huh? what? oh yah, back to the subject. ADD runs in my family...We were always all spaced out and running like chickens with our heads cut off. the good news is ADD people are good at multitasking, the bad news is it is hard to finish a project. Heard that biofeedback program can actually cure ADD. they hook you up to a machine and you play a video game on the screen moving stuff around, without touching anything--but just using your brain. I think this sounds very cool, but can't find anybody around here that does biofeedback. I knew a kid once who was on riddlin for years and when he got off he was so drug hungry he went out on the street in search of illegal drugs. seems like a lot of those meds are addicting. I would suggest some books on controlling it without drugs or check into the biofeedback thing. get lots of exercise to get your mind and body working at the same speed. It was really hard for me to sit so long at all those boring JW meetings--pure torture it is for the ADD person. We are much better off flying a jet plane or driving a race car--or doing something that requires some speedy brain activity.
Anyone been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder?
by YellowLab 25 Replies latest watchtower medical
-
-
Gretchen956
I was just diagnosed with this yesterday at 47 years old. Finally so much makes sense. My son had ADHD growing up and VERY few of our symptoms looks the same, so I guess I thought I couldn't have it if I didn't have those same ones.
There are a couple of really good books out there for adults with ADD. My doctor loaned me one, "Women with Attention Deficit Disorder" by Sari Solden; there's another one called "You Mean I'm not Lazy, Stupid, or Crazy?"
Some information from the first book I mentioned:
ADD is not...just for kids, not just for boys, not just about being hyperactive, not about a deficit of attention, not about being irresponsible or having a character flaw.
It IS a neurochemical disorder (not a psychological one) that affects three areas of people's behaviour in various ways - their attention level, their activity level, and their impulsivity level. You can only be diagnosed with ADD if these behaviours are chronic (meaning you have had them a long time) AND severe (impacting your life negatively in serious ways, more so than other people.
It is extremely important to understand that while ADD is a serious disorder, it is not characterological or psychological, but neurobiological. Neurobiological or neurochemical means it is not your fault, and it means its the way your individual brain works. It does not mean you have brain damage.
While no one knows exactly what causes ADD, it is commonly thought of as being genetically transmitted. You are born this way and there are probably others in your family who either have or have had these difficulties.
Most people agree that ADD is a result of the inefficiency and inconsistency of the chemical information transmission system in the brain. The brain itself is fine. There is no damage, and actually ADD people can be (and usually are) quite bright. It is just that these chemical messengers, called neurotransmitters, sending information to and from the different parts of your brain, are for some reason not firing consistently or efficiently. This causes the kind of inconsistent and unregulated behavours mentioned previously. It's logical that if the regulators weren't firing properly in the part of your brain that regulates attention, activity level, and impulsivity, these areas of behaviour would also be inconsistent.
I won't bore you with more of that, I'm just sort of surprised that the diagnosis fits so exactly to things I've battled all my life. I have not had bipolar symptoms, but I could see why the two could be confused, in the book there are lots of examples of people's stories (mostly women, lots of stuff has been written about men and the disease, but its coming out more and more how different it is for women). At any rate, when the neurotransmitters are firing you feel good, connected, and even (for a short while) organized. Then when it goes back to the misfiring again it has to be depressing.
At any rate, I was about to post something about this too so I'm glad to see the thread.
Yeru, if you have read this far in the message I will say you and I do have ONE thing in common after all!
Gretchen
-
4JWY
Greetings YellowLab!
I will tell you that the BEST thing that one can possibly do if they are afflicted with symptoms such as you experience with ADD/OCD and other such conditions, bipolar, depression etc. - is RUN from the organization.
I was raised in JW's myself - my young son struggled with every ADD symptom out there and physical ailments also manifested, like irritable bowel syndrome - he KNEW at a very young age that "the truth" was bogus and that his depression/stress levels were greatly affected by running off to meetings, service, hall cleaning, assemblies, days of conventions etc.just the basic JW lifestyle. Our own bodies will tell us so much if we pay attention to them. At 15, we finally allowed him to stay home from meetings. The difference in his life (and ours as parents) is remarkable. Health and happiness has returned with the freedom all are now allowed to express - instead of suppressing thoughts and emotions. Unfortunately, the org will tout the remedy to problems is MORE, MORE, MORE. This breeds OCD to the max.
