Hi,

Do any of you have ADHD?

If so, which drugs have you taken, and with what results?

Do you believe that ADHD is a real diagnosis, and if so, what convinces you? If it were I, I would want to see drastic, positive results from a drug to convince me that I had ADHD. I wouldn't be satisfied with a doctor's clinical impressions (which are obviously highly subjective) or with the results of psychological testing (which can point in the right direction, but is often ambiguous, and sometimes incorrect).

It's also alarming to know that a study that investigated actual school performance between kids who were on drugs for ADHD and those who weren't showed no difference between groups over the course of three years (although it did show short-term gains for the ADHD kids). If that's true, then why take ADHD drugs at all?

I've been told that ADHD is badly named, and that it's neurological, not psychiatric. That much, I buy. It has to do with how well the executive centers of the brain (the prefrontal cortex) can filter out distracting information, and dampen impulses that cause distraction, so that one can focus on a task and accomplish goals.

To me--admittedly as a lay reader--ADHD seems like a catchall term. It's as if anyone could be diagnosed with ADHD. I just wonder about the consequences of that. That's why I'm particularly interested in ADHD in adults. You know yourselves better than anyone else does. If you take a drug, you know what it was like before you've taken it, and you know what it's like while on it. What is that difference? Why bother taking a drug? Does it really make that much of a difference, and if so, how? Give specific examples.

Thanks,

Steve

Gay Philosopher Wrote:
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> If it were I, I would want to see drastic, positive results from a drug to convince me that I had ADHD.

It doesn't always work that way. For one thing, ADHD occurs on a spectrum from very mild to quite severe. Mild ADHD might go unnoticed by you and most others. Therefore there is no need to medicate. Plus people react different ways to different meds. A med that is not effective for someone else might be just right for you, and vice-versa. Same for the amount of medication given. It can take quite a while to tweak the types and amounts of meds until they are effective.

You are correct about the nature of ADHD (a reduced ability to filter out distracting information and dampen impulses.) If you watch someone with the condition, that person will be highly distracted by external stimuli that most of us filter out as a matter of course (i.e. a barking dog, the sound of a skateboard on the sidewalk, or a siren in the distance.) You can see the person's head swivel toward the distraction because he can't figure out that it's not important. ADHD people lack the ability to prioritize stimuli.

ADHD is a real condition and is not a catchall term. As children mature into adulthood they often figure out ways to cope with mild to moderate ADHD, the same way that you would learn coping skills for any other condition. Severe ADHD is quite something. Right now I have a student who when on meds is a perfect angel -- polite, accommodating, and exemplary. Off meds, look out. He is so disruptive that I often can't keep him in the classroom. Like night and day.

Hi Summer,

At what point does it become a disorder?

I suspect that all--or nearly all--of us would improve our ability to concentrate, and maybe even achieve important goals (such as getting through medical school) if we were on Adderall, regardless of whether or not we had ADHD. (Again, how would we know that we had it? Who draws the line?)

A SPECT scan of your brain would tell you that something was amiss. However, that would be like sticking your brain inside of a vat in reactor no. 3 at Fukushima! The next best thing is to make an inference based on the results of psychological testing. But what about false positives or false negatives?

Supposedly, people with ADHD are forgetful. They regularly lose their car keys, for instance, or forget to keep appointments. I doubt that that's a good predictor of ADHD, though. As adults, we're often not required to do the types of activities that we had to do in school, so it's harder to tell, I think.

As part of my treatment for anxiety, I had psychological testing that told me some things that didn't surprise me (although the deviations from the baseline in the population did), such as my verbal strengths and some weaknesses. It's generally true that I've always used my ability to write like a sledgehammer to get through school. Anytime that I could translate a task, such as a group project, into something that involved writing a report, I'd always be the one to lead the writing of the report, and my team would do well. I really have a strong attention to detail (anxiety helps in this regard; I'm terrified of bad grades, among other things :) ), and even when I don't like the topic that I'm writing about, the ability is there.

