ADD/ADHD adults--- What coping skills have you learned?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Recently, my nine-year-old son has been dignosed with ADHD. He is taking a low dose of Ritalin with very promising results. We are also in family counseling.

In the course of helping my son, it became painfully obvious that I meet the criteria for ADD, with flying colors. I am still nursing my other son, and will be for a few more months, so I don’t want to try any medication right now. My doctor will put me on a mild antidepressant as soon as I am ready for it, as I am also somewhat depressed. We will go from there, if I need any other medication. I’m leery of taking drugs if I don’t have to.

I have read some excellent threads here on ADD/ADHD. Thanks to all of you who have shared in those threads. You have helped me a great deal.

I was a destructive toddler who became a quiet, inattentive, underachieving student in school. My IQ was tested in fifth grade. I found out that my IQ was 151. This only made me feel worse, because I felt guilty about not using my apparent intelligence. I’ve since taken other tests, with similar results. I’ve never FELT smart, or able to concentrate, but I managed to emerge from high school with a diploma. Just barely.:smiley: I’ve learned that the disorder is often overlooked in girls because it manifests itself in less obvious ways. Daydreaming doesn’t get you sent to the principal’s office.
What I am wondering is what do you do to “catch” yourself when your mind starts wandering at an inappropriate time?

What has helped you learn to read social cues? (something I’m NOT good at :frowning: )

What helps you when you feel immobilized by perfectionism?[sub]My perfectionism has been keeping me from starting this thread till now. I worry about doing things RIGHT until I dont do them at all.<sigh>[/sub]

Okay. Gonna submit this now, if I can get through.

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Sorry for the hijack, but how do you go get tested for ADHD? I am more than certaqin i have had it all my life for many of the reasons you mentioned and have been meaning to do somehitng, but my parents have been less than supported so it looks like i am on my own about this.

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'S allright, homeslice. Shouldn’t a thread on ADD/ADHD tend to get side-tracked?:smiley:

In my case, my son has always had extreme difficulties in a classroom setting. He taught himself how to read and multiply wayyyyyy before kindergarten began, so at first we assumed it was just boredom. We put him in a gifted pull-out program, and he did better there. Sometimes. Unfortunately, gifted only meets for 3 hours a week.

Gifted kids are often erroneously labeled as ADHD, because they hate drill and repetition, and they sometimes won’t do agonizingly, excruciatingly dull school work at all, and can act out from sheer frustration. We were afraid to go the ADHD route because of that.

This year it became obvious that our son’s problems were caused by more than just boredom. We had tried behavior management counseling, with minimal results. Our son’s brain gallops along so fast that sometimes he can’t concentrate on watching his behavior.

We took him to a psychologist, and to his pediatrician, and asked them if it might be ADHD. He met the diagnostic criteria, and that’s when I found out that I also meet them for ADD. All of them. A lot of adults find out they have it when their kids are diagnosed with it. It appears to run in families.

After hashing it out internally for a awhile, we decided it might help to give him a trial of Ritalin. He has had no side effects–he’s on a low dose–and his behavior has improved markedly. He is concentating much better in school. He can play games with his friends without losing track of the game (the kids on his little league team were getting pissed because he’d always be daydreaming, and would let easy-to-catch balls get past him). He still is having problems with impulse control, but the Ritalin seems to be helping him with that as well. He is starting to have friends. :slight_smile:

Back to your question—you can talk to your Dr. about it, for starters. Describe what goes on in your head. Ask where you should go from there. Maybe medication will help you, maybe it’s not necessary. Sometimes behavior modification alone works. That’s what I’m trying to do, at least for now. I’ve been this way for 37 years, a few more months won’t make that much difference.

I am trying to keep myself on a schedule— it helps,<cough> [sub]when I stick to it.[/sub]<cough> I’m looking for more ways to keep focused and on task, sans drugs.

Fellow ADDults, what works for you?

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I don’t have it, but my son does, and it’s hard to imagine how anyone could get through the day with it. Rather than try to pass on second-hand information for adults, I’ll just urge you to check Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder, which is the best online clearinghouse for information I know of.

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Thanks, ElvisL1ves. I appreciate it.

I’m trying to get myself better focused, so I can help my son more effectively. I’m so drifty, I need all the mental exercises/tricks I can get.
:slight_smile: