Ramblings and Ruminations — ADHD Tip O the Day 886

Life with ADHD

I wanted to be sure that the tube was the right length, so I measured it carefully before I cut it. It looked too short.  I measured it again to be sure; it was correct, so I cut it.

It was too short.

I should’ve (I hate to use that word) should’ve listened to the little voice.

And Also Life with ADHD

I am way too busy.  I’ve written that “too busy” is just a state of mind, and I believe it.  But I am too busy.  There are so many things to do; so many things that I want to do.  Life was harder are in the old days.  We did not have so many labor-saving devices, so many effective medical treatments: the lifespan was much shorter and more painful. We also did not have all these options to choose from.  What you needed to do was pretty obvious, and you just did it.

Labor saving devices – dish washers, clothes washers and driers, for example.  Computers.  Computers are wonderful.  We can do so many things that we couldn’t have done before.  Like writing an ADHD blog. Of course, this gives us more options.  All of which take time.  Which I am short of.  And how much time am I spending on computer maintenance?  Dino, I appreciate your help with Dragon, a time saving device which isn’t working- my warranty has expired so I don’t think they’ll help; I haven’t called them yet.  I have tried system restore and reinstall.  Do you notice that doing all of these things to fix Dragon takes time which is what I’m trying to save by using Dragon?

Dystechnologica can accompany ADHD; it sure does for me.

I just finished draft six of the new ADHD book. It’s nearly done;  I  hope to publish in April, and just finished draft seven of my first novel, which still has lots more work to go.  Novels are harder. This is exciting. But in my experience, publishing on Create Space is a very frustrating time-consuming experience. I’m working on a third book, on gun violence, and have a fourth one on health on the back burner. And I have one on marriage, or on relationships anyway, since marriage seems to be going out of style, in the back of my mind.  It’s crowded back there.

All this might keep me busy and off the street corners for a while.

Maybe I could cut back on the writing?  But that doesn’t feel like an option; I need to write.

With ADHD, We Tend to Have Many Interests

I wish I had more time for reading, poker, ping pong, chess, guitar, Spanish, relaxing, fishing.

Spending time with my wife is a big priority, although she may not entirely see it that way.  And time with her keeps me from drowning in all the other things.

So I need strategies, time management, priority setting, organization, and breaks and relaxation; not just work.  I’m working on it.

doug

Links:

Where is the Time?

Big Research on ADHD and Time

Time

Frustrated— ADHD Tip O the Day 885

ADHD Frustration. I give up!

ADHD is a Natural Recipe for Frustration

Yesterday I fixed my iPhone, got the library book for Martha she’s been waiting for, learned a little bit of guitar, and  lost almost two pounds. I “should’ve” been happy.

But –

OK, here’s more frustration.  I started this post a couple of weeks ago and was saving it.  Now I can’t remember what I was frustrated about that day.  That’s frustrating.

Ken just made a good comment on scheduling strategies.  A good schedule is a big help, but part of his trick is to be gentle with himself, lower expectations; if he gets 80% done, it’s a good day.  This approach will lower frustration.

Today I am pleased that after two days of trying, I finally got the Grammarly app to work again.  But I cannot get my Dagonspeak to work; it will not recognize my microphone, even though Microsoft’s speech recognition does, but is not working well at all. I think I need to reinstall Dragonspeak but I’m not sure I know how or have the right disc or codes or whatever and am afraid I will lose it forever.  Can you see that this could be a little frustrating?

Any suggestions from you less technologically challenged folks will be appreciated, as will just sympathy from the rest of you.

More Personal Note:

I’m still working on the new ADHD book and I think now maybe April would be a realistic target date.  But I’m also working on the novel, which has captured my interest and sidetracked me, and also on a gun violence book, using posts from a blog. And then I have a health book on the back burner.  Maybe it’s a little much??

And I dread the actual process of publishing the book on create space. It’s a booger.

That’s life with ADHD.

Strategies for Dealing with Frustration:

1. complain and whine, as I’m doing here.
2. try to be more reasonable, expect less – not doing well at this
3. take a break and relax – OK, as soon as I finish this post.
4. Focus on the positives- OK, Grammarly is working.

doug

Links:

Get Out of a Bad Mood

Frustration

Frustration and other emotions that are difficult for us with ADHD to handle.  Who would’ve guessed?

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

 

Natural Treatments for ADHD — ADHD Tip O the Day 884

Treat ADHD without medicines?

I’ve done several posts on this. I use supplements and Daytrana and strive for a healthy life style, a good idea for everyone.  But I do believe the healthy things do specifically help with ADHD : sleep, exercise, meditation, avoiding illegal drugs, and other things.

I’m recommending the links below.  Educate yourself.

doug

Naturarelief – a “natural” treatment

nootropicwatchdog.com – Check anything “natural” out on this site before using.

Bonus Links:

Are Natural Substances Safe?

Medication for ADHD?

Non-Medication Treatment for ADHD- looks reasonable

Living Healthy Helps with ADHD

Quote O the Day:

Exercise nearly every day,

or at least think about it.

 

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

Is exercise a dirty word? 

Is exercise a dirty word?

 

Happy New Year Even with ADHD — ADHD Tip O the Day 883

I hope you have had a good 2019 and that 2020 will be even better for you.  It will as you learn new ADHD strategies and improve your coping.

One of the problems we ADHD folk struggle with is time.  Did Christmas sneak on you again?  Are your days a few hours short of the time you need?  Are you trying to go without sleep so you can get more done? (Hint: That won’t work.)

The new year is a good time to look at what your typical day is like, an evaluation.  Mine, for example:

bathroom, including extensive tooth brushing and taking of many pills — 1.25 hours

quiet/prayer time — .5 hours

walking dog, three times a day — 1 hour

eating — 2 hours

exercise — 1 hour

trying to find the thing I just had in my hand — .75 hour

getting my wife to help me find something — .5 hour

doing things I need to do — 1.5 hours

doing things that have no real point — 1.5 hours

trying to figure out which things I really really need to do — 1 hour

making lists and schedules — .25 hour

time with my wife — 3.5 hours

errands — 1.5 hours

writing books — 2.25 hours

paper work — 1.5 hours

trying to decide what to work on on guitar – .25 hours

practicing guitar — .5 hours

studying spanish — .5 hours

reading books, newpaper, magazines — 1.5 hours

facebook — .5 hours

sleeping — 8.5 hours

(non daily — church, fishing,  writing blog, cleaning up desktop)

You may have noticed that this adds up to more than 24 hours.  That’s part of the problem, isn’t it.

I may need to spend more time on organizing and planning the day.  Where would I get that time?

Have a good new year.

doug

Ed started to plan his day. Eight hours slipped by.

Quote O the Day:

“ADHD: The energy to accomplish anything, the focus to accomplish nothing.”

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

 

 

An ADHD Christmas — ADHD Tip O the Day 882

 

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a blessed whatever.

Since Christmas, and everything else, sneaks up on me – “Wait!  That can’t be this week can it?”

But this year i was on top of it.  i ordered my wife’s gift way early. It was only after I submitted the order that they told me it would be delivered mid january. Well, that means they’re behind so it must mean its a very popular gift so it must mean i got the right thing.  Doesn’t it?

OK, but today, the time snuck up on me, and I need to get this out now, so that’s it.

(Living in ADHD time – it’s different.)

Thank you all for following

doug

 

Link O the Day

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

Happy Hanukka

Merry Christmas

The Scientific Method and ADHD Research — ADHD Tip O the Day 881

Statistics can be confusing.

This is from a report on research  showing that exposure to antibiotics early in childhood did not lead to ADHD (although there is a “but” at the end.):

“Risk of developing ADHD was estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression in a high-dimensional propensity score–matched cohort (n = 69,738) and a sibling cohort (n = 67,671). ADHD risk was not associated with antibiotic exposure in the matched-cohort (hazard ratio = 1.02, 95% confidence interval: 0.97, 1.08) or in the sibling cohort (hazard ratio = 0.96, 95% confidence interval: 0.89, 1.03). In secondary analyses of the matched cohort, ADHD risk increase was observed in those exposed to 4 or more antibiotic courses or a duration longer than 3 weeks. These associations were not observed in the sibling cohort. We concluded that antibiotic exposure in the first year of life does not pose an ADHD risk on a population level.”

Huh?

A recent journal column questioned the use of the traditional p-value, saying that a low p-value does not mean that the findings are valid, but only that the research was well done.  I could not understand the discussion of this either.

Science can be confusing:

I continue to see, even among scientists, some confusion:

1. Correlation is not the same as cause.  The incidence of diagnosed ADHD in US children has risen in the past twenty years.  So has the US military budget. It seems unlikely that one caused the other, but there is a correlation.
2. When there is correlation and it does seem related, it can be difficult to distinguish cause and effect. The US is involved in long term wars; the military budget has been rising.  Which one caused the other?  Think about it.
3.  Not proven is not the same as proven not.  The new fad for evidence based medicine is a good thing, but it is not the only thing. ( The insurance companies like to use this to deny claims.)
4. There can be a confusion about objective and subjective conclusions.  Years ago I was bothered by a scientific paper titled “Schizophrenia Has A Poor Prognosis.” I wrote a letter to the editor, and the researchers responded that they were ‘sorry if Dr. Puryear was bothered by our findings.’ I wasn’t bothered by their findings. They had published their data, which was whatever it was – ‘after x years, y percent of patients are still psychotic’.  Then they had made a subjective leap to state their conclusion, in their title.

Sometimes this stuff gives me a headache, but the scientific community is working to correct the problems outlined in these two articles.  Science is better than nonsense.

doug

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

My ADHD Brain

 

 

 

 

 

Links:

James Clear – good thoughts

p value – more articles

Bonus Suggestion O the Day:

If you are going to get a massage, you may want to avoid eating a lot of prunes or drinking a lot of coffee beforehand.  Just saying.

The Scientific Method — ADHD Tip O the Day 880

If you’re very familiar with the scientific method, skip down to part two.

Many of us are interested in research on ADHD. It’s important to understand what’s going on.

Part One: The Scientific Method

1. A researcher states a hypothesis, which could be proven not true.
(For example, “There is no God,” or, “There is a God;” neither statement could be proven not true and therefore scientific research cannot address them. “Medication A gives better results than placebo” could be proven false and so is testable.)

2. The researcher records the plan of the research,  the outcomes are to be measured and the statistics to be used. (Sometimes researchers go back after-the-fact come up with different questions or approaches using the same data  This is a very questionable practice.)

3.  The research is done. For testing medicines, the gold standard is the randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial, meaning a group of control subjects get a placebo and the experimental group receives the medicine to be tested. Double-blind means that neither the researchers nor the subjects know which the subject is receiving.

Randomized means the subjects are assigned to either the control or active group at random. In good studies, after this is done, the two groups are compared with each other to see that their characteristics are about the same, that no big differences in the groups, like ages, for example, had occurred by chance.

The gold standard is not always possible. For example, one study of school children at risk for dropping out compared a group  who received one hour a week help from a mentor with a control group who did not. Couldn’t be double-blind, but the researchers who measured the results could be unaware of which group each child was in. The hypothesis that the mentored group would do better was proven.

4. For good studies, to reduce the chance of getting a result purely by chance and not a true result, large groups are needed. When using statistics, the larger the group, the more powerful the statistics will be. 

4. The statistical method is chosen before the research is done. There are many different statistical approaches and different ones are more appropriate for different kinds of studies. The most common is the p-value, which indicates the chance that the result could’ve been totally due to chance. If the p  is less than .05,  the result can be called “statistically significant,” but most people prefer less than .01, which means that less than once out of a hundred times the results could have been due to chance.   The smaller the p-value, the more likely the findings are to be valid.

Again, there are many different ways of calculating results, such as “number needed to treat, “meaning the number of patients who would need to receive the medicine before one patient would do better than someone on placebo. Obviously, you want a small number.

5. The paper is written with a description of the research method, the statistics used, and the findings. It is submitted to a reputable scientific journal and then peer-reviewed, reviewed by several experts in the field who indicate if it is valid, worth publishing,  or needs improving.

6. If published, the research or experiments need to be repeated by different researchers in different laboratories using the same approach to see if they come out with the same results.

6.  If the results are duplicated then “science” generally will accept the findings as accurate – “science says'” or “research shows.” We don’t put much stock in a single study finding, not duplicated.

Part Two: Problems with the scientific approach

There are many ways science can go wrong, as illustrated by the varying year-by-year changes in dietary recommendations. Experiments need to be properly designed, properly run, honestly reported, peer-reviewed and duplicated.

