I was put on adderol, ritalin, and a host of other meds. They all made me depressed to one degree or another. I was off of them completely by High School, mostly due to my refusal to take them anymore.

Now as an adult, I'm mildly successful. I found a job that suits me well. I have sister who was diagnosed with ADHD that is in the same boat. All of those years of trying 20 different meds for a month or so at a time was a waste for both of us.

Are there really adults that can't do their job because of ADD or is it that they've simply chosen a career that isn't interesting to them?

Anybody else diagnosed as a kid, but isn't sure what to think about it now?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/10/2013 12:05PM by Frightened Inmate #2.

Speaking as a teacher -- sometimes kids grow out of it (meaning that as an adult they have learned adequate coping skills to deal with the condition.)

ADHD varies widely in severity. Mild cases usually do not need intervention. Moderate to severe cases can benefit from intervention. I always tell parents that if a child with moderate to severe ADHD goes unmedicated, they can expect a one-to-two letter grade drop from what the child would otherwise obtain. Generally speaking, I support parents who don't want to go the medication route, but they have to realize that there are consequences to that decision.

Sometimes ADHD can be really problematic, especially when it is combined with other problems such as a learning disability. I think of the ADHD as "adding fuel to the fire" in such cases.

Physicians experiment with medications and dosages until they find a good fit. Sometimes (as you have found,) they never find a good fit.

It's nice when an adult with ADHD finds employment that is compatible with the condition. A professor of mine was telling me how a former ADHD student of hers is now working in HVAC and is very successful at it. All of the physical activity, differing environments, etc. are a good match for him.

People who are ADHD only want to do things that interest them. The way you phrased your question indicates that you understand that. There are lots of adults that plug away at jobs or careers that they don't necessarily enjoy. My son is ADHD. We found one medication that actually helped him improve his grades in third grade, but the side effects were too severe, so he had to be taken off of them. He's a junior now, and this is the first year he has decided not to take his meds. His grades have in fact dropped, but he is maintaining good grades in the classes that he enjoys.

This was my experience too. I despised most if not all subjects in Elementary school so I performed poorly. I always did very well in subjects I liked or that taught in a more visual and hands on way.

For example, I always hated english classes, but I took an AP History/English class in high school that I loved and I excelled in because they made it interesting, and threw out the creative writing nonsense that I hated in most classes. Somebody, somewhere decided that creative writing is necessary and physics isn't and people that learn the way I do suffer because of it.

I often feel like they've created a disorder out of a learning style. I don't learn well from books and find it difficult to motivate myself to trudge through things that are strictly book work. I can only stay motivated to write/read about gerunds for so long before I shut down.

This!!

"I often feel like they've created a disorder out of a learning style. I don't learn well from books and find it difficult to motivate myself to trudge through things that are strictly book work."

This has been my experience as well. Was a bright child but diagnosed with ADHD as an adult. Meds worked marvelously for a year, then I built up a tolerance to them :-(

My husband has ADD and prior to getting medication, information etc. he couldn't focus on anything long enough to make a success of it. Not either of the several, very different careers he tried or our marriage or even his own hobbies. The Adderall makes a huge difference in his personality - his real self comes out when he's on it and he's kinder, more patient and more able to accomplish what he wants to. He feels a lot better about himself and realizes he's smart, whereas before he just thought he was a failure compared to other people. This is definitely not true - he's got excellent talents but he just couldn't stick around long enough to prove it. Now he can.

That being said, I think ADD/ADHD are overdiagnosed, which may be what happened to you. Possibly you were misdiagnose because other things, like depression or food allergies or low blood sugar, can produce similar symptoms. Just because a doctor thought you had it, doesn't mean you did and just because he was wrong about you, doesn't mean ADD isn't real for other people. It just wasn't for you.

Last thought - many people have overcome their ADD with strict schedules and proper eating. I would guess those people had mild ADD not the sort of crippling kind my husband had. But medicine doesn't work for everyone that has ADD either. You have to try different things and look at different possibilities. Your diagnosis may have been BS but ADD is a real problem. If you decide you have it, then you need to look at a lot of things, rather than just the medicine.

