prescriptions would recommend/support some sort of intervention like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or ABA Therapy. Good luck with it. adhdgrp.tripod.com/adhdresourcegroup
I have ADD (I don't have a problem with hyperactivity). I've lived with it all my life, and I don't medicate for it except for an Ambien to sleep at night. I've found that I'm not really good at "staying on task" which is why I'm SO good at retail - because there is never just one task to do. Retail requires that I be good at muiltitasking. And who else can divide attention better than a person who is incapable of concentrating on one thing? You're not too old to learn how to harness this and use it to your advantage.
Also, create tasks/routines/rituals for yourself. Notice them, acknowledge and recognize them. You probably have dozens you do every day and don't even think about them. The act of recognizing them is actually a good exercise for you. It'll help you learn how to harness your "broad vision" (my terminology for what everyone else calls "lack of focus").
I personally don't feel cognitive therapy is helpful, because cognitive therapy is aimed at treating a disorder. I don't feel my ADD is a disorder. I'm not hardwired the way other people are hardwired. I think differently from other people but not less than other people. I don't want to think like other people. I notice other people tend to be rather myopic, and being like that doesn't interest me at all.
Your mileage may vary, but that's my little bit of insight into the ADD electrons
I've found that I'm not really good at "staying on task" which is why I'm SO good at retail - because there is never just one task to do. Retail requires that I be good at muiltitasking. And who else can divide attention better than a person who is incapable of concentrating on one thing? You're not too old to learn how to harness this and use it to your advantage.
I always thought I would make a good bartender, because it seemed to me I'd be good at paying attention to the multiple things a bartender has to pay attention to all at once. I worked retail when I was in school and was good at it for exactly that reason. Interesting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnonChick
I'm not hardwired the way other people are hardwired. I think differently from other people but not less than other people. I don't want to think like other people.
PRECISELY the way I've felt my ENTIRE LIFE. Thank you for putting it into words for me.
Learn more about adult ADD/ADHD, treatments, and support groups in your area at the following two websites. CHADD is Children and Adults with ADD/ADHD - I linked the Northern Virginia group but you can redirect from there to the National website for more information. Also, at ADHDNova, you'll see one of the participant members is Herve LeBoef. He presented a workshop at my workplace and he himself was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult. I'd think most professionals who aren't just about prescriptions would recommend/support some sort of intervention like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or ABA Therapy. Good luck with it.
ERH thanks for that link. A lot of the site doesn't really apply to me - I wish they'd have a separate section for people with ADD (ADHD without the hyperactivity) but such is life. And I can still tweak the articles in my head to fit how they -can- apply to me. Oddly enough, when you have ADD, that kind of project is fun since it's giving your mind another thing to focus on.
ADD (without the H) often will leave a person really *wanting* to keep focus, but with so much "incoming data" they're easily distracted. That's why we often are caught daydreaming. When we daydream, we've found something to focus on that pushes away all the mundane distractions, like birds chirping out the window, cars driving past the house, the elevator in the hall opening at work. It's an incredibly personal and internal process, finding a focus. I've heard people with ADHD don't always have the luxury of finding a focus because everything's racing around in their heads, and their own bodies can be a distraction that they just can't escape.
The OP, I believe, will definitely benefit from that link - I read a couple articles from it, and it all sounds really encouraging and helpful.
Establishing routines helps, especially around the problems that repeat daily or several times daily. I have a problem losing keys, because I can't form memory reliably about where I put them. The solution to that one was using a bigger keyring and clipping them to a belt loop. If I have to park in an unusual place--breaking routine--then I photograph the car from half a block away, so that I will see the car from the same point of view as I would when returning. Other tactics: talking aloud about what I've seen or where I've put something, checklists, things like that. Thinking about how I feel about the things. Emotion helps code memory.
I'm not suggesting you do these specific things. Just that it helped me to isolate the problems I'm tired of having regularly, and recognizing the situations in which they're likely to occur means I can figure out what's going to help me live better.
A complicating factor can be how anxiousness aggravates the situation, making it even harder to remember.
What situations cause you to get distracted too quickly to form a useful memory for?
What situations cause you to get distracted too quickly to form a useful memory for?
For me, it's not forming memories that's the problem. It's being distracted to the point I can't concentrate. As for keys, I leave them in the same place at home, every day. If I didn't, I'd NEVER be able to find them. One time I couldn't find my keys. I looked everywhere. I finally backtracked, and found my keys, in my utility shed, in my back yard.
I can't tell you how many times I've gotten distracted, and pushed the button on the Keurig machine, and not put a coffee cup there to catch the coffee. That kind of distraction.
I like the idea of using my phone to help is situations to help remember things.
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