1. In many medication trials, the average benefit for all the experimental group is not significant enough and the medication is dropped, but there may be a small group of people who did benefit but usually these are not tested further.
2. Doing studies is expensive, and many are funded by drug companies, which seems to risk some bias in the designing, the interpretation and possibly even in the results and in which studies are published.
3.  For many studies the results are negative, meaning not statistically significant, and these are rarely published although they could be scientifically useful.
4. Statistically significant does not always mean clinically significant.
5. In recent years, the number of people who respond to placebo has risen, making it harder to prove a medication effective, and some that might be are dropped.  The reasons for this are not clear.  Could it relate to #6? (The placebo effect is powerful, but benefits tend not to last. )
6. Some people fake their information to get into studies for the money or other benefits.
7. For many trials, it is difficult to recruit enough subjects to get good results.  
8. Some studies use a placebo group in problems, like schizophrenia, where this can be harmful to the subjects.  I think this is unethical.
9. All of these problems are being addressed in recent years, and the science is improving.

 

Part Three: Comments

I have mostly used medication testing as the example in this post, but the scientific method applies to all research.

I find the statistics complicated and confusing, I don’t understand them, and some of what I have just told you may be wrong, but the general idea is correct anyway.

I view most scientific results with a certain degree of skepticism, and some of them I don’t believe even if they seem to have gone through this process properly. This is presumably an example of confirmatory bias, the logical fallacy where we collect data that agree with our preconceived notions and reject those that go against them. It is hard to avoid or to shake.

Overall, I think it is much wiser and safer to go with properly done scientific findings, even though they may turn out to be wrong, rather than intuition, hunches, prejudices, biases, or conspiracy theories. The odds are in favor of the science.

In my posts, I try to make clear when I’m stating my opinion versus when I’m stating accepted scientific findings or fact. Please catch me and comment when I fail to do this.

doug

Heads Up O the Day:

I plan for the next post to expand on this, but this one is already too long (right, Martha?)

I think it will be interesting.

Request O the Day:

Some of you surely know more about this, especially statistics, than I do.  Please comment, correct me, or argue.

Links:

The Scientific Method

Opinion

Confirmatory Bias

Mr Bean

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

 

ADHD and OCD?

Too Busy with ADHD — Tip O the Day 879

Why Am I “Too Busy?”

Ram is on a roll; this comes from comments and discussion:

Too Busy, part one:

With ADHD –
1. It’s hard to set priorities.
2. I want to do it all.
3. I set good rules but it’s hard to follow them.
4. Life is complicated.

Report O the Day:

I had a good list today and was gonna make a lot of progress. Yeah, right. So of course, my printer broke down. It won’t recognize the network.  It’s a stubborn son of a gun and I think it has a mean streak.  After I’ve spent most of the day messing with it, I called my son in law for help.  He’s on his way.  The universe seems to be working against me.  And it’s bigger than I am.

Too Busy, part two:

I still contend that “too busy” is a state of mind, not a reality.  In fact, I only have one thing to do now.  Do this post.  And post it, of course. Oh, yeah, and wait for my son in law. But if I get this post done, and posted, and my printer fixed, I can call the day a success and save the rest of the list for tomorrow.  Nothing is that urgent or critical.  Urgent and critical are mostly ADHD feelings, rarely a valid picture.

Strategy:

Focus on doing this post and take my own advice from above; nothing is urgent and critical.

doug

Links:

Way Too Busy

Priorities

Teaser O the Day:

I do have a little bit of new ADHD research and I’ve decided to do a post on the scientific method just in case a few of you are not entirely familiar with it.  Of course, science has fallen out of favor in some quarters as some people are sure that their gut instincts are more valid than the results of research in spite of their lack of education and knowledge but since I am not, like them, a genius, I still pretty much go with the science, although with caution and a little bit of skepticism.

Yikes! O the Day:

My son in law just called. He took the dogs for a walk prior to coming here and they were attacked and two are at the animal hospital.  The wounds don’t look critical.  I don’t think the printer will get fixed today.  Glad the son in law and the dogs are OK.  See, I told you.

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpd

I need all the help I can get.

 

Arghhh!!!

 

Ram’s Comment —ADHD Tip O the Day 878

Ram makes good comments, and this one raises issues about structure and routine, skimming instead of reading, and our ADHD difficulty of picking one thing.

Great post! I laughed out loud at your “skimming” comment. I did read your whole list, but only because I forced myself to. I was skimming and I forced myself to start from the top when I caught myself skimming, thinking “No, you might miss something important! This is Doug’s blog and you came here deliberately”. Then I reached your comment about skimming. HA! :p   (I had commented that I would not have read my whole list; it was too long and I skim.)

My personal insight: I’m a person who thrives on routine. For example: once I went to work in Spain for 14 days, and I had to create a morning routine for myself for breakfast. Luckily there was a nice café in front of the hostel, so I quickly settled into dropping in at the same hour every day for the same breakfast meal and a quick chat in broken Spanish with the waitress. 🙂
My routines do tend to change a lot. I wish I could set things in stone, but sometimes a routine stops working for me (for whatever reason), so I change it and quickly set into a new routine. But I DEFENITELY need routine and, as I mentioned, thrive on it.

On a side note: I think it’s cool you play the guitar. I don’t know if I ever mentioned it, but I picked up guitar playing about 2,5 years ago with a teacher – a great dude who is VERY patient – and I enjoy it. But I sometimes find myself not practicing enough. I think it’s a settled deep and inconscious fear of failing – affraid of getting frustrated and losing interest…  It’s such a weirdly counter-productive take on it…

 

In reply to rammkatze.

Ram- as always, thank you for your contributions. I appreciate your endorsing the skimming and the routines. I think we change routines, and strategies, even if they’re working, because they are no longer novel and we lose interest or get bored?
you are a good writer. if you ever are ready to write another post, doubtful since your ordeal, just pretend you are writing a comment and it should be easy.
the guitar, i dont practice enough, but its important not to make it a chore. i am struggling to settle down on what i want to do – learn ONE song or technique and then move on. hard to choose one, easier to just piddle and do what i already know. that’s enjoyable but i would like to improve and learn new things.
i might make this a post, maybe.
best wishes,
doug

Links:

James Clear on Picking One and other ADHD Matters

Setting Priorities : Hard to do with ADHD

Too Busy- Partly because it’s hard to set priorities

Complaint O the Day:

If you say yes to one thing that means you are saying no to something else.  But I want to do it all.  Nobody told me that life would be fair.

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

That’s ADHD

ADHD Research — ADHD Tip O the Day 877

 

There is new ADHD research, but nothing that new.

The stimulants sometimes cause insomnia. (This can usually be fixed by changing dose, schedule, or medication. I need to get my Daytrana patch off by 5:10 PM and I usually do.  I need two different alarms, 5:10 and 5:20, to manage it.  If I have insomnia, the first thing I do is check to see if the patch is still on.)

Adolescents with ADHD sometimes stop taking their medication (Surprising, because it should be helping them.  Not sure why they do this, but then, they are adolescents.)

The stimulants are abused in college, generally not by kids who actually have ADHD, but kids with ADHD  may share them or  sell them and may get pressured to do so.

The idea that the stimulants will help with study or grades is generally a myth.

There is not one specific ADHD gene, but a number of (single nucleotide) mutations, each with small effect but additive. (Copy variants or deletions might have a more powerful effect?)  ADHD runs in families, especially on the male side.

Our ADHD brains mature more slowly than vanillas’ and some parts are smaller. And adults who have “outgrown” their ADHD ( 50% of us, not me) still show the brain abnormalities. The basal ganglia still seem central to the relevant brain networks.

Pollutants, during  pregnancy or early childhood, may contribute somewhat to developing ADHD (presumably through epigenetics, altering the activity of genes without altering the gene.)

doug

Personal Comments O the Day:

Some studies suggest that ADHD is just one end of a spectrum, and while I tend to respect the science, although with caution, I don’t believe this.  I think that we are different, a different tribe (not just one end of a bell shaped curve.) I do not pretend to understand the genetics; please feel free to correct my errors on those.  There are still some people who do not believe in ADHD in spite of all the evidence; I do not find it useful to try to convince them but just allow them to wallow in their ignorance and wrongness -“My, that IS an interesting viewpoint.  So, do you think it might rain tomorrow?”

Link:

Great link from Dinos

Personal Note O the Day:

Last Sunday I courteously held the door open for a very elderly couple to exit the church. I felt quite good about myself, being so gentlemanly,  until they turned to thank me.  They were both younger than me.

• #adhd #add  @dougmkpdp  @adhdstrategies

Snuck up on me!

 

Structure, Schedule – The Secret to ADHD?— ADHD Tip O the Day 876

Flopping around with ADHD

Retired.  Again. Haven’t found my groove yet. Too busy.

Writing two books, one on ADHD, Living Well with ADHD, and a novel, Alma Means Soul, both about ready to publish, which I dread;  Create Space has not been that user-friendly for me.  Studying guitar and Spanish, writing songs, a little performing, gym three times a week, more time going places with my wife – lots to do in Santa Fe and in New Mexico, traveling to see three new great-grandchildren (lots of fun!), and the usual bills and incorrect charges, and the blog, and facebook, and stocks (I’m getting out of that soon.), walking the dog, men’s group, working against gun violence (lots of research, very illuminating), more spiritual quiet time. And I still have a small job, although it’s only a few hours twice a month.

Did you read all that long list?  I wouldn’t have; I tend to skim.

I am making schedules, one for the typical week and one for this week.  It’s hard to follow them but I’m trying. Obviously, I’m too busy, although I claim that is a state of mind more than a reality.  Still, we with ADHD are blessed and cursed with a wide variety of interests and we have trouble setting priorities or saying No to anything.

And the church and gym are set in stone, so no decision to make and that is structure.  I think I need more structure in each day.  Get up and bedtime and mealtimes at the same time would help.  And starting to make a morning routine: breakfast, walk the dog, quiet time, every morning before I do anything else.

With ADHD, structure and schedule reduce the number of choices and decisions to make and help us stay organized and be more effective.  Life is good.

doug

 

Bonus Links:

Schedule from Amy

Orluv on Marriage – take time to enjoy

I Don’t Need Structure

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

Life with ADHD

 

 

 

 

Life with ADHD

Living Well with ADHD

A New Use for Index Cards — ADHD Tip O the Day 875

ADHD index card

Index Cards and Manila Folders (and smartphones?)   God’s Gifts to ADHDers

I keep the stack of index cards on my desktop just to the right of center, where I can’t miss it.  Each one has a “Saying O the Day” on it, although I don’t change them daily.  When one saying has outlived its timeliness, I shuffle through the stack until I find another one that fits the occasion.  It took a while to make this many; I can make a new one whenever needed, but that’s rarely now. The same issues keep coming up.

Since they do change frequently, I don’t get the usual habituation where you don’t see something after its been there a while.

It helps.

doug

ADHD index cards

 

 

 

Personal Note O the Day: 

Bonus Links: A Smorgasborg

James Clear Good Ideas

Finances

Married with ADHD: an oxymoron?

 

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

Ram’s Saga-Writing with ADHD — ADHD Tip o the Day 874

I asked for volunteers to write posts for the ADHD blog and Ram stepped up. This started a journey with a long period of correspondence, some of which is lost, which looks like the makings of a novel. I’ve recreated our journey together as best I could. Great appreciation to Ram for courage, perseverance, and contribution.           Score: Ram 1, ADHD 0

2019/06/06 at 9:00 am ram – eagerly awaiting some posts from you. your comments are so good. send to(email address).  appreciate it doug True, I’m not a blogger. And I still insinuated myself as an option: maybe because I like the idea of being a blogger and keep putting it off, so it’d be a nice chance for me. Maybe because I have ADHD and before we use a strategy to learn how to delegate, we get sidetracked by the next new shiny thing and overreach. It would definitely make a good post. :p Also: while I have your attention, I’m dying to share something with you (unrelated). I could show you the fotos, if you want. 🙂 Or a make a post about it! 😀  [Here ram gave a thorough description of the game. This would’ve been a fine post if we had just stopped there and posted it.  Would’ve saved a lot of distress.]  I could show you the fotos, if you want. 🙂 Or a make a post about it! 😀Ram ram – you’re not a blogger, but your comments often make a good post, like this one. if you would like to expand on it, and maybe add an example, maybe this if you’d like. best wishes doug Sure thing! I’m pretty busy with work now (half the people on vacation, the other half on sick leave), but I’m off work on Monday evening, and I’ll mock a couple of posts up. Just tell me where to send it. Cheers Ram

[Unfortunately, Ram ran into some kind of writer’s block and sounded like she was suffering, struggling and getting down on herself.  I kept trying to help.]

ram-thank you for contributing, and for your forthcoming post. strategies will help. can you identify the block?
do you think it needs to be perfect? do you not have enough information? something else?
if you just get something down i could help you with it if you’d like?
doug

ram – good for you , coming up with a strategy. you might want to consider deciding how much time you want to devote to this. one hour? two hours? certainly no more than four. if its not done by then, you could just send it to me or just forget it.
are you trying to make it too good? if you just get something done, anything, I can do any editing needed.
are you trying to edit as you go? most writers recommend just getting something down on the paper, and then editing. the great writer, Ann Lamott says, “the first draft is always crap.”
thank you for your efforts – remember, the perfect is the enemy of the good, ‘always do your best’ is nonsense, and some things are not worth the trouble. and think about how good you will feel when you either get it done or say to hell with it, either one. 