I want to add a bit to one thing CA Girl mentioned about low blood sugar, food allergies, etc. One of my children was diagnosed and medicated, but the medications had definite effects and I wanted him off. Over the summer, we experimented and learned that food affects him dramatically. I'm not saying it will work for everybody, but that plus teaching him some coping techniques (when angry, when bored, etc) has allowed him to come off his meds entirely and he is doing very well.

disability. I was never formally diagnosed, as it went unnoticed when I was a child. I struggled along, feeling slow, stupid and hard on myself, as if I would just try harder, I'd be able to concentrate better. I graduated from college, but never used my degree, as I discovered I really didn't like teaching. I did well in subjects that interested me, not so well when they didn't. I've learned to avoid situations that are exhausting and overly distracting, when I can, and I work hard to concentrate. I make a lot of lists and have learned to cope on my own. I discovered I had ADD in my 30s, while working for psychologists - came across a checklist and said that's me! It's still a daily struggle, and there is no "fix" for it. I try not to get overly tired, avoid alcohol and things that seem to make it worse.

My son has a hard time with it, does poorly in school, despite the help hes getti g and the medication. He was on Concerta, which is much like Ritalin, but it only ever helped somewhat, and the side effects were not good. He is small for his age, thin, and wasnt vrowing much, and had emotional outbursts unbefitting situations. We kept tryi g different drugsm hoping to find somethi g better, and finally this fall came upon Tenex! A blood pressure medication, also called guanfacine. It is so much better, so much more effective, and hes gained 4 pounds this month! Hes happier too, although with his language disability, both comprehensive and expressive, in addition to the new Common Core Standards, which I really hate, school is rough.

Yes, ADD is real; diagnostic tests for it are extensive. Most people were just labeled slow or lazy in the past, when we actually weren't. I certainly haven't and can't overcome it, or "get over it", but I do my best to cope.

I teach too. I have one child who may be on meds but I haven't been told. He falls asleep when listening to a story- only for like 10 min. Then there are two kids in my room who might actually benefit academically by some meds. But their parents did not mention to me that they felt their child was hyperactive. I chose words that they knew what I was talking about. One boy's grades are very good, except in writing. He skates by on the bare minimum of work. The other boy is on the low side and slipping in math. I may have to mention that due to his inability to sit in his chair (yes, this is required for like 20 min. at a time), he may be able to calm down if he is on a low dose medicine. But if the child falls asleep or it affects his appetite as it did to a child I had many yrs. ago in class, I would recommend they take the child off of it after a month of trying. There is no reason for a child to be so relaxed he falls asleep for 90 min. of class. These are young kids I teach.I would much rather have them a bit squirmy and inattentive than asleep.

Like CA Girl, I too think that ADD/ADHD are overdiagnosed. But, when my DH's psychiatrist agreed that he had ADD, it was a huge relief. There are still times when I want to chloroform him, but overall he can handle tasksn and life much better. He says that his med takes away the "clouds" in his brain.

We went through a two day battery of tests for one of my daughters, and the diagnosis wasn't shocking. She was severely ADHD. Our Dr wouldn't give meds without the results of the psychological exam. The disorder impacts not just learning but also social interactions. If you just give kids meds they will do better in school, but they wont progress. You really need to have them engaged in some therapy as well to learn life skills. It is a daily struggle that creates 90% of the stress in my life.

So, to answer your question, yes it is real.

My experience has been anytime a child acts up they are automatically declared ADD or some other problem that is solved by drugging up the kid.

20 years ago they wanted to drug my son so he could "behave" in school. Instead I joined a group of parents who tried the Feingold Diet. It worked on 8 out of the 11 kids in the group.

Another part of the problem was the kids were bored. Some because there was no challenge, others because of the teaching style.

I know teachers have a hard time but drugging the kids is not the answer.

My son "out grew" the diagnosis. Once he hit junior high. Overnight he had challenging classes and some good teachers. (And a few bad ones. Which led to the conclusion teachers influence at least a portion of the childs behavior)

Today my son is a sucessful electrical engineer.

As far as this being a "disorder" is it really a disorder if you can't sit still on a hard chair for hours on end?

