"If one advances confidently in the direction of their dreams, and endeavors to lead a life which they have imagined, they will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." --Henry David Thoreau (said to have AD/HD symptoms)
Goals for 2011, not resolutions, but goals:
You can't journey forward if you don't have a direction and target. One of my major goals, the goal that caused me to organize this group and now to attend it, is to take off the chains with which Adult Attention Deficit Disorder has imprisoned my potential, abilities, talents, dreams, accomplishments, successes and all the good things waiting for me in the healing and wholeness of my life. I have no doubts that recovery from ADD/ADHD is entirely possible for all of us whether we have suffered with it since we were kids or discovered it a few months ago. It has cost us enormous losses in terms of career, education, relationships, health and other vulnerable areas of our lives but that pattern can be halted. It can be stopped with help. We don't have to do it alone and that makes the difference.
Maybe you're like me and already in ADD treatment, taking medication and seeing a therapist, but you still feel you're not as whole and healed as you'd like to be. There's no question that recovery takes time. Are we doing all we can to work towards it? Do we work the ADD 12 Steps, which some would say are the recovery program's heart? Do we frequently share our experience, strength and hope with others who share our ADD/ADHD challenges and coping mechanisms? Do we keep up with the latest research which could very well transform our individual recovery program? Do we get out and enjoy the great relief of sharing our personal stories about how this disorder has affected us and interfered with our lives? It's healing and promotes wholeness. It reduces shame and increases self-esteem. You're not the only one.
We have often lived by faking it until we could learn how to go about making it. Now is the time to stop play-acting, and get help for the challenges that keep blocking our personal growth and success.
It's time to accept the illness if you do have ADD/ADHD, and to find new avenues of help if it turns out it's not ADD/ADHD but one of the other conditions or diseases that can resemble it such as depression, substance abuse, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, overactive thyroid or something else that isn't getting treated because it isn't getting diagnosed.
BTW, the correct name today is Adult Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD). You'll still catch me using ADD because that's what I've used for so many years. Don't feel left out if I get distracted or forgetful and leave it out.
What are the possible symptoms of AD/HD? You may have a handful or all of them. You still have the disorder. It's like only being a little bit pregnant to have five or six of them.
Are you or do you have:
*Forgetful?
*Difficulty focusing on a task, especially one you aren't interested in?
*Difficulty following conversations, especially if several people are involved?
*Tend to take on too many projects and then not finish most of them?
*Time-management problems?
*Easily frustrated?
*Frequent moves or job changes?
*A pattern of underachievement or underemployment?
*Difficulties in relationships?
*A substance abuse problem whether it's food, drugs or alcohol?
*Have low self-image or insecurity, especially with new tasks?
*Impulsive in decision-making?
*Tend to take risks?
*Fail to stick with long-term projects?
*Tend not to read or finish books, preferring magazine or newspaper articles?
*Fail to understand social nuances?
*Difficulty with paperwork and fail to get things in on time?
*Difficulty managing finances and checkbook?
Sometimes we don't see ourselves accurately. Low self-esteem can see faults where there are none. It might be helpful to run this list by someone close to you.
The good news is that lifelong problems don't stem from laziness, stupidity, psychosis or selfishness but from a neurological imbalance known as AD/HD. It's entirely fixable and you're in the right place if any of this plays a song you can sing harmony to without reading the score.