What's interesting is that that testing strongly suggested ADHD of the combined type. However, online tests that I've taken generally don't suggest ADHD. Yes, the psychometrically valid tests that I took are more sensitive than online tests you might find on the web, but this leaves me in a bit of a quandary. The tests say yes. I say no. I took a lot of tests, and did my best to be as accurate as I could. I actively disagree with some of the results, and strongly agree with other results. The reason that it's difficult to tease things apart is that, for example, we all procrastinate at times--maybe often. How can I be sure that taking a long time--much longer than my peers--to do an assignment, for example, might not have been due to conscientiousness as opposed to ADHD?

As a casual observer of myself, yes, I can get distracted. I take digressions while discussing or writing about topics. But how can I be sure that that doesn't stem from excitability about a particular topic, not wanting to miss what could be important details, and my relatively large crystallized knowledge from many years of studying many different topics? Sure, I can be impulsive. Frankly, I don't particularly like sitting for long (and even short) periods of time and studying logic, or reading an essay on phenomenology, because it's boring, or bloody hard (respectively :) )!

I find myself wanting to remember everything that I read (I'm awful at literal recall), and so I read slowly and re-read a lot. I find the whole process frustrating, and I don't think that I'm particularly good at it. Other people have no problem with it and plow through books. They can recall every detail. I feel like a failure and idiot by comparison. On the other hand, I generally only read "classics" these days because I know that the payoff is--or will be--huge. It's true, though, that I have a hard time delaying gratification. I generally want an immediate payoff. But don't we all?

I mention some of these things about myself to show why I'm doubtful about ADHD as a diagnostic category. Of course I acknowledge that there are differences among people. But why does that necessarily imply that there's something "wrong," that there is an "illness?" Some brains are wired differently than others and, as you point out, it's a matter of degree. Therefore, what counts as pathological?

Let me give another example. Let's say that your job was to read (and understand!) Aristotle's _Metaphysics_. You're given a spreadsheet, which tells you which pages you're to read, during which day, and how much time you have to read them. As it happens, you hate Aristotle, have no interest in _Metaphysics_, and when you do start reading, you quickly grow bored and your mind drifts to other things as you read, forcing you to re-read, causing your reading rate to plummet, your comprehension to be abysmal, and making you feel frustrated and annoyed, if not angry.

That seems like a pretty normal set of reactions to me, and it's not much different from my own. My money says that if we took Adderall, we'd be able to power through the _Metaphysics_ like nobody's business. Does that mean that we have ADHD? Or does it mean that Adderall is a cognitive enhancer that would help everyone to do this task?

Then, there's the caffeine "problem." I love caffeine. I drink loads of it. It helps me to focus and it increases the speed of my thinking. It does that for *everyone*. It pre-digests my food, in a manner of speaking, making it easier for me to get through tasks. If i've really loaded up on it, if I'm in the right mood, I can become enraptured by whatever I'm doing (although it's debatable whether the results I might produce would be any better than not on caffeine, although I'd likely be able to produce them faster).

Again, I ask: is ADHD "real?" Or, is it the case that a child gets sent to a psychologist who does ADHD testing, and because she sees--or thinks she sees--ADHD all the time, she has built-in biases that lead her to interpret test results that suggest that far more children suffer from this "neurological problem" called ADHD than actually do?

These are important questions with non-obvious answers. They have tremendous implications for how children in the United States are treated. And isn't it interesting how psychiatrists in this country are stimulant prescription-happy, whereas in the UK, that's one of the last things that they'll do?

In the end, even if there were no side-effects to stimulant or non-stimulant ADHD drugs, the damning finding is that--again--in a three-year study, researchers have found that there was *zero difference* between children diagnosed with ADHD and those not, with regard to academic performance. This contradicts anecdotal reports from parents, so what's going on?

I ask again: Is ADHD "real," or are we just fooling ourselves into believing that some brains that work differently from the norm have a "disorder?"

If ADHD truly is a valid diagnostic entity, then how can it truly be accurately diagnosed? What is the gold standard? (Is there one?) And how often is it wrong?