Ram -welcome back.
congrats on the vacation. we all need breaks
again, any thing you can send i’ll be happy to edit if it needs it.

doug

2019/09/23 at 8:31 pm     ram – please no shame. if its that hard you can let it go, the benefit is not worth it. or you can keep working on it if you want, there is no hurry.
is it possible you are being a little bit perfectionistic?
but please, no shame. some things are hard for us.
best wishes
doug

On Oct 14, 2019, at 1:49 AMHello, Doug!
I did it! I wrote it! I decided I was afraid of writing too much and too unnecessary stuff, and that I’d just write it as I pleased and leave all editing to your discretion. I hope you have fun reading it. 🙂
Don’t feel pressured to publish it, though. It is entirely up to you. I just really wanted to share it with at least one person who has ADHD and it would be too long for a reply on the blog. 😉   Warm regards
ram

Mon, Oct 14, 2019 at 3:15 PM    Boogers. I can’t open it in this form. Please resend. I am so glad you are done. I hope you didn’t misunderstand. I was hoping you dropped it because it seemed to be torturing you. I am eager to read it.  That was a good strategy to just get it out there and let me worry about editing
Doug

I was afraid that might happen… I saved it as a PDF, let me know if it works!   ram

Mon, Oct 14, 2019 at 4:00 PM  Great! Got it.  It’s good.

Two editing things. I would like to move the paragraph about anecdotal evidence to the end. If you wanted, I could edit it to make it shorter, but I think that would leave out some things you’d like in and it is good as it is.  I think it may need a final summarizing sentence, which I will do myself as a comment from me. Thank you so much

Doug

Great! Good to know! Please, edit it as you see fit 🙂 Warm regards

Ram

Thank you so much for sharing! I hope it’s of interest for your followers. 🙂
And congratulations on posting the fotos I included so nicely fitting! I know you sometimes struggle to get it right. They’re spot on!

ram

Follow up:  Ram’s post has 51 likes so far on Facebook Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, not to mention others.  Ram’s post

doug

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

Do something!

 

 

 

 

Ram’s Mindball Post — ADHD Tip O the Day 873

This Post Is  Gift From Ram on One Aspect of ADHD

Last Spring I took a trip to Portugal to visit my family. While we were there, one of my sisters (a pharmacist with a college degree and a deep interest in all things health-related) took the opportunity to finally go see an exhibit about the human brain and dragged me along.

We had lots of fun in that interesting exhibit, that was actually quite interactive, but the best part was the one-on-one competition they had available for anyone who was willing to give it a try. (Note: I’m in no way associated with Mindball(registered mark) )
I had to sit around for a while because there was a school class of little kids, eagerly taking each other on under supervision of an exhibition guide, challenging among themselves and challenging their teachers. The goal of the game: two people sit in front of each other at two ends of a table and in the middle of the table, there is a ball. This ball is connected to a magnet under the table that responds to the EEG readings of the meters connected to each of the players’ heads. When a player is more focused and calm than the other player, the ball moves away from him. Whoever manages to push the ball away from himself and all the way to the other player, wins. During the whole game, two graphs on a big screen display the level of focus of each player.

Because I have ADHD and my sister is a “vanilla”, I was eager to take her on, desperate to see how my graph would compare to hers. While watching two of the teachers of the field-trip taking each other on, I noticed how high their levels of focus were (I don’t have pictures of their graphs, sadly).They both kept their eyes closed and they were almost flatlining on top of the graph, the ball between them barely moving: an exciting mental tug of war.

My sister, who had been still wandering elsewhere in the exhibit, finally joined me and I told her to wait until the kids were gone – which would prove to be a test of my patience, because the kids were having so much fun and wouldn’t let go. Eventually, two kids were playing and while one of them had a more or less constant graph-line of focus, the other one showed big spikes of focus that almost immediately let down. I quietly told my sister “Look at those focus spikes and how they drop! I’d bet you anything that kid has ADHD…”

Finally, the exhibition guide – who had noticed me a while back – told the little kids it was time to move on, because “there’s a couple of ladies here who also want to give it a go”. They frowned but moved on, my sister and I were finally ushered to the table and I gave the guide my cell phone and asked him to take pictures – which he gladly did at all the right moments. I decided to not close my eyes. I was afraid my mind would start wandering and decided to focus my gaze on the ball. The ball was still on my side – from the last pair who played the game – and started resetting by moving towards the middle of the table. Suddenly I was unsure of myself: was the game already on? It looked as if the ball was moving farther away from me than the center of the table would be? I had to ask and, after getting an affirmative answer, I stared at the ball. The ball was jerkily but steadily moving in the direction of my sister – meaning I was winning – so that for a
moment, I was unsure and looked at her in disbelief.

Ram and Sister

She was starting to break down in laughter and saying “I’m gonna lose!”. It startled me so much that, for a second, I lost focus and the ball took a big leap at me. I intently focused my eyes on the ball and gave my best. All the while thinking “focus, focus on the ball, deep breaths, be calm, focus on the ball” almost like a mantra. In a matter of seconds, I won.

The guide took a snapshot of the comparing graphs in the end, I thanked him and then we checked and analyzed the graphs.

Now, this is what you’d call anecdotal evidence, of course. But as I predicted, my brain focus worked in big jerks that constantly dropped if I wasn’t careful. To add further information: I had taken my meds (a compound like the one you’d find in Ritalin but under a different name in Europe) about 3h previously, so I was at the peak of my performance. Which makes sense: I could force myself to focus, but it was a conscious effort, and a jagged one at that.

My sister, being a vanilla, had a constant focus, though she didn’t focus very well because she felt put on the spot and unsure of herself.

Mindball Graphs

It really gave me a tickle to see the difference of our brains displayed in graphs and I wanted to share it with other ADHD fellows, so I offered myself to write a guest post for Doug, although I’m no blogger myself. I do hope it is of interest for all of you!

Doug’s Comments:

I only edited a few typos.  Ram struggled to get this done.  She deserves a lot a credit. More about that later.  Thank you, Ram.

It show that we can surprise ourselves with what we can do.

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

 

 

 

 

ADHD Strikes Again! — ADHD Tip O the Day 872

ADHD continues its devious works to screw up our lives.

You all know my friend Tom, who missed three straight appointments with me? The good news is that this stimulated him to look at how he was managing his calendar and to make new strategies, which seem to be working.

He emailed me an apology and I used it as a post, Number 870. I asked him, as a penance, to make a comment on post 871 or 872. Tom has ADHD. We ADHDers do not always read everything  c  a  r  e  f  u  l  l  y.  So Tom wrote a comment, and put it on 870, where it was somewhat redundant.

However, since he has been so helpful with my books, I am not asking him to post another comment, not unless he really really wants to.  But if he does, not on this one please, where it again would be redundant. Save it for 873 or 874.

One step forward, one step back.

Strategy: We need to slow down, and when we are reading something, actually read it. I always feel in a rush and I generally skim things instead of reading them.  And if it is long and/or has multiple points to make, well, forget it.

Bonus Strategy: As a corollary, when I write a note to myself, I always need to stop and read it, to be sure that it’s legible and that it’ll make sense to me later. Especially in my appointment book; I hate it when I have an appointment noted in my book on a certain date but have no idea what it is.

doug

Note O the Day: Amazingly, the new book, proposed title, Living with ADHD: Tips to make your life better, is almost ready to publish. I’m not looking forward to that part. Getting it correctly on the page can be very frustrating.  But I am eager to get it done.  Tom has been a huge help editing it.  Using strategies to avoid procrastinating.  One is to post this here.

Question O the Day: Do you have any suggestions about the book title?  They would be very welcome.  Thanks.

Links:

Struggling with Appointments

Natural treatments for ADHD 

I do have some questions about this one. Fish oil (omega 3 fatty acid) has been proven to be somewhat helpful sometimes.

October is ADHD Awareness Month!

I wasn’t aware of this.

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

ADHD Life

Distracted, Derailed, Off the Track — ADHD Tip O the Day 871

Distractable = ADHD

I’ve been working on a revision of the 365 Tips O the Day book and I got about 65% finished on the final draft, number 11.  When it’s done I can publish it.

Well, writing is the easy part, editing is hard, and the publishing is a booger.   A set up for procrastination.

We went on a lovely two week vacation and a novel popped into my head.  That had never happened before.  I had no intention of writing a novel. But these characters were suddenly living in my head and I was recording their lives and adventures.   I finished the first draft in two weeks.

My wife read part of it and didn’t like it.  A friend read it and also didn’t like it because she didn’t like the main character, Alma.  I can see that Alma is not all that likeable although I like her.  My friend also said I needed more dialogue  so I’m putting that into the second draft.  The characters are allowing me to hear their conversations.  Putting the conversations in  follows the writing principle of showing, not telling.

I wonder, “Is this the best use of my time?”  I think not, but – “Why do writers write?”  “Because they have to.”

Since we got back the El Paso shooting happened and I’ve been very involved in a program about gun violence. (You can check us out on facebook, Too Many Deaths. We’re trying to get organized.)

Strategy:

I haven’t really come up with one but I’ve decided not to worry about it.  I’ll probably finish the novel first because it has a stronger motivation right now. I’ll finish them both anyway, so what difference does it make?

Tip:

Double check to see if what you’re concerned about really needs that concern. 

doug

Quote O the Day:

“Don’t worry; be happy.”

Bonus Quote O the Day:

BREAKING NEWS!! Man adjusts to society after two decades of being raised by family!

Personal Note O the Day:

I’m retiring at the end of the month. I hope to finish the books, maybe start another one, or not; do a blog a week, fish more, learn more guitar and more spanish, and especially spend more time doing things with my wife.

Links:

Marriage and other similar relationships

Bonus Tip O the Day:

Ram on finding the lost i phone using a tracker:

“Hi Doug! I use a Garmin Vivofit. I just checked: it works even if the phone is set to silent + Do Not Disturb mode. 🙂”

My ADHD Mind

Snuck up on me!

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

 

 

Missed Appoinments – – – ADHD Tip O the Day 870

 My ADHD friend (still) Tom and his missed appointments:

Tue 9/10/2019 12:07 PM

Doug,

    I am mad at myself and embarrassed at missing breakfast with you this morning.

    Going back over this morning and when this happened last month or the month before I think a particular coping mechanism might work for me — a separate calendar for me located where I can’t miss it. This morning I knew that it was going to be an unusually busy day for Ann with all of it scribbled on our calendar, so I didn’t check yesterday or today (I had decided not to go to clergy conference so I could be here for a couple of times later today when she will need my help).

     I have now created my own calendar, located right above the silverware drawer where I unload the dishwasher every morning. So, in a way, my screw up has been balanced by a victory for you, as it is your insistence in your book over and over to create coping mechanisms. Even so, they don’t balance out and I remain pissed that I missed the time with you.

Tom

Tues 9/10/19 3:10 PM

Reply:

Tom
1.I believe it was last month and the month before, not “or.” Therefore I am taking the liberty of making this a post.

2. I’m glad you’ve decided on a coping mechanism and that you reference the book. If you wish to review, it says that it’s essential to have an appointment book, or I guess, a calendar, but it will be worthless unless you make a habit of checking it several times a day. A habit. One way to do this would be the strategy of using an anchor; for example: make a habit of checking it at each meal. Also, I have found it necessary to be sure that I write legibly when I enter something, not my scribbling. Otherwise it’s useless.

3. Your making a strategy now is an example of something good coming out of something bad. Or stated more graphically, a flower rising from the fertilizer. Or stated even more graphically – well, let’s  not go there.
4. If you miss wish to make  penance you could commit yourself to making a comment on post 871 or 872 when they appear. You’ll need to note this commitment in your appointment book or your calendar. Legibly.

5. I need to make a new strategy too. In the future when we make an appointment, I’ll will  you in time for you to leave. What would be the best time to call?

6. ADHD is a booger.

7.  You have been a big help to me and I  still owe you. (Tom helps edit my books.)

with love

doug

 

PS O the Day:

I didn’t ask him, but if Tom missed three appointments in a row with me, do you think maybe he’s missing other appointments too?

Bonus PS  O the Day:

Tom and I had a great breakfast together this AM and he was only three minutes late. His strategy to set it on his alarm worked and he didn’t want me to call him, so he’s taking responsibility for dealing with his ADHD. Be like Tom.

Addadultstrategies.wordpress.com

Link:

Forgiving

Bonus Links:

Funny

ADDA info

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

ADHD Life

A Day with ADHD — ADHD Tip O the Day 869

What is a typical day with ADHD like?

