Hi All,

I'm curious how many ADDers are out there that are either are or were in any branch of the Military. I've been in the Coast Guard for 23 years, but only 18 of that is Active Duty so I still have (just under) two to go.

I was diagnosed last year after "hitting the wall". I didn't know anything about ADD (except the typical "oh, that was that hyperactive boy back when I was in school" stereotype) and now I can't research it enough!

I have learned SO much about myself and no longer feel like a failure. My career is shot, but that's OK. I realize now just how much I did accomplish rather than what I didn't. I feel so much better about me and am learning to just BE me... with all my idiosyncracies and eccentricities. I am on Straterra, Ambien and (most recently) Zoloft. The meds have really helped.

For anyone that has served or is serving: When were you first diagnosed? What lead to your diagnosis? How has your Service or Command been supportive or unsupportive? What steps have you, your Doc and/or your Service done to help you? How did you do in the Service before you were diagnosed and how has it changed, if at all?

Thanks, folks. I'm hoping there are a few others out there that have experience here. It's been a rocky road for me during the last year and a half (I can go into detail later) and I'd like to see if others have shared this sort of experience. I LOVE the Coast Guard, I really do. I'm proud of what we do and what I've done. I'm just really looking forward to retirement! :)

Rain

Israeli army for two years.... ouch.

Hi~
I spent 3 years active duty fresh out of high school at the age of 17! I loved the Army life..it didn't especially love me physically..but I fought the good fight:) I wasn't dxed with ADHD till here this past Nov '04 at age 42..so cant give any info on how supportive the staff wa sto me..sorry:( Thank Goodness for meds. such a difference in my life.

With ADD I wouldnt go to the army, if you have to go to a war and you cannot concentraitet, tja, than you are dead! (It isnt a joke form me!)

Hi Folks!

Wow... I thought there would be more responses... thanks for yours! Really. I'm sorry I didn't put an option in for "Service in another country". My Dad was in the Royal Army. Hey Teddy, I joined right out of High School too... 1981. It's been really hard to answer job polls because I've really only HAD one job, but the job has changed so many time. For instance: Radioman (the whole morse code deal), Boatswain's Mate (changed rates in '88), Firefighter (Structural and Aircraft for two years full time in Alaska), EMT (boy... there's one where social anxiety can be a pain!), Small boat crewman and Coxswain (driver), Deck Watch Officer (ship driver... break in... just couldn't stand the anxiety of going before the board), Aids to Navigation (lights, buoys, lighthouses, etc.), Ice Breaker (science operations - traveled the world, got to go to the actual North Pole and a trip to McMurdo Antarctica!) and... hmmm... other stuff too... just spaced it out...

So that's just my JOB... the rest of my life has been complicated too... I'm a Mom (my darling son, Zack, is 12), I raised Nubian Dairy Goats for 16 years (still have about 10), have had Foundation Appaloosa horses for almost as long (had horses since I was in 5th grade, have 5 now which is 2 too many), rescue animals (love my kitties!), was a 4-H leader for 8 years, love to fish (suck at it), love to draw and paint (never finish anything), tie flies, do leatherwork (haven't in years... went to college for two years to learn to make saddles), love to garden (haven't in 8 years), have a boat (sits in the yard... has for 6 years), still have my first car ('64 Nova Chev II Wagon w/stock V8... rare) that I plan to restore (she sits... under a cover... in the carport where she's been in suspended animation for 15 years... before that I drove her), love to camp, beachcomb (I bring home stuff... and it usually doesn't leave my truck for several weeks... then it just migrates into the yard or house), ... and... hmmmmm... other stuff too... too many interests!!!!!

Since my diagnosis I have learned to start "culling" my interests and narrowing my focus. That's been tough, but, like you said Teddy, thank goodness for meds! What an incredible difference!

