Wednesday, September 28, 2005

For those who have ADHD and don't care, I salute you!

That's right, all your ADHD maniacs out there raise your hands for today we are getting mad props for our hyperactive brains! MSN.com has an article on their site today about "The Upside of ADHD".

Check it out: Enthusiasm, Empathy and High Energy Among Traits the Disorder Carries
By Marilyn Lewis for MSN Health & Fitness

http://articles.health.msn.com/id/100109339?GT1=6997


I was diagnosed with ADHD back in 1995, put on Adderrall and promptly sat still or slept. That was about it. I would sleep for about 12 hours or more, straight! I don't even sleep more than 6 or 7 now cause I got shit to do! It's time to wake up and go DO stuff. I clearly remember sitting at the table with my fellow waitstaff coworkers through out our entire pre-shift dinner. I continued to sit in my chair after everyone had left. I stared out the window. I was repeatedly asked "are you alright Di?" by all kinds of folks. After my shift ended, I noticed a significant difference in my tips. I had made about $30 bucks less than usual, and the night was a busy one. I strolled down through the mall, got on the train and fell asleep on the D line. In all my life I had never fallen asleep on the T! I couldn't stay awake to save my life.

I stopped taking Adderall and bounced back. My energy came back, I guess you could say I "got my wits about me". You don't HAVE to take medication, you just have to adapt. I am used to forgetting things now, and those who know me I am sure have their own commentary to provide on this subject BUT my main point is that I am successful in my job because I have ADHD. On more than one occasion I have had to think on my feet, generate an idea, breathe life into a room of pessimists. Today's article describes the CEO of Jet Blue, who fortunately makes enough cake to hire a personal assistant and an accountant to keep track of everything. I can afford my Blackberry. I have trained myself to input important things like appointments, phone numbers and names of songs, books and movies I will never remember on my own.

What's even better is the Ty Pennington in the spokesperson for Aderrall! The ads for the drug keep coming up as I read this ADHD article with his gorgeous picture on them.

Thank you Marilyn for writing this sentence "Instead of only focusing on the difficulties posed by ADHD, today, the upsides are likely to be noted, too: the quick-wittedness, the speedy grasp of the big picture and the great enthusiasm for nearly everything. These traits make ADHDers endearing and simultaneously exasperating. ".....in bed. sorry. bad joke.

Lastly, Tom Hartmann writes "People with ADHD “may instead be our most creative individuals, our most extraordinary thinkers, our most brilliant inventors and pioneers,” writes Hartmann in his 2003 book The Edison Gene: ADHD and the Gift of the Hunter Child. He posits that the people with ADHD may carry genetically coded abilities that once were, and may still be, necessary for human survival and that contribute richness to the culture. "

Your damn right we do. Look at these words, I am twirling around in them like a little girlExtroardinaryry thinkers, brilliant inventors, pioneers, genetically coded abilities, human survival, richness of culture. I am going to hold this article like a baby kitten.

2 comments:

Jeff said...

I have been suffering from ADHD for quite a long time, but have learned to adapt in ways that most believe is not likely. Cant say that I ever took meds but I believe you dont need them...

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