Vforcer- theskeptic- regarding ADD

[mxim]

I also have ADD and take ritalin. i use it sporadically for certain tasks like putting togther a computer desk,organizing my office ect...i was taking it every day and it was very helpful but i since stopped using it on a daily basis. i was diagnosed later in life but had it ever sice i was a young kid. i was constantly day dreaming and my mind sometimes seemed to be in a fog where i was kind of "air headed". when i do use ritalin i see everything much clearer and i can think much more deeply. i also got into alot of trouble and at times suffered some depression as a result of my condition. i literally go balistic when things are not organized,i feel like i amn losing control. although i have a hard time keeping things organized. when i use the ritalin it is SO much easier. i also remember sitting on my bed to watch TV and i would bounce.this was the anxiety/hyper part of my ADD i suppose. i also remember my paerents helping me with my homework and not being able to pay attention or focus. can you guys share some of your own experiences with ADD? i also think my daugher,who is 5 has it to a degree. that really bothers me tremendously because i know how difficult it was for me. also,Vforcer,i'm glad you were able to reunite with your birth mother. i'm happy for you.
mxim

[Vforcer2]

Originally Posted by mxim

I also have ADD and take ritalin. i use it sporadically for certain tasks like putting togther a computer desk,organizing my office ect...i was taking it every day and it was very helpful but i since stopped using it on a daily basis. i was diagnosed later in life but had it ever sice i was a young kid. i was constantly day dreaming and my mind sometimes seemed to be in a fog where i was kind of "air headed". when i do use ritalin i see everything much clearer and i can think much more deeply. i also got into alot of trouble and at times suffered some depression as a result of my condition. i literally go balistic when things are not organized,i feel like i amn losing control. although i have a hard time keeping things organized. when i use the ritalin it is SO much easier. i also remember sitting on my bed to watch TV and i would bounce.this was the anxiety/hyper part of my ADD i suppose. i also remember my paerents helping me with my homework and not being able to pay attention or focus. can you guys share some of your own experiences with ADD? i also think my daugher,who is 5 has it to a degree. that really bothers me tremendously because i know how difficult it was for me. also,Vforcer,i'm glad you were able to reunite with your birth mother. i'm happy for you.
mxim

Hi Mxim,

ADD isn't all bad. Dr. Danial Amen,in his book the Six Types of ADD says that ADD should be renamed from Attention Deficit Disorder to Adrenal Deficit Disorder.

Fact is, I am somewhat a dreamer, always thinking outside the box. This type of thinking causes me to fall under critisism by others, but most "other" people are normal and will accomplish little in thier lifetime, because they are one of the "herd", never getting outside the box, never taking a risk, etc. This type of dreamer mentality makes me creative, and allows me to ponder solving problems, and the creation of new ideas. It is described as being in a "Theta" brain wave state. Organized people are typically in a "Beta" brain wave state, so they do lack creativity for the most part. When I drive in the car, the road noise sound frequency causes me to drift DEEPLY into a Theta state. Sometimes my wife will yammer for several minutes before I even realize it! It really ticks her off! However, driving is when I formulate my best ideas.

ADD folks tend to excel in situations of urgency, or high stress because those situations tend to cause the release of adrenaline which stimulates us to hyperfocus on the task at hand. Assembling a desk and following those directions are excrutiatingly painful tasks because they are MUNDANE AND BORING, they offer no exitement or interest thereby not causing the release of adrenaline to access the needed part of the frontal lobes of your brain, which allow you to more easily assemble or construct things. Part of our brain is relatively unaccessable without the presence of adrenaline and/or a good circulatory system. Spectrographs have proven this. This is one reason daily vigorous exercise is so important.

ADD has in many ways worked out for me. I was a terrific salesperson, later a well respected top general manager, and now self employed entrepreneur/investor.

As long as I am doing something that excites me, don't stand in my way, however if I grow bored, I will be the first one out the door, and looking for something new to excite me. This is a great strength and a great weakness, as we tend to have many unfinished projects. There have been many successful people whom had ADD and utilized it well....DiVinci, Steve Jobs, Einstien, to name a few. Many Rock Stars, and top musicians are ADD.

I suck at the general Academic process of sitting thru long classes, and doing homework, studying for tests, etc. Of course I have never tried it while using an Rx like Adderall. Of course, classes that I have a passion for I do excellent in. If the class is devoid of interest, or the teacher stinks at making it interesting then I am in trouble. This is why I have never been to college, but then again, neither has Steve Jobs, the guy who brought us Mac, Apple, ITunes, and Ipod. He tried, but ultimately just floated around auditing a few classes that were interesting to him.