I wanted to go into Forestry (as a Ranger) when I was a kid, but my folks made it known in no uncertain terms they weren't paying for college... I had always loved the Coast Guard so that's where I went. If I'd known about my ADD before that I probably would have stuck with saddlemaking or tried harder to get into Forestry.

I certainly wouldn't recommend any branch of the military for someone with inattentive ADD. I honestly don't have any idea how I survived this long, but I see it as a victory not a failure. It's been tough, but until a year and a half ago I had done rather well. Throughout my career I've gone to the Corpsman saying "I don't feel right", "I can't concentrate", "My mind races and I can't turn it off at night", "I feel spaced out" and so on. They always said "You're depressed!", gee... I'm a chick... instant diagnosis! Thanks! Not! Yes, I have co-morbid depression/anxiety, but that wasn't the main issue.

I still managed to advance to E-6 (I stayed E-5 for 12 years because I had a job I LOVED), earn two Letters of Commendation awards and an Achievement Medal (and other stuff, but those are the personal awards that I had to work for), got excellent marks... but always felt like I was about to crash and burn... It happened when I transferred this last time. * Sigh * I'm glad I was diagnosed before I retired, though.

Well, here I am rambling... sorry about that! I tend to be a lurker and not open up (got trust issues of late, go figure!). When I do it's like a dam breaking. Ha-Ha.

Thanks fellow vets.

Rain

We are the hunters, not the farmers, and therefore do well in war. Went to the " sand-box", given my usual ritalin by the military, no problem.

Interesting topic that I haven't seen before, I'm very surprised it hasn't come up yet.

I was actually quite seriously considering enlisting in the Marines when I finish college instead of pursuing a different type of job, partially because I believe the formative practices in their training could help my symptoms ten times better than medicine could. Essentially, my brother just made the decision for some of the same reasons: he'd spent ten years jumping from job to job and never following through on anything, so at the age of 30 he enlisted knowing that he'd have no choice but to learn how to do things radically different with the Marines.

I did some research, and for someone like me who's inattentive type and plagued by procrastination and the resulting anxiety, radical changes occur when immediate execution and attention to detail are ingrained into you.

After all, thirty years ago, how many ADD kids got into trouble and were given the choice of the military or prison by a judge? I think the military and its highly developed training strategies and structure might be one of our best models for how to approach ADD with brute force. That's just my two cents though.

I was diagnosed with ADD 2 weeks ago by a Navy doctor and was put on Concerta. I am on shore duty now, which means I don't go aboard the ship. The doctor told me the medication may affect my deployment status when I rotate back to sea duty and may limit me as to the type of job I can take and where.
I have been on active duty for almost 11 years and spent 4 of those years on the water and never had any issues with the ADD affecting my job performance. I have always got good evaluations that have said performs ahead of peers and such and the ADD hasn't affected my job performance at all. The medication has helped alot and my body is adjusting to it and soon will be time to up the dosage.
The military won't allow you to join if you are on medication for a mental type disorder and you have to be off of it for a certain period of time before they will allow you to join. They also can't kick you out unless you are a substandard performer and the disorder affects your job performance and if that is the case, they can give you a medical discharge with 0 disability because of it not being caused by the military. I know this may sound harsh, but it is just the way the instructions are written. Hope this info helps.

I went through basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood Mo. to be an mp and then was discharged a month later. Not because of my add, just because of something I couldn't control with my feet. When your told you have to start over and you make it through 4 weeks of training. It's just better off going to college....but I sure as hell miss it.

Army rebel.....I hear your pain...I went in the Army at 17 and went to MP school in ft. McClellan, Alabama....got hurt in basic training (stress fracture to foot) and got recycled...in 5th week of basic...was very hard to accept..then get into first week of MP school and get pneumonia so bad after 3rd day of Mp training that they recycled me to a completely different MOS. I did get to stay in for aalmost 3 years and have had no regrets ever...but do understand the "MISSING" it part:( It was a great experience..i am sorry you have missed it...Good Luck in your college venture..Chin up....