Best,

Steve

I'm not saying that ADHD is "wrong." It's a condition, and it carries some gifts along with it -- such as boundless energy and heightened senses. My opinion is that it probably added to our survival value at some point in time. Perhaps when we were hunting wooly mammoths the ability to be constantly on the go and to be fully aware of the most minor environmental stimuli were both valuable traits.

In many cases it's not a great fit for modern culture that demands sustained attention to sedentary and often uninteresting tasks.

Talking heads often speculate that teachers are simply frustrated with normal childhood behaviors. That's ridiculous. We deal with large numbers of normal children every working day. We can definitely tell the difference between a squiggly boy ("normal boy" in teacher parlance) and ADHD. It's very, very different. It's noticeable. The ADHD kids are the outliers.

It is not unusual for ADHD to pair with other conditions such as learning disabilities, anxiety disorders, etc. It can exacerbate other conditions to a marked degree. Solving the ADHD is a good first step toward addressing the other issues.

One of my major concerns is that ADHD kids tend to get a lot of negative feedback on their behaviors, which can severely impact their self esteem. In my opinion, this is the *major* reason in favor of medication for certain children.

Hi Summer,

You're probaby right.

I wonder, though, if ADHD is a neurological condition, then why is it that some children grow out of it? Do they, in fact, not, but only believe that they do? I would think that if it's a condition at the age of 7, it'll be a condition at the age of 77.

Right?

Steve

I think it is similar to learning disabilities in that people learn how to work around them as they get older.

This is how it affects DIL. She is a workaholic and bounces off the wall. Having said that, she also doesn't get as much done as she thinks, so much as just spending a lot of time scurrying and working.

Recently they put her on a different medication, and she had near-psychotic episodes and had to go the ER, where they put her in the psych ward for a few days. Following that, she had near agoraphobia. Now she's stabilized and once again herself.

That's good to hear.

Hi Cludgie,

Which drug was she taking, and which caused a psychotic episode? What did they do then? Why was she switched?

Thanks,

Steve

You know, I just don't know what drugs she was taking, or why the doctor thought he had to change them. DW went there to help out, and I had to stay behind. I'm just happy that life is apparently back to normal because it was quite scary for everyone involved, to think that medication could affect you so profoundly.

Hi,

I'm glad that she's all right!

I'm not surprised at all that medication can affect a person so profoundly. After all, our emotions are chemical. Our cognitions are chemical. Both involve transmission from one set of places to another set of places in the nervous system. What we are emerges from the workings of the nervous system and the rest of the body, and its interaction with the world. It's modified somewhat as the result of learning and thinking.

I think that the fact that medicatioons can, and do, affect people profoundly tells us very important things about the nature of the self. It only seems as if there's an "I" that persists through time. It seems that in reality, that "I" is a pattern of behaviors enacted by a body that results from competing brain modules, each of which is trying to regulate its activity through feedback loops. (Such regulation isn't always successful, which is why psychotropic drugs can be helpful.)

Best,

Steve

Your next to the last paragraph is right on. My son in law - the Mormon who with his family got my daughter to convert 6 yrs. ago- has ADHD. He could not be still. He would have to walk and talk when he was relaying a story to me. He would constantly move around. The last two or three yrs. he has been on meds...wish I knew which ones....but my daughter says it has helped even with his sleeping. I see he is not moving around so much....he can sit in a chair and watch a TV show. I am sure he never had meds as a kid. His Mormon parents didn't take care of the kids' health needs...he didn't go to the dentist for 16 yrs. Then my daughter said "Enough of that!!!" Hope this helps from an outsider.

Oh, I have three boys in school that are hyper- move around and are very distracted all day. I teach Second Grade. As long as it does not interfere with their grades I am against meds for kids. A teacher has to have patience with these kids and I have learned to do so. I have seen meds almost put kids to sleep....they truly are not the same kid. I know some may have had a larger dose than needed though.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/2013 10:39PM by honestone.

I self-diagnosed, on the basis that my sons had ADD (the non-hyper kind) and their fathers didn't. Both of my boys can laser-focus on things that interest them. If they aren't interested (which happened a lot in school) - FORGET IT! We put both boys on medication, (Dexedrine), and both showed improvement in school, but the younger son showed the most dramatic improvement.