I am calling MAJOR, scurrilous BS on that. You try living with someone who has it, or better yet, if I could I'd wish it on you, I would, so you could experience it first hand.

In lieu of that, look it up and find out about it.

You forget things, all the time. You try really, really hard not to, but there are lots of things always going on, as life is like that, but... its always something that distracts you, and it happens over and over, and after a lifetime of people thinking and saying you just need to try harder, you just need to concentrate, you feel like the world's biggest fuck up. Sound like fun?

There are times I can hyper-concentrate, almost fixate, on things like no one's business, but I can't control every situation.

Everyone has periods of distraction, but not like what people like me experience. Social situations, like receptions or gatherings where there are a lot of people all around you talking about different things, and you hear them all... and try like hell to listen to what the person talking to you is saying, until someone comes up and joins in, and oops, you've just dropped the previous conversation and left them hanging, again, looking like you're a rude fool. I HATE that, and I try so hard not to let that happen, but I can't be a hermit.

My son has to have short directions, never multi-step, or he's lost. Other kids have told him he's stupid, but he's not. He's far from "drugged out of his mind," but on a low dose of a non-stimulant that helps him not be so scattered. When on the few occassions I'vevforgotten his pill, it's quite obvious. (I have an alert on my phone to remind me).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/10/2013 09:54PM by serena.

I am not saying it does not exist. Just that it is way over diagnosed.

Three of the kids in our group did need the medicine and the professional help. If it was properly diagnosed the resorces could be better used. Those that need help would get better help.

I know it can be difficult and stressful. That is why we formed a group.

The sample size of your group is very small & it doesn't take into consideration long-term results. Unless you have followed all of the children from your group and have taken into consideration the results 5, 10, 15, 20 years from when you started. Actual research shows that ADHD has the best, long-term results when the person is treated with medication & therapy. Do you know of any long-term, legitimate research that can support your claims of the Feingold diet. I am not suggesting that it doesn't work because I myself plan on trying it out in the near future, I am just saying that is a bold statement to make based on one small experience with what I assume is no long-term follow-up to support it.

From my son's earliest school years, he was diagnosed with ADD (the quiet kind, where the kid just "tunes out" if he isn't interested).

After years of intense reading and investigating on the subject, I realized that since it is usually hereditary, I'm the one he got it from. I didn't have trouble in school with anything but math, because I found nearly everything interesting. Math was a drag - numbers meant nothing to me - so I had a terrible time with that.

As an adult, I got pushed into a job that couldn't have been more wrong for me (partly due to an abusive husband and partly due to economic stress) and I had a terrible time with it. I couldn't understand why, because academically, I had always been near the top of the heap with very little effort.

But on the job - even though I tried very hard (because it is EMBARRASSING to always finish last when you are used to being the best) I just couldn't seem to hang onto critical information, nor could I recover quickly and get back on track from interruptions - and we had those all the time. And for the most part, the job itself wasn't very interesting, so it was very hard to pay attention, even when my job security was on the line.

After a while, I didn't feel that I dared try for anything else, because I would not get good job referrals, and I wasn't really qualified for anything else. I managed to hang in there for 30 years and got my pension. But even now, more than a decade after retirement, I still often wake up with terrible nightmares (I have been diagnosed with CPTSD) and a significant part of it can be traced right back to that job. And I think a huge part of this is due to ADD.

Just try harder? Yeah. Right.

Diagnosed as an adult. Took some meds but didn't like them and really didn't need them. I had already learned the tricks necessary to cope.

As a child I got TERRIBLE grades in school. But I'm glad I didn't have drugs and wasn't diagnosed as a kid. Necessity is the mother of invention and had I been drugged out of my mind like the kids are today I would never have figured it out on my own.

That said, I think ADD/ADHD is FAR TOO prevalent to be a disability. I see it as just a way that some people's minds work that's different from the mainstream. Kind of like being left-handed. I wish society was more accepting of differences without having to label them as problematic or disabilities.

When I was a kid I had ADD but the diagnosis didn't exist back
then. So instead of ritalin, I was prescribed punishment and
ridicule. I think I would have rather had the ritalin.

