We All Have ADHD

Well, in actuality, I doubt Dominic does. Gabriel has a formal diagnosis of ADHD without the hyperactive component. Gary and I can both suppose that we have ADHD (with hyperactivity). Xavier has an appointment for Wednesday for a diagnosis. But, the truth is, if he doesn't have ADHD, I will be very surprised. (update: This was started two weeks ago, Xavier had his appointment, and the diagnosis was positive. He also has the hyperactivity component. No surprises there.)

Because of attempting to help Xavier, I have finally gotten around to reading a book given me last April. Delivered from Distraction by Edward M Hallowell, M.D., and John J Ratey, M.D. is turning out to be an excellent book. I can appreciate (in a humor kind of way) the fact that the chapters are short. I was hooked in the "How to Read This Book" section, when they gave me permission to never finish reading the book.

So far, I have read about 1/3 of the book, skipping around to the chapters that held my interest. In the second chapter, I had a good laugh at this quote:

So let me describe ADD from my point of view. First of all, I resent the term. Maybe it's just because I have ADD myself, but it seems to me that if anyone has a disorder, it is the people who plod along paying close attention to every little speck and crumb, every little detail and rule, every minor policy and procedure in every minuscule manual. I think these are the people who have a disorder. I call it Attention Surplus Disorder. They did exactly what they were told as children, told on others who did not, and now make a living doing what they're told, telling others what to do, and telling on those who don't.

What kind of a life is that? Wouldn't you rather have attention deficit than attention surplus? If you had to call one a disorder, wouldn't you vote for the surplus? Who wants to pay attention to the myriad details for very long? Is it really a sign of mental health to be able to balance your checkbook, sit still in your chair, and never speak out of turn? As far as I can see, many people who
don't have ADD are charter members of the Society of the Congenitally Boring. And who do you suppose advanced civilization? Who do you suppose comes up with the new ideas today? People with ADD, of course.

Now tell the truth. If you have ADD, you are rolling around in your chair laughing, that is, if you are still in your chair.

In chapter 5, which is 3 pages long, he says

In ADD, you can get so wrapped up in one project that you all but forget who and where you are. You do not suffer from a deficit of attention but a wandering of attention. Your mind does not go empty, it goes elsewhere. The term attention deficit disorder completely misses this point. It is not a deficit of attention that we ADD-ers have, it is that our attention likes to go where it wants to and we can't always control it.

Of course, if you don't have ADD, you probably don't get the humor inherent in these quotes. But, if you do have ADD, you'll love this book. I recommended it to my sister, Sally. She called me laughing over her reaction to the "questionnaire to find out if you have ADD." She was laughing over the questions. Question 35 is, "Are you chuckling to yourself as you read these question?", which she, of course, thought was hilarious. My favorite question is number 123, "If you have made it this far into this quiz, are you surprised that you have paid attention this long?" To be honest, I had started skipping around at that point. I just happened to luck out and read that question. And it was quite a blessing to discover that my piles of paper are not just disorganization, but also a symptom of my ADD. It would probably be a good thing for me to get my ADD under control.

There is one quote that I especially like.

In other ways having ADD is like being supercharged all the time. I tell kids it's like having a race-car brain. Your brain goes faster than the average brain. Your trouble is putting on the brakes. You get one idea and you have to act on it, and then, what do you know, but you've got another idea before you've finished up with the first one, and so you go for that one, but of course a third idea intercepts the second, and you just have to follow that one, and pretty soon people are calling you disorganized and impulsive and disobedient and defiant and all sorts of impolite words that miss the point completely. Because you're trying so hard to get it right. It's just that you have all these invisible vectors pulling you this way and that, which makes it really hard to stay on task.

Basically, I like this book because it speaks to me. I feel like I could crawl inside it and live there. After all, it describes me and my family to perfection. I am just now getting to the parts about diet and exercise. But, I know they play a significant part in combating the effects of ADD. I know this because I have observed it in my children. I am not as good at imposing a strict diet on myself as I am at doing it to my children.

I'll follow with an update on Xavier. It's quite remarkable, actually.