I had had the same trouble in school, only just with math. I couldn't learn math to save my life. but everything else interested me, and I got excellent grades. This only got better in university, because I picked a major I loved, and didn't have to take any math classes.

My then-husband shoved me into a job I didn't especially want, with the understanding that I could quit when he reached a certain position within his company. I was indifferent to the job, considered it a temporary thing, didn't try very hard, and consequently, got very mediocre reviews. After many years of stellar academic achievement, this wasn't very pleasant, but I reminded myself that it was only temporary.

Then we got divorced. I had to support myself. Suddenly, quitting was not an option. I wasn't really trained to do anything else, and this job, horrible as it was, paid well. So for the first time, I began trying really hard to do a good job, and was very frustrated when my efforts didn't seem to amount to much. Always before, when I applied myself to something (besides math), I succeeded.

During this time, my older son was having ADD problems in school, and that's when I began to wonder if I had the same problem. I simply was not interested in the job, and no amount of effort amounted to more than mediocre performance. There were times when my performance was so poor I was afraid of being fired, and I lived in constant terror of being on the street. I had no support system.

I managed to hang on long enough to retire, but even after more than a decade of retirement, I still get PTSD nightmares about being back on the job. I never tried medication for it, though.

Two of my sons and I have ADD. It's not good. It's a struggle for me still. At least, for the first time, I now work with a mid-50's guy who has it worse than I.

My older son, who has a very high IQ, was finally diagnosed with ADHD at age 11. He had been kicked out of two preschools and struggled socially to the point that he became depressed. The first drug he tried was Adderal. It was a miracle. We started it on a Friday. That Sunday at church, he sat perfectly still next to me, to the point that I was freaking out a bit. After church he said "That was the best sermon I ever heard!" I realized it was the first sermon he ever heard because he could pay attention. His school work and many other aspects of his life improved, but his depression continued. I believe it was due to going so many years un diagnosed and having every adult in his life mad at him all the time. Getting the right med. for depression was more difficult, but Welbutrin works well for him. The psych says Welbutrin helps ADD, also. When he was a senior in high school. he decided to try life without any meds. He did great his senior year but crashed and burned his freshman year in college and dropped out. He went back on the depression medicine and is doing very well now.

We have talked about how he copes with ADD as an adult. He sets alarms for everything. He tried to keep a regular schedule. He gets lots of exercise. He finds that he can hyper-focus and spend hours on something that interests him, which it is great unless it's a video game. Classes that don't interest him are torture. I don't know if he's on meds. right now or not, but his friends know he struggles with depression (some of them do too) and will let him know if he seems depressed.

My younger son had a harder struggle. He had the "dreamy" form of ADD. We went through several medicines which gave him tics.
We started him on meds in 2nd grade to avoid the social problems. He has a bit of OCD, but it doesn't hold him back in any way. As a junior, his grade fell from a B to a D in biology. I talked to the teacher and found out he stopped doing homework. The teacher showed me the white board where he wrote the homework every day. I talked to my son about it, and turns out my son FORGOT that the teacher wrote the homework there! We set him up with a buddy in the class who would remind him of the homework. By his senior year, he was done with the medicine because it made the OCD worse and made him feel "sad." This was his first semester at college, so time will tell how it's going for him.

My first husband probably had ADHD. He dropped out of college and couldn't keep a job. He had grandiose ideas and would jump from project to project without finishing anything. He also had lots of girlfriends while we were married.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/2013 02:46AM by presbyterian.

We are going through the ADD diagnosis and process with our son right now. He's the non-hyper version. If you really want to know more about ADD, I suggest reading "Driven to Distraction." It's written by a psychologist who has ADD. He discusses the neurological basis for the disease and how it can look in both children and adults, as well as related issues. A lot of ADD people also deal with issues like OCD, depression, anxiety, etc. It's written in laymen terms and is very easy to read.