Danial Amen in my opinion has done the best job of identifying the different subtypes of ADD. I highly recommend his book. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/042...books&v=glance

Finding my mother helped me acquire the many unanswered questions that I had about myself. It also didn't hurt that she is gorgeous, bright, articulate, and loves me and my family deeply. It helped my self image quite a bit. My father on the other hand denies he is my father, but did call me with some family medical info(swell guy, but he is an attorney...denies everything). I just happen to be in the same type of business he is, which is primarily investments. Genes, there interesting boogers.

[The_Skeptic]

Originally Posted by Vforcer2

Hi Mxim,

ADD isn't all bad. Dr. Danial Amen,in his book the Six Types of ADD says that ADD should be renamed from Attention Deficit Disorder to Adrenal Deficit Disorder.

Fact is, I am somewhat a dreamer, always thinking outside the box. This type of thinking causes me to fall under critisism by others, but most "other" people are normal and will accomplish little in thier lifetime, because they are one of the "herd", never getting outside the box, never taking a risk, etc. This type of dreamer mentality makes me creative, and allows me to ponder solving problems, and the creation of new ideas. It is described as being in a "Theta" brain wave state. Organized people are typically in a "Beta" brain wave state, so they do lack creativity for the most part. When I drive in the car, the road noise sound frequency causes me to drift DEEPLY into a Theta state. Sometimes my wife will yammer for several minutes before I even realize it! It really ticks her off! However, driving is when I formulate my best ideas.

ADD folks tend to excel in situations of urgency, or high stress because those situations tend to cause the release of adrenaline which stimulates us to hyperfocus on the task at hand. Assembling a desk and following those directions are excrutiatingly painful tasks because they are MUNDANE AND BORING, they offer no exitement or interest thereby not causing the release of adrenaline to access the needed part of the frontal lobes of your brain, which allow you to more easily assemble or construct things. Part of our brain is relatively unaccessable without the presence of adrenaline and/or a good circulatory system. Spectrographs have proven this. This is one reason daily vigorous exercise is so important.

ADD has in many ways worked out for me. I was a terrific salesperson, later a well respected top general manager, and now self employed entrepreneur/investor.

As long as I am doing something that excites me, don't stand in my way, however if I grow bored, I will be the first one out the door, and looking for something new to excite me. This is a great strength and a great weakness, as we tend to have many unfinished projects. There have been many successful people whom had ADD and utilized it well....DiVinci, Steve Jobs, Einstien, to name a few. Many Rock Stars, and top musicians are ADD.

I suck at the general Academic process of sitting thru long classes, and doing homework, studying for tests, etc. Of course I have never tried it while using an Rx like Adderall. Of course, classes that I have a passion for I do excellent in. If the class is devoid of interest, or the teacher stinks at making it interesting then I am in trouble. This is why I have never been to college, but then again, neither has Steve Jobs, the guy who brought us Mac, Apple, ITunes, and Ipod. He tried, but ultimately just floated around auditing a few classes that were interesting to him.

Danial Amen in my opinion has done the best job of identifying the different subtypes of ADD. I highly recommend his book. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/042...books&v=glance

Finding my mother helped me acquire the many unanswered questions that I had about myself. It also didn't hurt that she is gorgeous, bright, articulate, and loves me and my family deeply. It helped my self image quite a bit. My father on the other hand denies he is my father, but did call me with some family medical info(swell guy, but he is an attorney...denies everything). I just happen to be in the same type of business he is, which is primarily investments. Genes, there interesting boogers.

Wow, V. Forcer, you wrote an extremely well description of my life. I can totally relate to the adrenal thing.

I used to work as a newspaper reporter and I was the type who would thrive on writing stories on tight deadlines. Nobody could beat me on breaking news. The works would just flow out of me.

But then if I had a story assignment which was due in two weeks, I wouldn't be able to get into it until the very last minute, which would always be stressful.

I used to hate covering city council meetings and boring crap like that, but if a city official had just gotten fired or arrrested at 6 p.m. and our deadline was at 7 p.m., I would have that story while most other reporters would just freeze up.

Listening to you explain it really showed my why I need to develop a daily exercise routine. I love the feeling I get when I exercise daily, but I just find it so hard to actually start working out. I fill find any excuse not to work out.