My father, zealous JW for 43 years, just killed himself one year ago as he was consumed by it all and couldn't accept that I, his lifetime JW daughter and family, were "fading" to preserve our own mental and physical health. Please, get the help you need - read all you can - and RUN from the WTS and you will experience life in a whole new way too.
Sincerely,
4JWY
-
LyinEyes
Gretchen,,,,,,what you said is so true. I am glad you wrote it all out so everyone who wanted to know about adult ADD will understand it better.
I had this problem in school,,,,,I couldnt sit still, but did for fear of beatings from my dad. Every meeting just about ,,,, I got a beating for laughing, drawing, playing with a string, not sitting still. etc. It was so cruel.
My youngest son at age 3 started showing really bad signs of ADD and worse than that OCD, and PTSD. He was born 2 months early, weighing only 2 lbs, he had kidney damage, chronic lung diesese, phenmonia 6 times in his first weeks of life,,,,respirators, asthma so bad he went into respiratory distress.
The doctors told me that he was so smart, above average intelligence,,,,,he was not brain damaged ,not in the way some would think at least, but the part of his brain that controls the impulse behavior had been starved of oxygen due to the above said, circumstances. They are amazed he does as well as he has , he is almost a perfectly healthy boy of 9.
-
YellowLab
A lot of current research is being done on ADD/ADHD by Dr. Daniel Amen (see www.amenclinics.com). Through Brain SPECT Imaging, six different types of ADD have been defined along with recommended treatments:
Type 1. Classic ADD -- inattentive, distractible, disorganized, hyperactive, restless, and impulsive.
Diet:higher protein, lower carbohydrate
Exercise: intense aerobic
Herbal Supplements:L-tyrosine, grape seed or pine bark
Medications:Stimulants such as Adderall, Ritalin, Dexedrine, and Cylert
EEG Biofeedback:Enhance beta and suppress theta over the prefrontal areaType 2. Inattentive ADD -- inattentive, sluggish, slow moving, low motivation, and often described as space cadets, daydreamers, couch potatoes.
Diet:higher protein, lower carbohydrate
Exercise: intense aerobic
Herbal Supplements:L-tyrosine, grape seed or pine bark
Medications:Stimulants such as Adderall, Ritalin, Dexedrine, and Cylert
EEG Biofeedback:Enhance beta and suppress theta over the prefrontal areaType 3. Overfocused ADD -- trouble shifting attention, frequently get stuck in loops of negative thoughts or behaviors, obsessive, excessive worrying, inflexible, frequent oppositional and argumentative behavior.
Diet:higher protein, lower carbohydrate
Exercise: intense aerobic
Herbal Supplements:St. John?s Wort. 5-HTP, L-tryptophan, Inositol with L-tryrosine
Medications:Serotonin enhancing meds such as Effexor, Zoloft, Paxil, Prozac, or Luxox, may also need a stimulant
EEG Biofeedback:enhance alpha over the cingulate gyrusType 4. Temporal Lobe ADD - inattentive, irritability, aggressive, dark thoughts, mood instability, and severe impulsivity.
Diet:higher protein, lower carbohydrate
Exercise: intense aerobic
Herbal Supplements:GABA, gingko biloba, phosphytidal serine, Vitamin E, Piracetam
Medications:Anticonvulsants such as Depakote, Carbatrol, Neurontin, Topamax, Lamictal, Gabatril, Dilantin
EEG Biofeedback:enhance SMR and suppress theta over the affected temporal lobeType 5. Limbic ADD - inattentive, chronic low grade depression, negativity, "glass half empty syndrome," low energy, and frequent feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness.
Diet:higher protein, lower carbohydrate
Exercise: intense aerobic
Herbal Supplements:DL-phenylalanine, L-tyrosine, SAMe
Medications:Stimulating antidepressants (Norpramin, Wellbutrin,)
EEG Biofeedback:enhance beta and suppress theta over the left prefrontal areaType 6. Ring of Fire ADD - inattentive, extreme distractibility, angry, irritable, overly sensitive, cyclic moodiness, hyperverbal, and extreme opposition.