As for what convinces me that my son has inattentive ADD, here are a few reasons. He is very, very slow at getting things done. I tell people there's real time, and there's DS's time and they are not the same. I can't give him more than one direction at a time or nothing will get done. He is easily distracted in the middle of tasks and I am constantly refocusing him. If it's something he's interested in, he'll hyperfocus on it but if it's not interesting, he'll be easily distracted. He rarely finishes schoolwork on time and will leave projects unfinished if we let him. I also look at him compared to his peers and see a drastic difference in the speed at which they get things done.

I know a lot of people like to dismiss ADD, saying that doctor are pushing meds on kids and adults. But I will tell you that we did extensive medical and psychological testing before putting him on medicine. And the testing uncovered some other issues that go along with the add - dyslexia, dysgraphia, processing disorders.

You brought up another element that just about drove me around the bend at work. INTERRUPTION. When you are trying very hard to focus and get all the details just so in a case file, so you can finish it, and you are constantly getting interrupted either to take new claims, accept evidence on pending claims, or phone calls, any of these interrupt (and derail) your train of thought, which probably wasn't chugging along very well anyway.

If you are already having a very hard time dealing with the work, and constant interruptions are built into the very nature of the job, GET OUT if you can.

After dealing with the interruption, you haul out what you were working on before, and try to carefully think it through AGAIN, and WHAM - you are just as likely to get interrupted again. "Low production" was something I was always being called on the carpet for. And it wasn't like I was taking extra-long breaks or daydreaming.

ADD for an adult can be HELL.

I take Welbutrin as an adult. I have taken it for about three years now and it seems to keep my energy level up so that I am not feeling tired and unable to get started on doing active things. It has also helped with my focus on things like reading and listening to music (and hearing the music differently). I was told that the Welbutrin is also perscribed for ADHD and that it may be that I am noticing the additional ability to focus on reading from it.

I have been in school late in life (late 40's) now for three years to start a new career (due to the economys effects on my other career) and the meds have been a life saver. I am teaching in special education classes now and I see the benefits of meds on the severe side of the spectrum of disorders. They are life saving and they work when they get the dosage correct and find a med that works well with an individual.

People need help to keep their bodies and minds functioning at a regular and acceptable level of performance and it really is just a silly belief in the supernatural and faith healing that makes people think that they don't. I saw this as a cultural belief in mormonism and within my own family. They always made fun of the idea that a person needed meds or therapy to help them through life. Now every single person in my family and extended family is on some type of med and they are less outspoken and rude about people needing meds. But that cultural thinking of people being able to "fix" themselves or believing that "god will fix me if I am obedient" is dangerous to believe.

I have severe ADHD. I was on drugs for it for a while, and they did help me focus at work, but I had to quit them when I started having blood pressure problems. Another issue I had, was that while the drugs made me more focused at work, they also made me short tempered, angry, and constantly horny. Use care if you go that route.

Let's also talk about what ADD and ADHD are, and not how they are perceived. It's an alertness problem. The reason you suffer from it, is because your mind is constantly fatigued. The reason people with ADHD get hyper, is because they are acting out, like a child, physically, to try to keep their mind awake, because the body has plenty of energy, while the brain itself is tired. That's why caffeine, and stimulants seem to have a calming effect on people with ADHD.

If you have a mild case, you may examine ways of getting better rest, or adding a nap to the middle of your day. May work, may not. If it doesn't, then working with a psychiatrist who specializes in ADD, and not a regular physician, is the way to go. You don't go to a general surgeon to get the inside of your skull worked on, and you don't go to a general physician for your mind.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/2013 11:01AM by forbiddencokedrinker.

after high school. I can see how he had it in school now--but he made it through. He was like others have said--he did well in classes that interested him and was bored to death in other classes. He did well up until his second year of middle school--7th grade. He got 3.9 GPA (out of 4.0--I think some places have different grading) in 6th grade. He was building computers in 5th grade.

He was put on Adderall. He will tell you now BIG MISTAKE. It led to other drugs. He has had a hell of a time getting his life back together. A lot of the drugs he ended up addicted to were prescribed by doctors. The first doctor who prescribed them was a good old TBM. My son wishes he'd never taken any ADD drug. After all, he made it through high school while managing his symptoms.

