I have been seen ads run by pharmaceutical companies…touting a new disease/condition called adult attention deficit disorder. This seems like a nifty thing to have…it can excust all kinds of screwups at work…take this for example:
(BOSS): Ken, did you finish that marketing report? I need it this afternoon!
(KEN): Gosh, I completely forgot it! I have adult ADD!
(BOSS): Ken! I’m so sorry! Forget about that report…just please don’t sue us! Maybe you need a vacation?
(KEN): I think you are right.lately I can’t seem to remmeber things.
(BOSS): I think you have ADD!
So, is this a legitimate condition? Or just a new psychological “illness”?
ADD and ADHD have been recognized as adult conditions for about as long as they have been recognized as childhood conditions. There has been a bit less attention paid to it because by the time an ADD/ADHD sufferer has made it to adulthood, they have either found some coping mechanisms, gone to jail, or are simply struggling to get through life while being regarded as either “scatter brained” or otherwise odd.
We have several posters who suffer from one or the other condition. I know several people IRL who also suffer from it.
What is probably new is the placement of ads trying to drum up business for the pharmaceutical industry–but they have been doing the same thing for a lot of different illnesses for several years: “Have you ever felt …? or do you find yourself …? Ask your doctor about…”
I had a boss once who had ADD - someone clued me in that if he asked a question you didn’t want to answer, to pause a long time, drop pencil/pick up pencil, make notes, etc. If you waited long enough before answering, by that time he had completely forgotten his original question. I tried it out once, and it worked - very strange.
ADD was long considered a childhood problem that faded with time. As recently as the mid-90s, I was told that I couldn’t have ADD because I was too old.
Add to that a number of people who were not diagnosed in childhood or whose parents/teachers resisted the diagnosis, and you get a group of adults who are being encouraged to look into ADD as a possible cause for their problems.
BTW, a lot of adults with ADD end up with problems such as addiction and inability to hold a job. While this in part is a typical pharmaceutical “Let’s see if we can get more people taking our drugs” campaign, I think that there are a lot of people who can greatly benefit by it.
I agree with Zyada. For a long time it was thought to be mostly a problem that “wore out” by adulthood.
I am testimony to it not wearing out with age and have ADHD, Attention Deficit with hyperactivity thrown in. Medication DOES help considerably, but I have to watch my caffeine intake – more than one cup of coffee a day and I’m flying off the ceiling. And it’s definitely genetic (my thread on the Left Handed Syndrome goes into some detail). My 17 year old son has it bad and my 6 year old grandson was just diagnosed with it.
And while granted, the pharmaceutical companies love having a field day selling their products whereever possible, no one would keep paying the outrageous prices for a lot of them if they didn’t help. What’s hard is getting someone with ADD or ADHD to REMEMBER to take their meds, lol.
ADD or AD/HD is also something that’s easy to diagnose. From the literature I’ve read there are a series of comprehensive exams and tests to go thru along with personal history and performance evaluations. All of this is to ensure the actual problem is ADD or AD/HD and not something else. It’s not a diagnosis you can make by a simple observation or one test.
As ADD and ADHD used to be written off (in young males in particular) as a “boys will be boys” thing, I can understand why some would not accept that it exists in adults. But there’s nothing about it that should fade with time. Doesn’t sound like “adult ADD” is different in any way, it’s just that adults aren’t thought of as the people who have it. It’s not new. One of my best friends has ADD (actually, two of them do). So does her younger brother, and so does her mother, who’s 50something.
It doesn’t run in the family, it practically gallops.
And the mother seems to have the most severe case. She’s really sweet, and just does not stop talking once she starts. I remember she once kept me on the phone for about 20 minutes - while I was in the shower - because I couldn’t get a word in edgewise or say goodbye. Not that she knew I was answering the phone from the shower, I mean, what kind of dumbass answers the phone when he’s in the shower? Just me, when I’m alone in the house and have to shower. Anyway…
From what I understand from the physicians I used to work for in the mid-90’s (who were contemplating firing another physician due to his inability to “contain” his ADD) the drugs givien to children to treat ADD had never been tested to see if they were still effective once the child became an adult. Since there was in effect no treatment the problem was just ignored.
A person who is very near and dear to me suffers from AADD and I assure you it is most emphatically not a “nifty” thing to have, nor does it “excuse” screw ups at work.
I’m never sure about ADHD - I teach high school, about the point where kids are “growing out” of the illness. Some, and trust me, just by standing the in classroom and watching the group, obviously have not grown out of it. Others, however, announce to me that they have
ADD or ADHD, but only seem to have it when it suits them, i.e., when I’m trying to teach and they want to be disruptive. My thought is, if they aren’t over it by puberty [which is what usually happens when a disease is outgrown], and still are hyperactive at 18, they are going to be affected for the rest of their lives.
I know it exists. I can see it in the kids who are trying to control it and learn to live normal lives. But, I think it’s over diagnosed - It’s easier to say “my child has ADHD” than “my child is an asshole”. Just a thought, though.