I'm in the process now of starting my own media business where I plan to write and take photos for various publications and magazines. And my ADD is making this hard because I find it hard to motivate myself to do the routine things to get this business off the ground, like putting letters and portfolios together to mail to potential clients.

It is a constant struggle, even with the medication.

I managed to get myself through college without medication, but it was a struggle. It took me almost four years to complete a two-year degree at a community college. Then it took me two years to complete my junior and senior year at a university. I found that much easier because it was focused on writing, which is something I've always enjoyed and been good at.

I think I will buy Daniel Aman's book. Thanks for recommending it.

[1cc]

Originally Posted by Vforcer2

Hi Mxim,
ADD should be renamed from Attention Deficit Disorder to Adrenal Deficit Disorder.

Why is this? Do people with ADD not produce sufficient adrenal hormones like cortisol, DHEA, Aldosterone, Adrenaline because of adrenal disfunction?

[Vforcer2]

Originally Posted by 1cc

Why is this? Do people with ADD not produce sufficient adrenal hormones like cortisol, DHEA, Aldosterone, Adrenaline because of adrenal disfunction?

I may have misquoted Dr. Amen slightly. I think he actually say adrenaline deficit disorder.

To answer your question, no I do not think it is a problem with the endocrine system, at least not specifically as a whole. It is a problem with our brains and all the neural system that provide the stimulas to specific areas of the brain, i.e. energy to the brain. We simply cannot access certain areas (lobes) of the brain on demand, at least not efficiently without the stimulas. Because of this short circuting problem, adrenaline (epinephrine and norepinephrine) "lights up" those areas when it is available. This is where a Rx like Adderall comes into play as it provides the adrenaline on demand, it also makes for a nice energy boost all the way around.

When is it available you may ask? When we are in a traumatic situation, when something excites us, when we are passionate about a particular thing/subject, intrigued, etc. It is in these circumstances that we have, for some reason, monovison and the ability to hyperfocus and accomplish great things. Just don't try and tell us about your day at the office while we are in the middle of something that has merited our attention because we simply won't hear you, and it could appear to be rude on our part. I am nearly incapable of multitasking because of this.

Thank God (and I mean that) I have a Beta brainwaved wife. We are Yin and Yang, and she keeps my life organized and in order, and I take her outside the box to experience new things, have fun, and keep her laughing.

I am neophyte concerning all this, and don't have all the answers, but I am learning. Perhaps marianco will poke his head in on one of these conversations and give us an exposition of the subject from a clinicians point of view.

[Vforcer2]

Originally Posted by The_Skeptic

Wow, V. Forcer, you wrote an extremely well description of my life. I can totally relate to the adrenal thing.

I used to work as a newspaper reporter and I was the type who would thrive on writing stories on tight deadlines. Nobody could beat me on breaking news. The works would just flow out of me.

But then if I had a story assignment which was due in two weeks, I wouldn't be able to get into it until the very last minute, which would always be stressful.

I used to hate covering city council meetings and boring crap like that, but if a city official had just gotten fired or arrrested at 6 p.m. and our deadline was at 7 p.m., I would have that story while most other reporters would just freeze up.

Listening to you explain it really showed my why I need to develop a daily exercise routine. I love the feeling I get when I exercise daily, but I just find it so hard to actually start working out. I fill find any excuse not to work out.

I'm in the process now of starting my own media business where I plan to write and take photos for various publications and magazines. And my ADD is making this hard because I find it hard to motivate myself to do the routine things to get this business off the ground, like putting letters and portfolios together to mail to potential clients.

It is a constant struggle, even with the medication.

I managed to get myself through college without medication, but it was a struggle. It took me almost four years to complete a two-year degree at a community college. Then it took me two years to complete my junior and senior year at a university. I found that much easier because it was focused on writing, which is something I've always enjoyed and been good at.

I think I will buy Daniel Aman's book. Thanks for recommending it.

Just don't fail to recognize your strengths. Goal setting has had a pretty huge impact in my life to keep me on specific targets of achievement. Zig Ziglar, Tony Robbins, are series you will find in many peoples garage sales, but thier works, and others, were meaningful life changing materials for me to open my mind to possibilies and the power of possibility thinking.

In addition to Amen's book, here are some others that may be of value. The reviewer runs a clinic for ADD and ADHD kids, and instead of medicating kids, trys to work with them with strategies to accentuate thier gifts and strengths.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-...=public&page=2