I say tread carefully.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/2013 11:07AM by cl2.

I was diagnosed with ADD (not hyper at all, just inattentive) when I was in my 30s. I'm in my early 50s now. Before my ADD diagnosis I was treated for depression. Depression can mimic ADD symptoms so it wasn't until my depression was in remission that the ADD was diagnosed. I felt great but I still couldn't focus. I always thought something was wrong with me (all through my school years) because I it was SO HARD for me to do things that seemed easy for others (like writing a paper).

I've been on lots of ADD meds - Adderall (quick release and extended), Vyvanse, Strattera. I still take medication to keep the depression in remission so we've had to work to keep the brain chemistry balanced. I've never taken Ritalin or Focalin.

When I'm on proper meds I can focus on a task I don't enjoy and I don't have as much trouble getting started. It is a balancing act and a good psychiatrist with experience with treating ADD/ADHD is essential. Everyone's body chemistry is different and it takes time to test medications to find one that works for you.

Some people are able to cope with ADD by developing skills (alarms, lists, routines) and others need medication or a combination of both. I use a combination. One of the books that helped me was "You Mean I'm Not Lazy, Stupid or Crazy?" by Kate Kelly and Peggy Ramundo. The website Totally ADD also has a lot of resources for adults.

ADD/ADHD is real. Just because sometimes people are misdiagnosed doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Take a look at eeg neurofeedback training. It is fascinating. The basis of ADHD is that there are 5 brainwave states from asleep, zoned out, mild attention, attentive and hyper focused manic. These are not their official names of course but it easier to understand this way.

They hook you up to a machine and you can learn to pretty easily control your own brainwaves to shift into which ever state you want, restful when you want it and attentive when you need it. It is like mediation but with a computer screen that lets you see what state you are in so you can learn and get the benefits much faster.

As far as mind enhancement drugs, there is Provigil. It is usually prescribed for narcolepsy. I am not really a drug person but the reviews on this state it is basically like the drug from the movie Limitless.

There is a biohacking site which covers many of these type of issues at http://www.bulletproofexec.com

This is the future. I imagine there will be a MLM from Utah in the business soon enough :)

Hi,

Speaking of ADHD drugs, this is a huge relief:

http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/news/20111211/adhd-drugs-not-linked-to-increased-heart-risk-in-adults

I guess that when there's doubt about ADHD, there's no real reason not to give a drug a shot, if you think that it would help (and you've been formally diagnosed based on presumably valid, extensive, psychological tests).

Best,

Steve

I cannot recommend strongly enough that you go to youtube and search for Dr. Russell Barkley. He is one of the best experts in the field and is very up to date with latest research, I think you will find the info in his lectures to be very helpful, he answers a lot of the questions you have asked here and more.

He also talks about and dispels common misconceptions.


More than one member of my family has ADHD and we have had very, very good results with medications. There are lots of medication options so if one isn't working, you can try another. Make sure you have an experienced Dr. If they start you out on too high a dose or aren't willing to try different meds if one isn't working, then that is problematic.

But when done correctly, they are the single most effective treatment for %80 or more of people with ADHD. The best results come when they are combined with other interventions.

Good luck!

SG

Hi Silver Girl,

I found one of his books at the bookstore a little while ago, and like you, was impressed. I'll definitely check his YouTube videos out--right now!

Thanks, :)

Steve

Hi Silver Girl,

I watched a bunch of Dr. Barkley's videos. What he describes is so extreme that it's quite frankly horrifying. He says that people with ADHD are highly unsafe drivers, that they get into accidents at a rate far higher than in the general population, and that they have far more speeding tickets. He says that the vast majority of people with ADHD don't get a college degree, and they die many years younger than their expected life span would predict.