Here’s an example of how I spend my time:

Trying to find my glasses:  20 minutes

Trying to find my i phone, twice: 45 minutes

Trying to find the thing that was just in my hand, three times: 45 minutes

Trying to apologize and fix a misunderstanding with my wife, three times: 1 hour

Trying to get the job done that needed to be done yesterday: 1 hour

Trying to get the job done that needed to be done day before yesterday that needs to be done before yesterday’s job can be started: 2.5 hours

Trying to get today’s job done:  O

Normal human functions and miscellaneous: 2 hours

Can’t be accounted for:  ??? the rest of the time

Oh, well.

doug

Tip O the Day:

Don’t spend your time like this.

Better Tip O the Day:

Use strategies.  Example: if you can’t find your glasses, look on your head first.                    Or your face.

Probably Best Tip O  the Day:

recommended by Dino

Links:

A Different ADHD Perspective

ADHD and marriage

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

Where is the darn thing??!!

 

Pause – An ADHD Strategy — ADHD Tip O the Day 868

Trying a new strategy to help with my ADHD.

Maybe it’s not so new; I may have tried it before? Maybe it’s a form of mindfulness?

Anyway, it’s pretty simple.

I occasionally stop whatever I’m doing wherever I am and pause.

I don’t do anything, just pause. Five  or ten seconds.

No schedule, no trigger, no anchor.  Just whenever.

I like it. It helps me slow down and helps me focus.

Now the trick is to remember to keep doing it so it will become a habit.

Couldn’t be simpler.

doug

PS O the Day:

I’m trying to think of a strategy to help me remember to do it until it’s a habit.  I don’t want to use an anchor. Is there another way?

Links:

Attitude’s ADHD Planner

ADHD and Marriage (or relationship)

Quote O the Day

My parents kept telling me, “Late on you’ll understand.”

They were wrong.

 

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

Life with ADHD

 

Medication Side Effects? – ADHD Tip O the Day 867

Dino asked about handling side effects of ADHD stimulant medication, especially sleep. (comment on ADHD Tip O the Day 865)

For insomnia, you would take the medication earlier in the day and possibly lower the dose. Of course, you want to make sure you’re practicing good sleep hygiene.  Very few of us do and most people just want a pill to fix their insomnia but sleep hygiene works and is needed even if you do take a pill.

Still, you might also take something to help you sleep; my first choice is always melatonin, which works for 70% of people if you get the dose up high enough. Try 5 mgm, 10, 15. You will know in two nights if that dose will work for you.  If 15 doesn’t, forget it.  Melatonin has few if any possible side effects and a very low chance of getting any.

This question illustrates some of the points about side effects which I will repeat again:
All medications have  possible side effects  as do all natural substances and alternatives. The questions  are, what are the possible side effects, are any of them serious, and what percentage of people who take this medicine get them?

For example, lithium is a wonderful medication for bipolar, for 50% of patients, whereas 50% get enough side effects that they can’t take it. One possible side effect is upset stomach. If someone gets that, they  can switch to the delayed release type of lithium, which usually takes care of that problem, but lithium is unusual in its  high rate of side effect problems.

Another example is Zoloft (Sertraline), a good antidepressant as well as helpful with PTSD. 10% of people will gain weight on it, usually in the second or third year. 90% of people will not gain weight on it.

One of the frustrating issues is that all  medications list their “side effects” rather than their “possible side effects.” Most people then assume that if they take this medicine they will get the side effects and will be expected to just put up with them indefinitely and so they are reluctant to take the medicine. Quite naturally.

In general, if someone gets one of the possible side effects of any medication, if they can tolerate it for 10 days, it will usually get better. Or they can reduce the dose. If it doesn’t get better, they can stop it and almost always any side effects will go away.

Me: “One of the possible side effects of this medicine is weight gain.”

Patient: “Oh, then I don’t want to take it.“

“Neither of us want you to gain weight. If you try the medicine, there’s only a 10% chance of that and a 90% chance it won’t happen.   But we can watch your weight and if you gain two pounds we’ll  stop the medicine and you’ll  stop gaining weight.  How does that sound?”

“No. I don’t want to take that medicine. I don’t want to gain weight.“

“OK, let’s try another medicine that doesn’t have weight gain  even as a slight possible side effect. We’ll talk about the other possible side effects of this other medicine, which again , you probably won’t get any of.”

See the problem here?

The fact is, most people won’t get any side effects and  if they do they can usually be managed, and if not , they can stop taking medicine and the side effects will go away.

ADHD Tip:  Try the medication. If you don’t like it, you can stop it. You don’t need to be stuck with side effects.

doug

Bonus Repetition O the Day, In Other Words:

Consider medicine A.  Its for people with a serious illness that hasn’t responded to anything else. It works well for 50 % of them. It has a serious possible side effect which occurs in one out of 100,000 patients;   999,999 do not get the side effect.

Consider medication B. It has a mild possible side effect  which doesn’t bother most people who get it but there is a 30% chance of getting it. Most don’t and  for those who do, its generally not a big deal.

So these two medicines are very different – 30% chance of mild side effect vs .001% chance of serious side effect.

Links:

ADHD Medication Side Effects

Bonus Link O the Day:

Sleep Hygiene

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

Me off meds

Vitamin D for ADHD? — ADHD Tip O the Day 866

From the National Institutes of Health:

“The diagnosis of vitamin D deficiency was significantly greater in children with ADHD compared with the control group ( P < 0.05). Children with ADHD had significantly ( P = 0.0009) lower values of serum vitamin D (17.23 ± 8.98) than the control group(31.47 ± 14.42). The group receiving vitamin D supplementation demonstrated improvement in cognitive function in the conceptual level, inattention, opposition, hyperactivity, and impulsivity domains.

CONCLUSION:

Vitamin D supplementation in children with ADHD may improve cognitive function.”

My Comments:

I think this is important information. I’m not sure what it means. 

Vitamin D improves ADHD symptoms? Low vitamin D symptoms mimic ADHD?

I think everyone in New Mexico should be taking vitamin D; statistics show that we tend to be low, especially if we have dark skin.  A blood level test cost $65. You can buy a lot of vitamin D for $65.

I emphasize to patients that they won’t notice a difference when they start taking D but it will very gradually improve their health and functioning in many areas.

Recent studies show that if we have a halfway decent diet, we don’t need to take vitamins, that they are a waste of money. I am not entirely convinced. Especially if we are older. And especially vitamin D. But of course, studies  also show that a lot of the supplements we buy are fake.

It is a puzzlement.

I take vitamin D and a multivitamin. Not too expensive and presumably couldn’t hurt.  If not overdone.

doug

Snuck up on me!

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

 

 

 

 

I don’t know if this link will work.  Seems worth a try.

Lots about Vitamin D:2019

Lots about ADHD

Clutter

Vitamin and Other Supplements: Caution

Vitamin D Does Help ADHD

Lexi’s Question about Medication for ADHD — ADHD Tip O the Day 865

My response to Lexi’s question about taking medication for ADHD:  

First, recognize that everyone is different and someone else’s experience with some medicine may or may not have any bearing on how you will respond.

Second, how you reacted to some particular medication in the past may or may not have any bearing on how you would react to some other medicine now.

Third, finding the right medicine, right dose, and right timing for you or for anyone can be a challenging and frustrating experience, but when it all falls into place it can be fantastic. It’s  important to give each medication a good try before rejecting it unless you are having significant side effects. Be clear what your targets are, what you specifically want it to do.  Understand that some medicines,the stimulants, work quickly, but others, the antidepressants, take time.

Four, If I read your note correctly, your diagnosis is not clear. Do you have ADHD? Depression is a common partner with it. Do you have both? The best thing you can do right now would be to get a very clear  diagnosis and go from there.

Hope this may be of some help to you. Good luck.

doug

Notes O the Day:  Every medicine has possible side effects; that doesn’t mean you will get them. With very rare exceptions any side effect will get better with time or will stop when you stop the medicine. The medicines don’t work for everyone but when they don’t it raises a question about the diagnosis. There is a lot of crap on the net.

Bonus Note O the Day: You need to be taking vitamin D, especially if you live in New Mexico. I plan to do a whole post on this but you can go ahead and start now.

Link:

ADHD medicines: the mythology

ADHD medicines: the problem is they list “side effects” instead of “possible side effects.”

My ADHD Brain without meds

ADHD and meds

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

ADHD Mantras — ADHD Tip o the Day 864

Using Mantras for ADHD

I don’t know about you, but I don’t wake up and leap out of bed bright and ready to go anymore.  I stumble into the bathroom, answer the pressing physical demand that has my attention and then wonder what in the heck to do next.

That’s where the mantra comes in.

“Eyes, nose, patch.”  I’m awake enough to remember to say the mantra, out loud.

“Eyes, nose, patch.”

So I put the drops in my eyes.

Then I spray the stuff into my nose.

Then I clean off an area on my belly and apply the Daytrana patch that I  prepared the night before.

Then I’m ready to go.

Without the mantra, I’d still be standing there confused.

It’s about structure and habit.  And it works.

doug

Question O the Day:

Do you have any mantras to share?

Links:

Another ADHD forum, but please consider contributing to this blog first.

Structure and Routine with ADHD:

#ADHD, #Adult ADHD

Were you waiting on me?

 

Personal Notes O the Day:

I’ve been fishing for six straight days and haven’t had a bite but I persevere. The new ADHD book is about to come out. I started writing a novel for some reason.  It was just there and needed to come out, but I wonder if it’s a waste of time. It has nothing to do with ADHD, not as far as I can see.

Living with ADHD

Defective — ADHD Tip O the Day 863

Who’s defective??!

My patient sat with her head down, looking morose. I asked her why. “I’m defective,” she answered.” Just defective.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I have anxiety disorder and phobias. I’m just defective.

I tried reassurance. “You’re not defective; you just have some problems.”

“Well, those are psychiatric problems. They’re diagnoses. So I’m defective.”

I took a chance. “Well, I have ADHD. Does that mean I’m defective?”

She thought a moment. “No, you’re not defective.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’ve mastered it.”

“No, I don’t think I’ve mastered it. I think I’ve just learned to cope with it.”

“Well, you’re a lot more successful than I am.”

“I guess that’s true. At least so far. But if I’m not defective, neither are you.”

She sat and looked at the floor, morose as ever.

Later, I reflected.  I hadn’t come up with any brilliant answers. It didn’t seem like I’d been any help.  Then I realized, she is defective. And so am I. And if you’ll pardon me for saying, so are you, aren’t you?

Who is perfect? Isn’t that what defective means, not perfect? I’ll  try this line next time we meet. Although to be honest, I’m not that optimistic. It’s not easy to change peoples’ thinking.

But ADHD is an official disorder. A psychiatric diagnosis. A malfunction of our brains. Not just a difference, but since it so much interferes with our  functioning in life, a malfunction.

We are all defective. We need to learn how to cope. Strategies. And for most of us, medication helps. So let’s just embrace our defectiveness and move on.

doug

Medication for Children (or Adults)?

Quote O the Day:

You pee on a jellyfish sting, not on a jelly stain.

My apologies to the the waitress the Waffle House.

#ADHD

Really??!!

My ADHD Brain

Dinos On ADHD and Technology part 2 — ADHD Tip O the Day 862

Life with ADHD

What?

Dinos is a high tech person.  I’m not.  He’s contributing some good tips.

“A Smart Home Makes A Smarter You

Have you ever found yourself doing something like cooking or washing dishes and wish you could tell somebody something like, “remind me to buy more paper towels,” “remind me in twenty minutes to turn off the oven,” or “remind me to pay the rent tomorrow” and actually get reminded of it later?

In my apartment, I’ve always got somebody to remind me to do stuff. I have a Google Home. Actually, I have two—one in my bedroom and one in my living room within earshot of the kitchen. When I’m in the middle of tasks where breaking my already-fragile concentration would be annoying, I just say, “Hey Google, remind me to…..”

It works for almost anything, really. I use it all the time to add stuff to my to-do list and multiple shopping lists as I think of them on the spot (without having to find a notepad to write it down or type it in my phone), it’ll start timers for when I’m in the kitchen (I’m a terrible cook already as it is, so I need all the help I can get), set reminders for later in the day/week/month, play music or podcasts to make tasks like laundry and dishes more tolerable, I could go on. Adding things on my to-do list on-the-fly is a big one—I only think of things I need to do or should’ve done while I’m working on something else that should’ve been done already.

Another cool thing about it is I get to ask it questions like, “What’s traffic like on my way to work?” It’ll let me know how screwed I am while I’m getting ready in the morning or to let me know if I’ve got a small chance to knock something out quickly off my to-do list before I need to head out to an appointment.

 

It’s great. It’s another way of externalizing those little, difficult-to-keep-track-of executive functioning tasks that don’t feel like a big deal in the moment but can add up throughout the day.