Diet:higher protein, lower carbohydrate
Exercise: intense aerobic
Herbal Supplements:GABA, Omega 3 Fatty Acids
Medications:Either anticonvulsants as lister in type 4 or the new antipsychotic medications such as Risperdal or Zyprexa
EEG Biofeedback:????????? perhaps enhance SMR activity over the parietal and lateral prefrontal areas and high alpha over the anterior cingulateI have qualities of Type 1, 2 and 3. I currently take Adderall XR and Prozac, although the results I've been getting are inconsistent due to my Overfocused subtype.
YellowLab
-
pettygrudger
Yellowlab - I would recommend you have yourself tested for heavy metals in your system. Some of the research coming in from around the country shows that alot of individuals w/ADD/ADHD & other "neurological disorders" come from a build-up of heavy metals in the system, thus blocking normal neuro-transmitters that send out appropriate signals in the brain.
It's called breaking the blood/brain barrier. In a nutshell, as these heavy metals get caught up in the liver and are unable to be processed, the liver pushes it into the digestive tract, which can't handle the overload either, so then pushes it into the blood stream where they come to rest in the brain. Once in the brain, they block normal neuro transmissions.
http://www.greatplainslaboratory.com/test19.html Is a great place to get tested for what you are diagnosed with. Except for the United States, most countries have come to realize that alot of these disorders, as well as auto-immune disorders are directly attributable to the Western diet. That's why the problem isn't as bad in places where the diet is healthier, and less filled with dairy, wheat & sugars.
-
pc
Yellow, There is a good book called "Driven To Distraction" about adult add. pc
-
gespro
Hi Yellow,
I'm commenting again because I've been through this a long time and the meds are not a permanent way to go. I still do take some meds but the therapy is what actually is correcting my problem. Check this out:
Dissociation is a mental process which produces a lack of connection in
a
person's thoughts, memories, feelings, actions, or sense of identity.
During
the period of time when a person is dissociating, certain information
is not
associated with other information as it normally would be. For example,
during a traumatic experience, a person may dissociate the memory of
the
place and circumstances of the trauma from his ongoing memory,
resulting in
a temporary mental escape from the fear and pain of the trauma and, in
some
cases, a memory gap surrounding the experience. Because this process
can
produce changes in memory, people who frequently dissociate often find
their
senses of personal history and identity are affected.
Most clinicians believe that dissociation exists on a continuum of
severity.
This continuum reflects a wide range of experiences and/or symptoms. At
one
end are mild dissociative experiences common to most people, such as
daydreaming, highway hypnosis, or "getting lost" in a book or movie,
all of
which involve "losing touch" with conscious awareness of one's
immediate
surroundings. At the other extreme is complex, chronic dissociation,
such as
in cases of Dissociative Identity Disorder (MPD) and other Dissociative
Disorders, which may result in serious impairment or inability to
function.
Some people with DID(MPD)/DD can hold highly responsible jobs,
contributing
to society in a variety of professions, the arts, and public service.
To
co-workers, neighbors, and others with whom they interact daily, they
apparently function normally.
There is a great deal of overlap of symptoms and experiences among the
various Dissociative Disorders, including DID (MPD). For the sake of
clarity, this brochure will refer to DID(MPD)/DD as a collective term.
Individuals should seek help from qualified mental health providers to
answer questions about their own particular circumstances and
diagnoses.http://www.sidran.org/trauma.html
I don't mean to interfere with the therapy 'direction' you are currently taking but I'm finding that trauma plays a big part in losing our concentration abilities. I would question the ADD diagnosis.
I was born into the borg and I'm still unlearning behaviour that is caused by the WTBTS.
sincerely
g
-
Dan-O
What was the question again?
-
got my forty homey?
They had a article today in the NY Post about Pete Rose having ADD. They had one of those self tests with 6 questions and I answered yes to all of them. But whenever they have selftests for anything I always answer yes. They even had a self test in Men Health magazine called "Are you Dead?" I scored a 97 which meant -You are dead now and should not be taking or reading this right now!