I remember listening to a lecture in psychology. The professor said about ADHD that "you can *tell* who those kids are; they're literally *bouncing* off of the walls!" What Dr. Barkley was describing seemed to be one of those kids, but grown up. Nothing had changed, except that they had bigger bodies, now, and could drive. The doctor also mentioned that ADHDers abuse drugs at a much higher rate than in the general population. As I listened, I could only feel sad. What a tragic fate, and I'm certainly very happy that there are drugs to treat the condition, and they're generally effective.

However, I suspect that a large number of people who have attentional problems are labeled ADHD, but they don't match the DSM-5 criteria. There are a lot of possible problems that could cause what people call ADHD, such as an anxiety disorder. Dr. Barkley says that in many cases, there's ADHD, coupled with two comorbid disorders.

I take away from all of this that when you've got a screwed up brain, for whatever reason, you're often dealing with more than one thing that's wrong, and whatever is wrong is rather hard to describe, and even harder to try to treat.

I also learned something interesting yesterday. A psychiatrist posted an article online where he said that while in training, he was taught to NEVER take away someone's dopamine. Dopamine impels action. Without dopamine, you wouldn't feel any motivation whatsoever to do anything, and would just sit wherever you are.

Isn't it interesting that ingesting caffeine raises dopamine? Maybe that's how a lot of us self-medicate. I feel confident that sex raises dopamine, as does affection. I mention this because if someone seems to feel fine, but doesn't feel motivated to do anything, that person should investigate depression, or dysthymia.

This is also important with regarding to procrastination and sticking with a project until it's finished. People talk about rewarding themselves after they finish a task. The anticipation of that reward is what would elevate dopamine. It's all about dopaminergic regulation. Consider reading for a long period of time. Unless you're interested, you're not going to be able to keep it up. So much of productivity ultimately amounts to regulating your dopamine, by any method possible. It seems that some people are naturally much better at this than others.

One of the most important and profound things that Dr. Barkley said is that someone who has ADHD isn't responsible for being that way. It really is a biological (brain) disorder. These people can't help it. Cruelly, others think that they can, if only they'd "try hard." That's sad, and mistaken.

Best,

Steve

Hi Steve,

Dr. Barkley is a straight shooter, that's for sure!

Overall though, he does give a lot of hope and some good advice on how to avoid these possible negative outcomes...I think his goal is to get people to realize how serious it can be so that they will acknowledge that is IS real and that it is important to address it.

Also...there are levels of severity, so not everyone is the worst case scenario.

I agree that one of the most important take away is that we need to stop treating people like it is something they could choose not to have if they just tried hard enough. It's not like that.

Focus should be on treatment, not on blame, that is for sure.

And yes, dopamine is major player!

SG

I have been tested for it and have it. It runs in my family. It does effect my daily life and I struggle with stress from not being able to juggle all my responsibilities. I lose focus on what I am doing and get busy doing something else. I lose track of time easily. I also get lost driving, forget where I park and forget to lock the door at night. When different people request things of me all at once, I zone them out as a way to manage the stress. I show up for doctor appointments a day early and don't return phone calls.

I do take the medication for it and when I do I am so much better and happier. It does help me stay on task and focused and organized.

The problem is that I forget to take it.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/21/2013 06:15PM by snuckafoodberry.

DH has ADD. He takes Adderall. I believe in his diagnosis because the difference in his personality when he's on his meds and when he isn't is profound. His ADD is crippling - he can't get anything done, he doesn't have the patience to be kind or considerate, he just barrels over everyone. That isn't who he is. When he's on his meds, he's reasonably well organized and every bit as nice as anyone. Just seeing the difference when he's able to focus and when he isn't convinces me.

That being said, I think some doctors are too ready to prescribe for milder cases or just very active, curious children. I think from what I've read, some cases of ADD can be cured with proper nutrition and a strict schedule. But other cases, like my husband's, need medical intervention.

Hi CA Girl,

Wow.

Are there any side-effects from the Adderall?

Has your husband needed higher doses to achieve the same effect over the years? I would think that after taking it for a long time, a person would develop a tolerance to it. Is that not the case?

Thanks,

Steve

My wife is convinced I have ADHD.

As she has an MA and a PhD in Psychology, I can't dismiss that out of hand! ;o))