You know, like suddenly remembering that this Sunday is be Father’s Day but you’re right in the middle of something right now and can’t go off-script again or you’ll never finish this task and you just have to hope that you’ll remember again later at a better time when you can actually do something it and not forget to pick up a card like last year. Or the year before.

It doesn’t have to be that way anymore. Google’s got my back.

Alternatives to Google Home are Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri.

For me, just being able to say, “Hey Google,” “Hey Siri,” or “Hey Alexa,” out-loud and then say what’s on my mind without losing track of what I’m doing makes a huge difference in how many tasks get accomplished when I’m at home.”

Thanks, Dinos

I’ve started using my Alexa for to do reminders. And I’m pretty sure she can do more helpful things that I’m not using.  I use her for music, which is an amazing function. And as a timer. And she gives me weather forecasts and reports, and occasionally a sports score. But she’s underutilized.  I am tech challenged – dystechnologia.

doug

I can hyper focus. i can even do tech stuff. Sometimes.

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

 

 

 

Goals and ADHD — ADHD Tip O the Day 861

Is It Good To Set Goals If You Have ADHD?

I’m a big fan of setting goals, but it’s hard for us ADHDers.  We always overestimate what we can do and underestimate how long it will take, don’t we?  And setting unreasonable goals just sets us up for failure which is demoralizing and makes it harder to get ourself to start things, a typical ADHD symptom.

I’ve shifted gears. Trying to take it easy now.

At the gym, I’ve stopped trying to raise the weight on the machines every time.  If I just show up and do what’s already set that’s good enough. This has made the work out much more pleasant and its easier to motivate myself to get to the gym. I still occasionally do raise a weight but its not required.

You may have noticed I’m not posting as often.  That’s partly due to work and travel, but I started with a goal of two posts a week.  I kept it up for a while, but it wasn’t a reasonable goal. I would still like to have a new post weekly, but it’s not really a goal.  No pressure.

I’m about to finish the redo of the 365 Tips book, but I have no deadline set.  Just keep plugging away and it’ll get done.

I’m trying to break the habit of rating my performance in general. Good enough is good enough.

But I still think goals are good. They just need to be reasonable.

doug

PS O the Day:

Reducing your goals just might reduce your anxiety or your depression.

ADHD Telesummit

Link to funnies

Just keep on keeping on.

 

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

 

Using Technology To Outsmart ADHD —ADHD Tip O the Day 860

Dinos has helped me with technology before, one of my many weak spots.  He has generously agreed to contribute some posts.  Enjoy!

doug

Using Technology To Outsmart ADHD

I’m not sure how many other people can relate to this, but when I think of myself as an individual struggling with ADHD, I think of it something along the lines of this:

There’s the “me” I want to be

and…

There’s the other me. The guy with ADHD. The guy who’s impulsive, forgetful, frequently unmotivated, unreliable, etc. You know. ADHD-me.

Most of my life has been a constant struggle trying to control the other, “ADHD me” and oh man it’s been a mess. That guy has NO boundaries. Or respect for other people’s time.

 

So instead of trying to control ADHD-me, I’ve instead tried to adopt another strategy: trying to outsmart him.

How?

With technology.

Specifically, I’ve been using technology to shape my external environment to better facilitate desirable behaviors and outcomes. I’m literally modifying my behavior by externalizing behavioral and environmental cues! (Yay behavioral sciences!) The ideal is that I’m more able to rely on my environment to tell me what I need to do instead of relying on my executive functioning/will power.

Here is one example.

1. Problem:
   My brain and body don’t do sleepy-time well. OR wakey-time, for that matter. This is a problem because sleep debt is not conducive to my day-to-day executive functioning and emotional well-being. What I think happens is that I get so focused on tasks at night (e.g. video games, researching random things on the internet, etc.), I literally forget that I’m supposed to be asleep. And because I’m so focused on the task, I don’t care. As you can imagine, waking up is even worse than trying to fall asleep with a mind that won’t stop chasing its tail.

Solution:

Stop relying on your brain/executive functioning/circadian rhythm to tell you when you should be going to sleep and waking up. Your ADHD brain is going to fail you. Instead, externalize the responsibility by using your environment as behavioral cues that it’s bedtime and you’re getting sleepy—and that it’s morning and the sun’s out. Stop forcing yourself through sheer willpower to try and go to bed or wake up.

 

Execution:

Smart light bulbs! These things are awesome.

So here’s what happens in the morning: at a time that I specify (say, 5:00am), the smart light bulbs installed in my ceiling come on at 1%. They’re super dim. As the morning progresses to a set time (say, 5:30am), the lights gradually get brighter and brighter until they’re at 100% brightness. THE POWER OF THE SUN IS IN MY BEDROOM and that’s really hard to ignore, unlike my phone’s many alarm clocks. But here’s the magic: because the bulbs are gradually and slowly getting brighter, my body’s given a chance to finish up its last REM cycle phases so I don’t wake up angry and groggy.

At nighttime, at a specified time (say, 9:00pm) the light bulbs in my apartment dim a little—from 100% to 99%. And then they slowly get dimmer and dimmer until it’s 9:30 and then they all shut off. Bedtime.

The dimming of the light bulbs is sub-consciously working as an environmental cue to start wrapping up my night without requiring me to utilize my already-spent willpower to make myself to go to bed. And believe it or not, the dimming of the bulbs actually does make me pretty sleepy as those 30 minutes progress.

These are the lightbulbs that I bought: https://www2.meethue.com/en-us/get-started

Note that there are cheaper alternatives out there but in my research these have been the easiest and most pleasant to set up.

Bonus: regarding good sleep hygiene, technology isn’t all that great. The blue light emitted by the screens we’re looking at all day/night suppress melatonin suppression (cite)—not great when trying to go to sleep.

The good news: there’s a strategy for that. There are programs that you can download on your computer (PC/Mac) that make the color of your computer’s display adapt to filter out this blue light, depending on the time of day. My favorite piece of software to do this is currently f.lux—it even tracks when the sun rises and sets to optimize this transition.

Extra Bonus: The newest versions of our mobile devices (Android/iOS) also have something similar built-in called “Night Mode” or “Night Shift” that will also filter out some of this blue light. If you’re using an older phone that doesn’t have it, there are a couple different apps you can download—hit the comments and let me know what you have.

Note O the Day:

I‘ll welcome other guest posts if you’d also like to contribute.  They don’t need to be perfect; I will do editing if needed.  And of course, your comments are always very welcome.

Bonus Link:Dystechnologica

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

Me and my computer – a strange love affair.

Child to Adult ADHD — ADHD Tip O the Day 859

About 8% of US children have ADHD.

About 50% outgrow it during adolescence. For the rest of us it changes somewhat. We usually get less impulsive and less hyperactive.  For example, at a business meeting, we don’t keep leaping from our chair and running around the room or yelling inappropriate things; we just fidget and occasionally say something inappropriate. And maybe knock over our water glass or forget to bring the essential notes.

Some of the improvement is due to maturation of our brains. But even if we are in the fortunate 50 and no longer have enough symptoms  for an ADHD diagnosis, our brains are still different from vanillas and we probably  have  mild ADHD problems.

Another reason for the positive change is that we’ve learned some strategies and we cope better.  So maybe we won’t forget the notes.

My experience of ADHD in children is  limited.  Of course, I experienced  my own childhood, plus my son Duane’s. I’ve heard a lot of others’ childhoods, and I follow the literature.  I haven’t evaluated nor treated children for ADHD.

If you read the comments on these posts, which I highly recommend, you’ve read the discussion  Ken initiated (Post 857).  We have somewhat different views on the use of medication for children with ADHD. Ken’s comes from his experience with his son and his experience as a teacher.  I’m hoping Ken will continue the discussion a bit further.

Kens’ comments stimulated this post and a few to follow, addressing medication and other interventions for children, many of which apply to adults.

Just to give you a preview: colored manila folders are wonderful!

Feel free to share your childhood experiences.  (Or your opinions, or almost anything else  you wish. Almost.)

doug

Hopeful Note O the Day:

I think we have some guest posts lined up.  I’m eagerly awaiting those.  Feel free to contribute one. Or more.

Book Notes O the Day:

The Your Life Can Be Better book would be useful for teens, but I don’t know about children.  Certainly the principle of how to formulate and apply strategies would. The 365 Tips book is on the 11th draft and is being edited by Tom. Thank you, Tom.  Progress in a long slow process.

Irrelevant Note O the Day:

I have a miniscule amount of experience of teaching kids with ADHD and was able to help some. That was very gratifying.

ADHD Links:

Helping ADHD Kids Focus

Improving Adult ADHD Without Medicines

(Or I might say, in addition to medicines.)

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

“Why not just let boys be boys?” Because with ADHD, they can’t function.

 

 

Did your ADHD show early?

 

 

A Radical Change — ADHD Tip O the Day 858

Maybe ADHD Pushes Us Too Hard?

I started school when I was five and started working when I was eleven. I’ve always liked working. And I was always competing, with myself and others.

Now I’ve reached a certain age, and I’m shifting gears, entering a new phase of life.  I call it  coasting. All my life I’ve been striving, trying hard to do better, to improve. I don’t think I’m gonna get much better, and I’m tired of striving and competing.

At the gym, I lowered the weights on the leg machines by 5 pounds, and I’m no longer pushing to increase the weight every day.

In my job, I am no longer trying to do excellent work, just good enough. We have so many patients to take care of that good enough is  all that’s reasonably possible, and my striving for excellence was messing things up.

I am still trying some things: trying to relax, take it easy, sit more often, do mindfulness more often. But generally, I’m trying not to try.  This doesn’t come naturally, but it feels good.

I don’t regret the past, but it’s time to change.

Are there areas of your life where you don’t need to try so hard? Then would you maybe function better in the other areas?

doug

Snide Comment O the Day:

Well, we’ll see.

Thought Experiment o the Day:

In how many ways does ADHD make you try harder?

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

Really??!!

 

Just keep on keeping on.

Snuck up on me!

Medicine for ADHD? — ADHD Tip O the Day 857

Some people are on too much medicine and too many meds and some on not enough. Meds are helpful to some people and not to others. For some people meds are miracles and for some not helpful at all, or worse. We are each unique. Meds are mostly helpful and certainly worth trying. 

ADHDer “I don’t want to take that medicine; I read the side effects.”

Me  “What side effects are you afraid of and what do you think the chances are that you will get them and if you do, how long do you think you would need to put up with them?

Some people are afraid of side effects, not understanding that side effects are only possible side effects; some people get them and some don’t. If you get them you stop the medicine. Nothing to be afraid of.

You won’t know until you try it.

Sometime the first medicine works fine. Sometimes it takes a while, trial and error, to find the right medicine, the right dose, and the right time to take it.

I need my Daytrana.

doug

Semi-relevant Story O the Day:

I told my wife I was going fishing.  The water is running high right now.  Too high to go really, but I need to get out.

She asked, “Isn’t it dangerous?”

I said, “Yes.”

It is dangerous.  I’m also going to walk to the library. That’s dangerous, too.  I could get hit by a car, fall and hurt myself, get mugged. But walking would be safer than driving.  Flying would be safest of all, but that’s not feasible.

If I wanted to be safe, I’d stay at home in bed.  But then I’m in danger of developing blood clots, falling out of bed, getting injured by a fire or a tornado. Fairly safe from flooding here, though. 

Life is not safe; everything is a gamble.  Figure the odds.

Links:

I Don’t Need Any Medicine

Previous Comments

Ritalin?

Me off my ADHD medicine

Efficient with ADHD. Huh??—ADHD Tip O the Day 856

I’m trying to get more done in less time and with less effort.  Tthat sounds like trying to be more efficient, not one of my strong points. So I asked for advice from my son-in-law, Bruce, who is sharp and knowledgeable.

Bruce  recommended that I tie these posts together with a theme and include quotes from the book.  I’m trying to follow his advice but Ineed to ask him to clarify what tie them together means.  Are they tied together  already by the theme of ADHD, and specifically, how to live with adult ADHD  and make your life better using strategies?  The tips are to give you help with that, but maybe they need to be more focused on the theme?

In the interest of efficiency, I’m sending Bruce this post instead of calling him.

The Tip for Today is to try to save time when you can, and sometimes you can make one thing serve two purposes.

Chapter 31 of the book is about trying to avoid being rushed and pressured.  Not only are these states of mind unpleasant, but they increase our rate of making errors.  Which  will lead to feeling more rushed and more pressured.

So think about ways to be efficient.

Your comments, critiques, concepts, conclusions, criticisms, and contributions would all be enthusiastically welcomed.

doug

Definition O the Day:

efficiency

noun

1. the state or quality of being efficient.”greater energy efficiency”

   synonyms:

   organization, order, orderliness, planning, regulation, logicality, coherence, productivity, effectiveness, cost-effectiveness Does any of that sound like me?