If you're going for deadened emotions ritalin was the ticket for me! I was a zombie who could focus on inherently boring subjects slightly better. But I still didn't care about those subjects, or the ones that I enjoyed off the meds, I truly was dead inside. But the teachers were happy and that's what really matters ;)

My son has ADD. Lucky for him he found his niche in life. He can hyper focus for hours on things that interest him. Because of that he's become one of the best in his field of work. He's making good money, and is doing well. He takes a low dose of Adderall. It helps him in the areas of work he's not so fond of. Things like paperwork hold no interest for him.

He's tested out as a genius. He just couldn't put pen to paper. He would help me with math and science when I was in college. He was in 4th grade. He'd get annoyed with me because I wouldn't get things that simple to him.

What you mention at the end of your comment is what irks me. There's no diagnosis for you and your struggles with math and science (possibly the 2 most useful subjects). But because a kid can't stand reading the scarlet pimpernel or writing limericks they say he's diseased and needs medication.

I am glad that there are some here that feel that they or those they love benefit from meds. But I feel like these disorders are way over diagnosed. And all of the meds I took simply allowed me to focus on things I didn't like slightly better, at the expense of my identity. It just wasn't worth it to me for a letter grade bump in a couple of classes.

It's also good to know that there are others in the same boat as me. Loads of tests and doctors saying we for sure have the disorder, only to find out we simply need more choices to involve ourselves in things we like.

If someone would have told my Dad I had ADD, he would have explained the medication for that syndrome is a boot in the ass.

I've only known 1 teenager that was truly hardcore ADHD. If she didn't take her meds, she was listless & completely unfocused. Even when it came to activities she enjoyed. I even had to remind her to take her meds a few times. When she remembered to take them, she was mostly fine, but I still had to remind her to do certain things.

My TBM mother couldn't handle her three boys, so she medicated us and beat us. You can imagine the results. Two of us hate her, and the other one is hiding off the grid in a bedroom in Hurricane, Utah.

It bothers me when people say it's "over diagnosed." Compared to what? In an average class of 25 kids, you might have one or two diagnosed with ADD/ADHD. So maybe 5-8 percent of people overall have it. And people act like teachers mistake normal kid squirminess for ADHD, as if we don't work with large numbers of normal kids every day. Yes, ADHD behavior is different, sometimes very different. It is noticeable.

As I said before, the milder cases don't even need meds.

It is true that school as it is currently conceived is very hard on kids. All kids! What adult wants to sit in a seat all day, much less a kid? But a very small subset of kids has an especially hard time focusing, and we have the means nowadays to help those kids *if the parents want to do so.* If not, fine.

Just that some kids/adults are diagnosed as having it when they don't. There are a lot of other conditions that have similar symptoms and would respond better to other treatments but they are slapped with an ADD diagnosis. They are given medications and taught coping skills for ADD, rather than what is really wrong, and when they don't work, they think ADD is a "pretend" syndrome - that no one really has ADD.

Well, that isn't true. ADD and ADHD are very real and, if properly diagnosed and treated, it makes a huge difference in the quality of life of both those who have it and those around them. Some people have very severe, noticeable cases and need both medication and re-training on things they can do to change the bad habits they've created to cope with something they didn't know they had. And to create more empowering habits. Other people may have a more mild case that responds well to strict schedules and dietary changes alone, without medication. But if you are given an ADD diagnosis and nothing that is recommended seems to work, you should look at other things (like depression) that might make you forgetful, make it hard to focus etc.

Education professionals are not doctors. They are, however, well-educated in child psychology, specifically as it applies to learning abilities and disorders. Teachers or school counselors may recognize and/or recommend to a parent concerns about a student. The parents then decide if they want to take their child to a medical professional.

So, if ADD/ADHD, etc., is over-diagnosed, it would be from doctors and/or encouragement to the doctors from the parents. The parents are the ones who have control of the situation. The schools adapt (accommodations) to whatever decision the parents make from the information they receive.

Today's ADD/ADHD recognition, intervention, and prognosis are not like they were ten or twenty or thirty years ago. We can lament about the past, but it's unfair to assume the same is happening today.

