ADDult frustrated with others thinking ADD is only for children

[Andrew]

It just amazes me, that after all this time, so many people still think that ADD is a childhood disorder, and that it just "goes away" when you get older. Argh.

[dcsiszer]

I am 31 and just found out what ADD even is.

[Andi]

I have seen at least six different people ask the chatroom that today Big...sometimes I feel like a broken record, "No, you don't grow out of it but he/she can learn to manage it." I feel your pain hon.

Andi

[Lafnalot]

I vote the chicken came first-------ok Im being absolutely no help here.

[andrea76]

that must have been a real buzz kill for the egg!

(sorry i couldn't resist either)

[diesel]

I dont let anyone know any more - even my Family doc says it dont exist!

I especially love it when you get great advise from no minds....

Just think before you speak ... Just focus on sitting still - AAARRRRRGGGG !!!!! Im 40 and it still eats me up -

Lets start a secret scociety and take over the world.

We can do it - we just need someone to start the whole prosses....


And what do eggs have to do with any thing?

[diesel]

WE may sound a bit crazy but Arent we all on the same page?

What IS crazy is this world we live in!

[waywardclam]

I only found out at age 30 myself...

[Draga]

If it goes away why do I still have it at 27....sheesh ppl DOY!!!!!

[aquachick_3]

34 and just diagnosed........ hhhmmmm maybe it is catching???? what happens if i touch you??

[MrsBulldog720]

LMAO @ Diesel!!
I'm so glad I'm not a "Borning Normal"...
I don't plan to let on to any future employeers or friends that I have Adhd... ppl in the medical field R clueless 2.:nono:

[E-boy]

It's only one of the most thoroughly researched medical issues EVER, and any doctor who claims it doesn't exist hasn't read a medical journal in a good twenty years. Fact is, in one form or another it's been a recognized syndrome for over a century. There are even MRI's by groups working for the National Institute of Mental Health showing the marked difference in glucose metabolism in the executive centers of the brain in folks with ADD, which is one of the many reasons why the Federal government doesn't look at it as any kind of controversy at all and provides protection for individuals with ADD under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Doctors are just people too folks, and sometimes a degree seems to give folks the idea their uninformed opinion carries the force of fact. Even some of the "specialists" out there still think of ADHD as something Adults don't have because they are basing their treatment approach on research Data that is 30 years old.

I have said this before and I will say it again, the best defense against ignorance is education. Read the studies. No we are not doctors, well not most of us anyway (I'm certainly not), but there is enough information written in plain English in these studies to inform you of what you need to know. More importantly, there is enough information in them to inform you of what you should EXPECT your health care provider to know. Don't be afraid to furnish them copies of the material. I provided my own doctor with quite a bit of information I dug up on OCD doing research he encouraged me to do. He's on a learning curve too, he's just a human being same as you and I. In fact, he only just finished updating himself on adult ADHD and the newer studies, and furnished me with a very informative tape of a presentation on much of that information done before the American psychiatric congress. Which explains some of the recent changes in approach he has been suggesting... :-)

Also, another thing that comes in handy when doing your own research and having the source material "handy" is that when media sources start spewing all that annoying misinformation about ADD you can write the editor nice angry, yet diplomatic, and well sourced letters, ask for the sources for the articles, inform them their science doesn't hold water, and tell them that sort of irresponsible journalism hurts more children with ADHD than it helps, especially when there is a 400% increase in accidental injury and hospitalization among the unmedicated. Sorry, I get a little irritated with people on a crusade to save me from my meds. I went through a hell childhood because of folks like them, untreated because my parents didn't believe ADHD was a "REAL" disorder. Gotta love those media jerks.

[krisp]

I'm seeing more articles about adult ADD in the mainstream press, but many of them don't even address inattentive ADD. Along with more acceptance that it IS a real medical condition, I'd like to see more info for the public on "non-hyper" ADD.

Anyone else seeing/hearing a lot more about how kids just need more discipline? I think there's a backlash growing among people who never believed in ADD in the first place. Some people seem to consider it just an excuse for brattiness (in kids) or moral weakness (in adults). This really worries me. :nono:

[E-boy]

I'd like them to stop addressing ADD as a blanket lable period. I agree the hyperactivity thing gets too much emphasis. It's not that it's not a symptom, it's just that the level of emphasis it's gotten has resulted in generations of undiagnosed female sufferers! Women with ADD typically don't have the hyperactivity, oh it happens but not with anywhere near the frequency that symptom is found in males.

ADD needs to be addressed as exactly what it is. A SYNDROME that generally has a genetic basis ( I still very much resent the term disorder, as I think it's society that's screwed up), and a variety of symptoms that accompany it, as well as co-morbid conditions.

Krisp, there are people in this world with axes to grind and money to spend on making just the point you are worried about in your second paragraph. The church of Scientology is a big one. I am not sure why they put the effort they do into discrediting ADD, but they do. The media, doesn't help, but we have to do our part, by throwing the Bullsh** flag on the play when we see these articles and programs. Don't be afraid to write letters to editors, or producers. State facts, cite studies, challenge their statistics, ask for sources, and check their sources. Many times they simply get lazy and use other media outlets for sources without checking their facts, or you can trace it right to a less than reputable source. If they don't want to retract, you let them have it in the kisser, by taking copies of all letters and responses directly to a competing paper and embarrassing them publically for their lack of journalistic integrity.

Organizations like NAMI.org also have Stigma busters, and if you write them with particularly egregious bits of public misinformation they will organize letter writing campaigns, so you will not be the only one complaining. NAMI is all over the country, and stigma busters has already made many positive differences in this department in many other areas of mental health. CHADD, and ADDA, also involve themselves in battling this kind of public misinformation.

Krisp, and really to anyone else who really wants to sit up an be noticed here, two words for you, "ELECTION YEAR". This is the time, if there ever was one, to start getting directly involved in advocating for the issues near and dear to your heart. Can you make a difference? I guess that depends entirely on you. I know I intend to make a few changes.

[sleepzalot]

If people took the time to look and understand, people would see that as children mature into addulthood, they gain more control of their lives.

In junior and senior school, the school dictates your classes and homework,with one system for all.

As we leave school and go to work or to colledge, we are more in control of selecting which activities we participate in.

We learn what things we are no good at, and if we have a choice, we choose not to do the things we are bad at. We stop the homework intensive classes but may keep up sport or art or do a music scholarship for example.

What the Doctors see as growing out of our ADD is just the natural process of all people who naturally drift towards things they are better at and away from things they are worse at.

Put us all back in a classroom, and homework would be hell, we would all just be as restless as before, and all those things we grew out of, would be back in a flash.

It is sad that such a small stretch of understanding is so difficult for so many people. Being acknowledged as ADDults is just such a long way from becoming everyday reality.

Down here in wonderland, the governemnt website still shows ADD as being a childhood disease, so we are a loooong way from facing reality.

http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/b...r?OpenDocument

I'm just glad that the more I can understand about my ADD, the more I can enjoy the benefits it gives me and am better at dealing with the limitations as well.

Sleepzbetternow