I can hyper focus. Sometimes.

Links:

Habits of highly efficient people (easy for you to say.)

How to be efficient

Stay Ahead

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

Best ADHD Blogs of 2019 — ADHD Tip O the Day 855

The Link: I can’t swear these are the best blogs, they may have left out some (snicker, snicker), but I’ll admit these are  darn good.

I’m not posting often enough for one thing.  I can give several reasons.

I’m not getting enough guest bloggers.  There are some really good ones out there, but they’re busy.

Well, I’ll try to do better.  I try to do a lot of things.

Question O the Day:

How can you tell an explanation from an excuse?

Answer: If I say it, it’s an explanation.  If you say it, –.

Quote O the Day:

You know that little voice that says, “Oh no, you can’t say that.”?

Well, I have one of those.  It’s just that it runs about eight seconds behind.

Second Question O the Day:

Who out there would like to do a guest blog?  How about you?

ADHD and Screens — ADHD Tip O the Day 854

ADHD Book Review??

I got a negative review of Living Daily with Adult ADD or ADHD.  Well, kinda.  Starfish had not read the book, nor  had she bought it. So it wasn’t really a review; it was a complaint, a cry of frustration. 

Starfish:

            1 .0  out of 5 stars     Why isn’t this book available in paperback?!

Format: Kindle Edition

My ADHD brain doesn’t process or remember info on screens. The minute it’s not visible, it no longer exists. Out of sight, out of mind. Seems ironic that this possibly helpful book is dangled out there as out-of-reach as an untranslated foreign language version. Makes me question the author’s expertise with the condition altogether, other than as a fellow victim.

I rarely reply to a book review, but this one caught me. I appreciated that she thought the book would be good, and I              appreciated that she took the trouble to write a review. But even more so, I agreed with her.

I don’t like reading off of the screen,  not anything of any length. I miss more information than I do from paper.   And I like to hold a real  book in my hands.

The good news is that I’m revising Living Daily, and it will come out in a book and e-book. I’d like  send Starfish a free copy but I don’t know how to reach her.

The bad news is I don’t know when it’ll come out.  My ADHD does slow me down.  Maybe six months?

doug

Questions O the Day:

1. Does anyone else besides me and Starfish have trouble reading off of screens?
2. Does anyone know Starfish? How can I get in touch with her?

Bonus Links O the Day:

ADHD and Reading

 

Good ADDitude Posts

Marriage Tips

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

Momma Tried Meds— ADHD Tip O the Day 853

Should you give medication to your ADHD child, or take it your self?

Diane Yvonne shared her post on another site.

“Just wanting to share my experience. My 11 year old son has ADD. We opted not to try medication for some time, just personal preference and fears of the unknown stopped us. Now I feel like such a terrible Mom as we put our son on medication for the first time in January and he is doing GREAT! He just brought home his first report card and he has a 3.0 GPA. That is a first! He describes ADD unmedicated as a big bright room full of distractions and he describes being on medication as being in a room big room with light shining on the task he needs to focus on. This was how he describes a classroom setting. He is getting class work done now, so happy I let go of my fears and finally tried a medication for him.”

There are a lot of people afraid or unwilling to try ADHD medication for a number of different reasons.  It is important to educate yourself and deal with facts and not fears and unfounded opinions. I believe that every child with ADHD deserves a trial of medication.  Ritalin would be my first choice However, the current medical guidelines recommend trying other behavioral approaches first, so apparently sometimes they work.

I’ve said before: for some people the medications don’t work; for some people, like me, they help some; for some people, like Diane’s son, they’re a miracle.

Diane, thank you for sharing.  I applaud your courage.

doug

Meds can help ADHD.

Bonus Links:

Big Discussion

Meds for ADHD kids

Non stimulant meds

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

Gift O the Day:

I’m going to try to send a free E booklet to all new subscribers. Six Basic Strategies for Coping with Adult ADD/ADHD.

If you have already subscribed and would like one, get me your email address and I’ll send it.

Some Little Things that Help — ADHD Tip O the Day 852

Little Things Can Make a Difference with ADHD

One of the keys of living well in spite of ADHD is making habits. With a habit, you don’t have to remember, think, or make a decision; you just do it.

Here are some little things I’ve made habits for.

1. Whenever I use my credit card, I put it back into my billfold. Then I stop and check that it is in my billfold. Even though I just put it there.

If this seems like silly nonsense to you, a waste of time, too much effort, then you have never spent a day looking for your credit card, calling to cancel it, and having to call  to update your automatic payments (and then find it in your shirt pocket, where you never looked because you never put it there.).

2. Before I leave home, I tap my left pocket to be sure my billfold is there, and my right pocket to be sure my iPhone is there. I’ve found it is better to have them with me than to have forgotten them.                                                                                                                     
3. As I’ve mentioned before, before I drive away from the pump, I always check to make sure the nozzle is not still in the gas tank. This can save some hassle.

These are small things, but they can prevent some big things.

Doug

PS O the Day

In her book about compulsions, Can’t Just Stop,  Begley says that many of our minor compulsions are not problems or mental illness, but necessary and useful ways we cope with the anxiety from the chaos of our lives. We need to have some areas where we feel we are in control (even though that may also be an illusion.)

My little habits are not compulsions. I don’t have to do them. I don’t get anxious if I don’t. But they reduce the level of chaos in my life and my life is better.

Quote O the Day:

And O the day before, and O the day before that, and O —

“Well, I won’t do that again!”

Links:

Habits

How to form a habit

Make a new habit – your life can be better.

Life with ADHD

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bad Words — ADHD Tip O the Day 851

Don’t Use These Words If You Have ADHD
or maybe even if you don’t.

Ram recently stated that “Stupidly, I fell off the bike– .”  I suggested that that wasn’t a good word to apply to herself, but she explained that she didn’t, she was applying it to the situation.

OK.

But

I’m recommending that we eliminate “stupid,” and all variations from our vocabularies. We ADHDers tend to suffer from low esteem, tend to get abused by others, and we don’t need to compound it. You wouldn’t call your child “stupid,” so why would you do that to yourself? It may be okay to call someone else that, but I don’t recommend it. Instead, I recommend you eliminate it.

Another Bad Word- “Should,” and also, “Have To.” 

These words stimulate our unconscious resistance. “You can’t tell me what to do!” They actually make it harder for us to do whatever task we were applying “should” or “have to” to. I recommend you eliminate them from your vocabulary also. You can say “I need to,” or “It would be good if I -,” or even “I’d like to-,” if you can believe it. Form a habit of using alternative statements.

Words have power. Let’s use them wisely.

doug

“Stupid” ( I think made a mistake about the Spanish here.  Was that stupid?)

“Have To” – Alternatives

The Power of Words

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

 

Our inner child has ADHD

 

 

 

JADE and ADHD —- ADHD Tip O the Day 850

Ram, who is a great contributor to the ADHD blog, has written about the difficulties of dealing with family.  I couldn’t refrain from offering some advice:

“Ram
Families are truly difficult. Ignorance makes it even worse. You need to manage your way. you know them and you know you, and I don’t. One alternative way it could be handled is, when you feel there is reason to say that you have ADHD, say it. Then if they come back with crap,  you can just say, “That’s an interesting viewpoint.“ And then do not engage further on the subject. If they keep saying crap, just keep saying, “You have an interesting viewpoint there. “You don’t have to answer any questions or explain or defend.”

Principle O the Day, from AA:

JADE:  You don’t have to justify, explain or defend.

Confession O the Day:

I am biased towards encouraging people to come out about their ADHD when possible.  The more of us who come out, the less stigma there will be.

Wise Saying O the Day:

The best thing about good advice is that it does so little harm, because no one ever follows it.

Analogy O the Day:

Trying to educate someone about ADHD when their mind is already made up is like trying to teach a pig to sing.  You will just get frustrated and it annoys the pig.

doug

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

You don’t believe in ADHD?

“I love hearing your opinion about ADHD!”

You don’t have ADHD!

What is it really, ADHD?

Outgrow ADHD? — ADHD Tip O the Day 849

Questions Abound About ADHD

A follower asked if  children outgrow ADHD. Research shows that 50% of children with ADHD will “grow out of  it” by late adolescence.  This means that they might still have some symptoms but the symptoms are  fewer and mild enough that they would no longer meet criteria for an ADHD diagnosis. 
The research also shows that  their brains do not change to normal but do  improve in that direction.  Those who have been treated with stimulants show more brain improvement, but still don’t attain “normal.”
For the 50% of us who continue to have the full syndrome, our brains did not change but our  symptoms do moderate somewhat. This is presumably due to some brain maturation and to our learning how to cope, getting strategies. For example, hyperactivity usually becomes less and manifests more as fidgeting.

Controversy O the Day:

There are some reports of adult onset ADHD but I have found no substantiating data and I do not believe it.  Almost by definition, we are born with ADHD.

Doug

 

Irrelevant Note O the Day:

I’m experimenting with different ways to post an image to facebook.  Maybe one of these will work.  I think perhaps demonic forces are working against me.

 

 

Link to specific data about ADHD brain

About brain imaging

Video on ADHD brain.

Life with ADHD

There Is a Solution to the Problem— ADHD Tip O the Day 848

My job put me up in a beautiful big old house. When I come in in the evening, and when I  leave in the morning, there are no lights. It is dark.  Very dark.  It is a big beautiful old house with a big beautiful staircase, which is dark as the pit. I’ve been very nervous going up and down the staircase in the dark, carrying two heavy bags.

Strategy: I suddenly realized I can just turn on my iPhone. Not even the flashlight, just the iPhone.That is already a habit, or maybe not even a habit. My anxiety on the dark staircase is the anchor, or the cue, for automatically using the iPhone. 

Problem solved.  

But this is really kind of silly, because once I realized it was A Problem, I could have easily just carried a small flashlight in my brief case.  That’s the real trick, acknowledging that it’s A Problem, not just one of the inevitable many small annoyances of life.

It would’ve been A Real Problem if I’d broken my leg.  Or my neck.

doug                               

 #ADHD

Odd Note O the Day:  You may be wondering why this is printed in such a strange format.  So am I.

ADHD decisions.

 

Another Way to Look At ADHD—ADHD Tip 0 the Day 847

There are many different ways to look at ADHD:

Some people deny that it exists. The fact that they have no idea what they are talking about does not deter them.

Some people say it is an executive dysfunction problem. I think that is one part of ADHD.

Some focus on the neurotransmitters (norepinephrine, dopamine), some on structure (basal ganglia, cerebellum), and some on networks (connecting amygdala, hippocampus, frontal cortex, cerebellum). I think it is all of these.

Some see it as a disease or disorder. Some see it as a variation of normal. Others see it as a gift. I am not one of those. I see it as a difference which, since it causes so many problems, is a disorder. I also believe there is an abrupt significant difference between us ADHDers and the vanillas, not just a gradual change on a curve.

Dr. William Dodson, an expert on ADHD who I highly respect, has a different view from mine, regarding the basic symptoms and dysfunctions:

“three defining features of ADHD emerge that explain every aspect of the condition:
1. an interest-based nervous system
2. emotional hyperarousal
3. rejection sensitivity”

from dr dodson  on the three main features of ADHD

More good Dr. Dodson links

I see ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder, highly genetic, present from conception, with differences in the networks, structures, and neurotransmitters. To me, the main issue is lack of control of focus, and that our “focus center” is not turned on in the same way as the vanillas. This basic feature causes a number of problems, which themselves cause other problems or symptoms, such as rejection sensitivity due to shame and low self-esteem, for example, which is caused by our frequent screwing up and the resulting criticism from others and from ourselves.

doug

 

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

Sometimes it drives me up the wall. Or beyond.

What is it really, ADHD?

You think what about ADHD?

Can a Month Cause ADHD? — ADHD Tip O the Day 846

Can A Month Matter in ADHD?

The research show that kids who are born in August have higher rates of ADHD than those born in September.
The strong implication is that starting school when you’re younger makes you susceptible to a diagnosis of ADHD. This makes sense, because you will be more immature than your classmates. Does your immature behavior cause you to get diagnosed with ADHD, or, do the social and intellectual difficulties you’re having cause you to behave in such a way that you get the diagnosis?  In either case, wouldn’t this likely be a misdiagnosis.
It is too easy to jump to conclusions. Maybe kids born in August have had higher exposure to certain viruses, or perhaps mothers pregnant in December had more or different infections? Or maybe there’s some other correlation?
But the implication of the effect of immaturity is probably valid. So I wonder how many of these kids were misdiagnosed because of their immaturity and did not actually have ADHD?  The study ended when the kids were between six and eight years old, so they might have outgrown their ADHD diagnosis.

I suspect that a good diagnostic evaluation would have differentiated those with true ADHD from those who were just immature and not behaving or performing appropriately.