OH... be still my beating heart and buzzing brain.

I do believe there are people who have ADHD or ADD. I think we used to 'put up' with them because we did not have the tools to allow them to learn, and eventually recognized that coercion was not a good idea.

Petitioned and begged and went out of my way to get a student assessed, he was in my opinion,learning disabled but gifted, a
person who had a genuine and rare attention disorder.

I happened to be in the school the day the psychologist conducted the assessment. It was on summer break, so I was there on my own time and it was quite casual. He saw me and greeted me. He had been on my roster for 4 years at this time and we had a relationship of trust.

A few weeks later, the psychologist came asking about the assement. She was puzzled about distractibility, said she saw no evidence of that, and wondered where I got that impression. I was floored. His teachers had said this since elementary school, and I had indicated that on a summary of school records that I had compiled and which she was supposed to read.

So, I asked him. I said.. do you think you are distracted.. he said. fuck yes! He said, "Why don't you know that, why are you asking."

I said.. well the psychologist did not find that you had ADD or were in any way distracted. And he said, no, of course not, I smoked up before I came for the test.

Some of the cases are for real but others are not. In the cases that are not for real, it's easier to give a child a pill once a day than it is to actuslly pay attention to him. I went to medical school in the morridor and got to the point where I could usually tell the legitimate cases from the ones where parents had too many kids to raise them all properly.

Be careful. I was "diagnosed" as ADD and given Strattera, a non-stimulant norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor. Probably works well, except I was later diagnosed as bipolar (similar symptoms as ADD). The Strattera put me into a hyper-manic state involving little sleep and much impulsivity.

Doing much better with proper diagnosis and medication.

My son was labeled ADHD informally by a second grade teacher with a psychology degree. The psyD we saw at her insistence who suggested psychometrics and our MD (plus a second MD and NP team we consulted in the US because the same teacher made our and our son's life miserable when the first "he does not have it" reports came back to her), all said nope.

What he DID have was a profoundly high IQ. Higher than mine or my husbands, and not to pat ourselves on the back but we're not dumb. At age 7 then and now at 10, he's never displayed poor or bad behavior. He simply needs more work, more challenging work, and he needs to not sit in one chair doing worksheets and reading books other kids do at that age.

He needs microscopes not crayons to color in drawings of farm animals that didnt actually look like real animals to him. And he didn't need someone yelling at him because he pointed out (after first raising his hand and being called on by the teacher) that not all barns are red and white because where he lived they are all white or they are brown, and could he have a brown ur white crayon for his worksheet please? And then getting told not to ever contradict her and to keep his thoughts to himself.

I would heartily encourage any parent whose child is suspected of having ADD or ADHD to concurrently or soon after be IQ tested, as well.

Kids with ADD and ADHD are often high IQ, and kids who are high IQ without ADD or ADHD are often misdiagnosed with them.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/11/2013 10:36AM by bookratt.

though he was often bored, but still did well. He did well the first year of middle school and then his grades dropped in classes he didn't like, but he got As in his computer classes, science classes, etc. He barely graduated, but he did graduate.

He did well the first few years out of high school. Was doing well at his job. Then a doctor diagnosed him with ADD. My son agreed after going on Adderall that he felt more focused, but Adderall led to other drugs. He is off Adderall now and gradually getting of other prescribed meds that M.D.'s prescribed for him that made him sluggish and always doped up. Most of his friends are on adderall and have escalated to other drugs.

My son wishes he had never been on a drug for ADD. I do believe my son has ADD, but a drug was disastrous.

Not everyone has the same reactions to the same drugs. Thats why there are many different ones to try. We tried 4 or 5 different ones before finding one that really helped our son.

weirdly enough I wasn't diagnosed as a kid and really should have been. I need medication in order to not make a ton of errors whenever I do a job. I need it to complete chores around my home too, things are chaos without meds. I put the laundry in the washer and forget to put it in the dryer over and over, clean half the countertop, do dishes but get too distracted to to do the silverware over and over, etc.

When I don't take my meds I am a lot more creative and better at free association, art, writing, etc but basically no one gets to do that for a living.