I was always the youngest, or second youngest in my class. Before the fourth grade, I was average and nondescript. I clearly had symptoms of ADHD starting in the fourth grade., but not obviously before. That seems a little strange. After that I did well scholastically, and poorly behaviorally, no longer average nor nondescript. Til college, when I hit the brick wall scholastically.

Were you the youngest?

doug

Multiple Bonus Links:

• Pediatric Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Fast Five Quiz: Test Yourself on Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Adults
• Fast Five Quiz: Do You Know the Signs, Symptoms, and Best Practices for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder?
• A 12-Year-Old Boy With Falling Grades and Behavior Problems in School and at Home

Treatment of ADHD in children

• ADHD and Age: Can a Month Really Matter?
• Prenatal Valproate Exposure May Boost ADHD Risk by Almost 50%
• ADHD

1.  Lavender’s Antianxiety Effects Nothing to Sniff At
2.  Childhood Infections May Trigger Mental Illness
3.  One-Time Cannabis Use May Alter Teen Brains
4.  ‘First Evidence’ Music Improves Brain Connectivity in Kids With Autism

V

• ADHD and Age: Can a Month Really Matter?

 @addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

Children with ADHD tend to have problems in school. Duh.

Did your ADHD show early?

ADHD Strategies Work, Eventually — ADHD Tip O the Day 845

ADHD Medication Side Effects

I didn’t get much sleep tonight. Took a long time to realize I still had my Daytrana patch on.

One of the two side effects of the patch is that if I don’t take it off early enough I’ll have trouble sleeping. I’ve been working on this problem.

I’ve been using the strategy of setting my iPhone alarm for 5:10. Unfortunately, this hasn’t worked very well. When the alarm rings, instead of thinking, “Oh,  I have to take my patch off.“ I think “Oh, I have to turn the alarm off.“

But I improved the strategy. I set the alarm now for 5:10 and also for 5:15. Now when the 5:10 goe off, I’m somehow that the 5:15 is coming and that I need to take off the patch. That’s working.

Usually.

The Point: If you can identify that something is a problem, you can come up with a strategy.  If your first strategy doesn’t work, you can come up with another one.  Your life can be better.

Related Note:  The second side effect of the Daytrana patch is red welt where it was when you take it off.  Goes away in a day or two, doesn’t hurt, itch or burn, no problem.

doug

 

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

As I was saying -. What was I saying?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ram’s Comment—ADHD Tip O the Day 844

Repeating a good comment from Ram.  I do love the comments.

“I guess we’re all guilty of thinking about what could have been. I certainly am, as I dropped out of college to take the hard road of becoming a poorly paid pastry baker.
But then I think of what might have been, had I discovered my ADHD when I was in college – and had I stuck with it. I might’ve graduated and never have moved away from my homelandm to Germany, which would almost certainly make me end up with a dead-end job (which is so much the case in Portugal)
Instead I came to Germany. I suffered many years until I was diagnosed (jumped from job to job because I couldn’t stand people, went from one bad situation to the next one) but then I was diagnosed. I got a handle on me more than ever before and although I’m not 100% happy with my life, I got a grip on myself enough to try and change the things I can change.
My life might’ve been great. It might also have been worse. This is my reality now, the reality I have to live. And I strive to make the best of it. It’s all anyone can do. 🙂
As always, thanks for a lovely post.
Confession: I’m a bit tipsy. I had a strong beer with my dinner (don’t have to work tomorrow) and I’m enjoying my tipsyness. It usally makes want to hug the world! (more so than usual, anyway) 🙂”

Ram  is on a good path, making her life better. We grieve what we think could’ve been, but who knows? Occasional tipsy may be a good thing, recharging the brain if it doesn’t kill too many cells – I don’t know for sure.  If it makes you want to hug the world it’s probably good.

doug

Sad Story O the Day:

You may have read where I went  to get my car to drive to work and my battery was dead. I think I had shut the door on the seat belt.  So I had to take my wife’s car. That worked fine for me, not so good for her. So I drove to work, had a good day, came out to drive home. Got in my wife’s car.  The battery was dead.

I was unfamiliar with her car’s control system and possibly I’d left the lights on. But knowing I have ADHD, I’d done the smart thing and after I got out, I’d turned around and looked at the car to make sure none of the lights were on. Still, it’s possible.

Two dead batteries in one day. That may be some kind of record, even with ADHD.

Quote O the Day:

Oh, crap!

Yes, that’s right, ADHD.

 

Reply

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

Bee Gee, on Older with ADHD — ADHD Tip O the Day 843

Bee Gee Diagnosed at 68! Wow! I feel I’d love to talk to this person… being 51 and eagerly awaiting diagnosis it occurs to me that perhaps there are a few positives with late diagnosis. Sure we have all heard about the grief over lost opportunity “what I could have been if someone had recognised this in me”.. but a distinct positive has started to crystallise for me…. perhaps not being diagnosed meant that we clumsily found our own expert solutions to help us navigate the world without having the label of ‘broken’…

two and a half weeks ago I read something about adult ADHD in women… I’ve been reading ever since… talking to people and learning so much about myself… I felt at first elated, then broken, then confused over recent weeks. … so ‘broken’ is part of being self identified as ADHD.. and I imagine is a big part of it for many people… so perhaps those of us who are diagnosed late in life have a special role in communicating how it feels to be an ADHD person… because we now have the comparison of “what I thought I was” vs “what I have realised I am like”… and perhaps with that experiential distinction as an adult we are better equipped to point to strengths and solutions rather than labels and deficits …    

Doug Puryear bee gee – you have many good points here. we do need to grieve the lost possibilities, but not spend much time or energy on it. I don’t think it as broken, but different in a way that makes life harder. and yes, I had many strategies before I ever knew I had ADHD or that they were strategies. and I think getting the right diagnosis, even if its ‘at last’ is a great thing.

Bee Gee For me it has meant that I have a reason..when I do those little things which I know are rude.. drifting off, interrupting etc. a few years back when I thought my cognitive difficulties were due to inflammation from auto immune stuff I turned up to have my hearing tested. I had made the appointment that morning and had been given the address and directions over the phone. The address was in a street I know very well in a suburb I have lived in for most of my life. when I arrived there was no record of the appointment. There was discussion about ringing and booking so she phoned her bookings person and they said they hadn’t spoken to me or booked me in. I was feeling really like I was in the twilight zone.She asked to see my referral.. the referral was for a different place … when I was given instructions about where the place was my mind leapt to ‘know already, don’t need to listen’ and told me that it was the place my dad went to to get his hearing aid… it wasn’t. Silly me.

Anyway those mind thwarting moments of being sure but being wrong which I had gotten used to continued and always seemed worse when having an RA flare. it is only since a friend told me she had just been diagnosed with adult ADHD and she explained how it is often missed in girls and why that I started to really go through my life and look at it through this lens. I recognised so much of myself. Every new bit of information seemed to colour in the detail of my vague life. I’ve now realised that what happened was I built some very successful skills to mask and deal with the ADHD but when I got sick those tricks and work around started to fail. I know this because these same little things used to happen a lot when I was little and right up until my teens… but I guess I just thought I was really misunderstood and/or teachers, parents, other kids were just being mean.

Doug Puryear bee gee. that sounds just right. would it be ok with you if I posted these comments on the ADHD blog? they would be good.

Bee Gee  sure

An Autobiography: Life with ADHD.

Thanks, Bee Gee.

doug

   @thebullyonline #bully #bullying #thebullyonline

Quote O the Day:

“Where is my phone?
Oh, there it is. Thank you, honey.
Now, where is my wallet?
Ah, I found it!
Now, where’s my phone?”

 

I Don’t Get It!— ADHD O the Day 842

Isn’t technology wonderful?

If you have recently subscribed to this ADHD blog, you are most welcome here. I hope you will find it useful and enjoyable. And I hope you will make comments. I love the comments.

But:
I’m no longer sending individual welcoming messages, because I’ve suddenly been flooded with new subscriptions. At first, I was delighted, but I quickly realized that they were fake. Spam.

Question O the Day number one:

What in the hell is going on?

The links below give some information, but I don’t totally understand them.  That’s nothing new.

Apparently, this has been happening for some years. I was totally unaware. (I recently wrote a pretty good song- “We’re over the hill, out of the loop, and our warranty has expired.”)

Strategy:

Don’t believe everything you read. Especially these days, when lying has become routine, facts no longer matter, and half the posts on Facebook are from the Russians.

Question O the Day number two:

What are they getting out of this?

Question O the Day number three:

Do you think having ADHD makes us more naïve, gullible, vulnerable, and susceptible to scams?

Quote O the Day:
Trust everyone and always shuffle the deck.

Links:

Spam     from Margret

Spam sign-ups

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

What?

 

 

I do not appreciate it

An ADHD Christmas — ADHD Tip O the Day 841

I wish you each a very Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, and whatever else you may wish to celebrate, and a very blessed, joyous, productive, low stress new year.

People ask me, “Are you ready for Christmas?”  I always reply, “I am never ready for Christmas.”

But actually, I am ready this year. No more shopping on December 24.

I suggest next year you buy your Christmas presents in November.

And that when you unwrap your presents, carefully keep notes of who sent what so you can thank them, and also so that you may return the things you want to return.

And try to use moderation in your eating and drinking. I have noticed that moderation in my drinking is essential to keeping moderation in my eating.

I am hoping to keep my weight gain to 6 pounds. I can lose 6 pounds in two months. I can gain 6 pounds in one evening.

Thank you for your support this year and keep the comments coming.

Best wishes

Doug

Bonus Link for Christmas

Procrastination

Santa’s addicted. too.

 

 

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

Technologically challenged. Isn’t that part of ADHD? – – – ADHD Tip O the Day 840

With ADHD comes a lot of challenges – geographical, legibility , technology,—.

I had an iPhone 6. The screen was cracked, but I was used to that. Charging was slow and it didn’t hold a charge well, especially with my music, although the readout said the battery was 85% healthy.

I indulged myself and got a new 8. I soon had a problem. It wouldn’t ring when someone called me and wouldn’t give the swoosh sound when I sent a message.

I spent a long time last night trying to fix this. I googled the problem and found some solutions. I made adjustments in notifications  and in sounds and in the mail folder. I finally got it to vibrate.

That was not good enough, so I called Verizon tech today. The gentleman spent a lot of time patiently going through all the different settings with me. The result of this was that it not only didn’t ring or swoosh, it also no longer vibrated. No indication that I was getting a call or sending an email.

I was either going to have to follow his suggestion and call back and get a higher ranked tech, or was going to have to drive to the Verizon store and try to find an associate who could fix it for me. Either seemed a time-consuming hassle.

There is a sound control switch on the side of the phone. It silences the ringers and other sounds and you just get vibration as a signal. This is good for when you’re in church or at the movies, for example. You push it down to silence the phone and there is a little orange patch that shows you it’s on silent. You push it up to get the sound back on when you leave the church or the movies, if you can remember to.

In my spare time, I googled again, putting in a different phrase.

Well, turns out, that’s the way it was on the 6. On the 8, just the opposite. And no color indicator of which setting it’s in. I had it turned off.

Wish I had found that out sooner. Anyway, it’s working now.

And that, folks, is life with ADHD and technological challenge.

Doug

PS: The volume buttons on the 8 are hard to use. And it has no jack for headphones. You have to buy a separate attachment for headphones, and then you can’t charge it and use headphones at the same time. That’s what I used to do while driving when I had my 6.  But it charges fast and holds a charge longer. There is no other benefit I’ve found yet. Well, the screen is not cracked, yet.

yes, that’s right, ADHD.

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

 

Traveling with ADHD. Oh, My. — ADHD Tip O the Day 839

This ADHD post is too long. As you’ll see, that’s kind of the point.

We flew from Santa Fe to Dallas to visit our new foster great-grandchild. Yay!

But:

Checking in, I left one of our bags at the security checkpoint. We nearly left without it except I thought maybe I heard my name called.  But when I went over, they were calling  “ Burger. Burger,” so I told them the bag wasn’t ours. They couldn’t read my printing on the tag. It was Puryear, not Burger. But we got the bag.

The flight was OK. We got turned around in the Dallas airport and couldn’t find baggage claim. By the time we got there, all the passengers and bags were gone. Then I saw our bag sitting in the airline office. I went in and said, “This is ours,“ and walked off with it. No questions, no ID. Nothing.

Then we had a long cold walk with our bags, outside the building, to the pick up area for the rental car shuttle.  Then we waited. Then the shuttle took us on a very long ride to the office. No problems there. We had a  very very very long ride to get out of the airport, which is huge. Then a long slow drive target to our granddaughter’s house, partly because it was raining.  Bumper to bumper. Slow.

Trip back was similar in reverse, but less so.

Now to get to the point. We’d flown from Santa Fe because it’s more convenient. It saves the hour’s drive to Albuquerque to get Southwestern and fly into Love Field, which is close to our granddaughter’s house. And the hour back to Santa Fe. As it turned out, it probably took us over two hours extra doing it this way, and a lot more frustration.

Long trip, long post.

Strategies:
1. Always count all of your bags at every transition.
2. Always research your travel plans and see that they make sense, that you have chosen the best options.
3. Consider trying to avoid flying in the first place. With all the hassles, with security and lines, it’s clear that bin Laden won.

4. Oh, and make sure your bags have a tag with your name legible.

Doug

Link: What Living with ADHD is Like

 

Addadultstrategies.wordpress.com

 

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

Life with ADHD.

ADHD decisions.

It’s Always Something – – – ADHD Tip O the Day 838

It’s Always Something – Especially with ADHD

I made today’s today to do list last night:

Breakfast. Quiet time. Walk dog. Gym. Shower. Lunch. Library. Work on 365 book. This blog. Fill in December calendar. Practice guitar. Refresh aquarium. Figure out what two thumb drives are.

I knew that was more than possible, but thought I could probably do most of it, and I was determined not to push myself, pressure myself, or get in a hurry.

Slogan: You can only do what you can do.

Then my wife bumped a post in the parking space and showed me a hand sized piece of black plastic off her car. She didn’t know where from.

Nothing on the piece looked broken, so we thought maybe I could fix it (Me? “Thumbs” Puryear?) So I bundled up and went out to the car.
Of course, I couldn’t find where it came from. Everything looked intact. Both sides looked the same. Got down on my hands and knees and checked everywhere with my flashlight.  All intact. But finally I found it, on the underside of the big right hand outside rearview mirror.

I took a couple of minutes to see how it fit in there. I took a lot more minutes to finally get this son of a gun to click into place. It took a little bit of brute force, but more finesse, not one of my strong points. But I got it. I was pleased and even my wife was pleased. Saved a trip to the shop. Sometimes I am so good I surprise myself.

But of course, my list is shot to hell.

Strategies (some of which I did not use.)
1. Keep the to-do list short and not more than you can reasonably expect to do.
2. If you don’t follow number one, accept that you’re not going to get it all done and don’t worry about it.
3. When you’re making your to-do list or schedule, figure in time for the unexpected. You can expect it.

This all worked out OK. I’m getting the blog done, as we speak. I scored points with my wife and I was pleased with myself for being able to fix the car.

It’s always something.

doug

Follow-up Note O the Day:

 While I was in the middle of this blog, my wife urgently called me to the living room. She said it couldn’t wait. Found she needed help with the crossword puzzle. It was a hard one, but we got it done. Again, I was pleased with myself. But my coffee was cold when I got back.

Quote O the Day:

“It’s always something.”
Rosanna Rosanna Danna

Which one is ADHD?

It would sure help.

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

Link O the Day: To do list

Apologies and a Plan — ADHD Tip O the Day 837

Living with ADHD can be a challenge.

OK, I’m a little behind on my blogs. OK, I’m a lot behind.
I have a new job and that takes up some time even though it’s part time.

Strangely, I haven’t been making the big screw ups that I’ve been posting about in the past and so haven’t been developing new strategies, and therefore have less to write about. Also, although I’m trying to keep up with the ADHD science and the ADHD medications, there doesn’t seem to be any real breakthrough in recent years.

Oh, wait.  I did run over my suitcase.  Have only done that once, so far.

Also busy updating the 365 Tips O the Day book. Or at least thinking about it. It will be in both ebook and print editions, not just an e-book like now. I have a list of the posts that I want to replace and a list of the new posts I want to replace them with, but I’m stuck. Procrastinating. Primarily because I’m not confident that I can do it or do it well. And it seems like a lot of work. Those are the usual causes of my procrastination.

I do have some strategies.

First, I’m going to pick a date (you may notice that I haven’t done that yet) to do just one of the posts and I know that will break the log jam and I can get moving on it.

Secondly, I ’m lining up some outstanding people to do some guest blogs. That will lighten my load and give my loyal readers a change of pace.

doug

Wish O the Day:  Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving (although I know that family can be a bit challenging at times. Even without ADHD.)

Link O the Day: Brian’s old now extinct blog with lots of good stuff still on it.

Bonus Link O the Day:  Brian now has a new blog, for writers.

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

And I’ll get to them soon.

 

New Research on ADHD — ADHD Tip O the Day 836

ADHD Research

I try to keep current on the ADHD research and to keep you current.

1. Some of the latest research just confirms previous findings. ADHD diagnosed in childhood persists in up to 65% of adolescents and up to 50% of adults. Hyperactivity and impulsivity become less with time, but inattention symptoms remain stable. Still, we do jiggle our foot or tap our pencil.
Many factors increase the risk that symptoms will continue into adolescence but only a few of those predict continuation into adulthood: symptom severity, psychiatric comorbidity and parental mental health.
Some adults no longer meet criteria for the diagnosis and yet have continuing problems related to ADHD.
Those of us who still have diagnosable ADHD do worse than those who no longer meet criteria but still have symptoms, and we all do worse than adults who never had the diagnosis.
We have poorer educational and occupational success, more depression and anxiety,  and use more marijuana and more public assistance. However, this study, in contrast to previous ones, found no significant difference in other substance use disorders or legal outcomes. I’m doubtful about this. For example, I know that a high percentage of people in prison have ADHD.

Finally, this study raised some interesting questions. How much were the poor outcomes directly caused by ADHD symptoms, versus by the effects of the consequences of the symptoms, such as doing poorly in school, early substance abuse or legal problems, getting involved with the wrong crowd? Interesting, but maybe not highly relevant.

Note that replication is the way research works. One study is not very important until its findings are replicated by other studies done by other people.

2. A disturbing article suggests that high levels of prenatal fluoride can contribute to children developing ADHD. They emphasize that this is only one study and it would have to be replicated and that genetics still play a large role.

I’m still a fan of fluoridation but if you’re pregnant or going to be, you need to be aware of the levels of fluoride in your drinking water. These vary widely among communities. And be careful about your toothpaste.

3. In 8% of children, elimination of certain foods, additives, and coloring improved ADHD symptoms. However, results were not confirmed by teachers and outside observers and applying these measures can be difficult and expensive.
A meta-study, a study of studies, showed that an elimination diet, taking away almost all foods and then restarting them one by one, can give over 40% symptom reduction in about 1/3 of children with ADHD. However, it was noted that these studies were not well done and should be viewed with caution.
Fish oil (omega-3 fatty acid, with EPA percent greater than DHEA percent) and micronutrients have been found to be slightly helpful in general.
Overall, the studies suggest that difficult major dietary interventions can have moderate benefit in a small minority of children with ADHD.  I suspect that these findings would apply to adults, but I’ve found no studies of this yet, just a lot of suggestions.

• Micronutrients: boron (B), chlorine (Cl), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), and zinc (Zn).

4. There is increasing misuse of stimulants among college students, primarily for improving cognition. Again, studies show that this does not actually work for people without ADHD, although it gives them the impression that they’re doing better than they are. Stimulant misuse is correlated with poor academic functioning.

Well, that’s the update.

doug

Question O the Day: Does anyone know of studies of these things applying to adults?  I haven’t researched it thoroughly. Your help would be appreciated.

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

When will I grow up?

Adulthood, anyone?

Links:

Diet

Sugar

Pay Attention—ADHD Month- ADHD Tip O the Day 835

October is ADHD recognition month.

We have two tasks: To learn as much as we can about ADHD, and to try to educate the general public. You may have noticed that the general public is not clamoring for more knowledge about ADHD. They already have their opinions and know all they want to know, even when it is wrong.

Here are links about things going on in the ADHD world this month:

ADHD

ADHD

ADHD

ADHD

ADHD

ADHD

doug

Quote o the Day:

If ignorance is bliss, why are there so many unhappy people?

Strategy: Trying to convince someone whose mind is already made up is like trying to give medicine to a person who is already dead.

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp

ADHD is the explanation.

Sucess At Last, Even with ADHD? — ADHD Tip O the Day 834

Problem: ADHD images on the post weren’t coming out right on Facebook.

Solution:  Dinos very generously showed me how to fix them, but the process was very complicated.  I kept avoiding the job. For a very long time.

But — then I committed to getting it done this week.

Outcome:

OK, so I said I would finally get to the images.  And I did it. And the process is not as hard as I thought.  I was putting extra unnecessary steps into it.

So I have run one test picture on facebook and it seemed to work, although not quite the way I expected.

I plan to run all images thru this process as I go, so it won’t be a such a huge job.

Let’s see how this post turns out.

The strategy: Make a commitment to do something at a specific time, make it public, don’t let yourself do anything else instead.  Get it done.

doug

Back up strategy: If this doesn’t work, I plan to scream, bang my head against the wall since I have no hair to tear out, and start the cocktail hour early today.  It’s always good to have a backup strategy.

 

Huh?

 

 

I don’t have ADHD!

This Is Embarrassing — ADHD Tip O the Day 833

With ADHD We Get Embarrassed a Lot (Plus I often embarrass my wife)

I’ve written frequently that I was going to fix my images so that they showed up properly on Facebook.  And a very kind follower showed me how to fix them.

It’s very embarrassing that I don’t remember my rescuer’s name and I can’t find it. Anyway, I am appreciative.

Posting that I was going to do it was a strategy.  So that it would be embarrassing if I didn’t.

Well, I haven’t and it is.

I definitely want them done.  That is not the same as wanting to do them, though.

Reasons for Procrastinating:

1. I’m not actually sure that I can do them.  I tried to use the method.  Sometimes it worked.  Sometimes it didn’t

2 The method is complicated so that it takes time and effort.  I feel like I don’t have the time. Obviously, that’s just an issue of priorities.  With ADHD we are not good at prioritizing.

3. Since it’s complicated, I always feel like there has to be a simpler way, and that I’m wasting time doing it this way.  I hate wasting time.

But I’m tired of having this hanging over my head, and I do want the images to be right.

Strategy:

I have Wednesday afternoon, and all day Thursday, Friday and Saturday off next week.  I am committing to not do any other tasks until I get this one done.

The ADHD strategy of one.

Plus, I think once I get into it and get familiar with the process it won’t be nearly so hard.  Hoping.

We’ll see.

doug

Strategy: The basic strategy for procrastination is small steps, but I don’t see how to apply that here.  Maybe plan to do just one picture, but that isn’t the issue; the issue is using the technique.

Link:

Procrastination

Procrastination 2

Bonus Links:

Trouble Making Decisions? from Attitude Magazine

What Does This Link Have To Do With ADHD?  Nothing, it’s just my favorite Song O the Day.  Maybe of all time.  And it’s worth reading the comments.  Enjoy!

The Power of One

Update O the day:

Dinos very generously got in touch after this post and again offered his help.

Maybe later?

 

Working with ADHD — ADHD Tip O the Day 832

I love my new job, but I’m struggling with the EHR, electronic health record system, on the computer. This is the sixth different I’ve have had to use. They’ve ranged from horrible to bad. This one is the least bad.

The two main problems are, first, using an EHR, and second, limited time.

The EHR requires me to gather all the data and fill in all the boxes on the forms on the computer. (Plus several paper forms to fill out.)  So I need to be typing during the patient’s appointment. There’s no other time to do it.

Sometimes I feel like I’m treating the computer and not the patient, or that the computer is more important than the patient. I do not care for this.

What does this have to do with ADHD?  As difficult as this is, ADHD only makes it harder. I’m using several strategies:

1. I need to keep my desk organized. I need the same types of papers in the same pile all of the time. Otherwise my desktop becomes a cluttered mess and I waste a lot of time trying to find the paper I want.

2. I use colored clips. For example, I put a red clip on the top of my daily schedule. That way, I don’t lose it in the papers.

 

3. I try to complete everything about each case before moving to the next, even if I’m behind. This can work hardship on patients that are waiting, but it reduces the stress on me and therefore lets me work more efficiently, and I don’t have to try to rely on my memory later.

 

4. If they’re just isn’t enough time to deal with an issue, I can reschedule the patient to return and can request more time for the second appointment if necessary. This also may be a hardship on the patient, but they will be getting better care.

 

5. I review all the records before I see the patient. This may put me behind, but it makes me more efficient.

You’ll recognize these strategies: organize, reduce stress, use colors, the rule of one, and the principle that every problem has a solution.

doug

ADHD Pearl O the Day:

With ADHD, we need a job that is interesting, has structure but always has something different.  So this job, with a schedule and so many different patients is perfect for me.

 

Confessions O the Day:

1. I do feel guilty when I find myself praying that some patient won’t show up so that I can catch up.
2. I must admit I’ve found something addictive about waiting for an order from Amazon to arrive.

Link:

How to Be Successful

Best ADHD Jobs, the full discussion

List of Good ADHD Jobs

@addstrategies  #adhd  #add  @dougmkpdp