The Leviathan Grook.
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The Leviathan Grook.
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| Attention Deficit Disorder | |||
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association ( DSM IV ) lists the following criteria as requisite in diagnosing ADD. The cause of Attention Deficit Disorder has been ascribed to, depending on your source, a neurological disorder involving the frontal lobe of the brain ( MRI scans confirm this ), a particular undiscoverd personality type, genetic hunters/farmers ( Are You a Genetic Hunter? ), Attention Variability Disorder, inner ear infections. Some have suggested that ADD is simply extreme boredom intolerance. The rest of this site is about possible other explanations there might be for ADD. I have no doubt ADD exists, but like many ADDers, I feel that ADD is merely symptomatic of another type of mental system altogether. Its like there are right-brained people, and there are left brained people, but then there is also the scat-brained people who don't fit conventional ideas of how descriptions should be like and thus are treated negatively.  Here are some Traits of ADD not commonly known by the layman. More and more children are being diagnosed as ADD nowadays. This may be due to increasing attention given to the disorder in the journals. Lots of children however, may simply be highly creative ( these wouldn't sit still to be bored ) or gifted ( ditto ). In fact a very high percentage of highly creative adults and gifted persons are diagnosed ADD. I believe that ADD is a group of narrowly defined surface traits for something that goes deeper and is more meaningful than just the genetical-neuro-biological connection implies. Whatever. There are a lot of people in the world who have ADD traits and are treated differently, mostly negatively all their lives. This prevents the fulfillment of the potential for making truly great contributions to the world, which every ADDer possesses. Here are some great examples of ADDers made good. These are my experiences while growing up (I don't claim to have finished doing that though) When I first read DSM IV, I found that I did not really match closely to the criteria. This is not surprising, since the DSM IV for ADD is written with children in mind. It was on surfing on to the sites above ( and reading and identifying with their experiences ), that I found that Adult ADD is very similar to my experiences : ( signs and symptoms were there. Report cards said to "Be more attentive in class." & "Will do well in subjects that interest him" from primary to secondary school) In addition to these neuroses, I have this problem with my memory ( follow the memory links ). I have what you might call Flash-memory. My short term memory is very poor, and I'll frequently walk into a room intending to get something, only to reach there and have forgotten what I wanted. This happens regularly with different tasks. Another example is I might walk into the kitchen to get an apple from the fridge. Somehow, I will return with a glass of milk, and will continue working without even realising the mistake until some minutes later when I take my first sip of milk - "Hey, didn't I want an apple ? " Of course, this is how I developed my taste for certain strange combinations of foods ( such as apples with milk ). I get * numnesia ( forget the sequence of numbers if i remember them in the first place, reversing them etc...) all the time too. I always forget to post letters even if i have them in my pocket. And my brain is always abuzz with ideas that compete for attention, each having the possibility of being a gem. Now I realise everybody has had this to some degree, but i get this almost all the time, with perceptible effects. I zone out in the middle of conversations. What I didn't ever realise till ADD came to my attention ( hmm... ) is that this attention problem ( or is it a memory problem ? ) is so prevalent in my life. I particularly vividly remember, when in school, the band had a performance at a beach, and loading up the truck ( instruments, music, stands) I forgot to load my own instrument ( a french horn by the way ) because I was distracted by somebody. So I had to take a cab back to school, to get it. Then when i got back to the performance with my horn, I discovered that my music scores had also been left behind. This sounds like absent-mindedness at first, but isn't the root of absent-mindedness inattention to detail ? I also tend to totally shut out external stimuli when I'm working, a common feature of hyperfocus. A person might speak my name six or more times before I notice, even if I'm not working ( when I'm lost in my own thoughts ), and the thirteenth time I would respond because the snubbed person would have resorted to swearing to get my attention. I usually notice before that though. :) This problem is so bad I've gotten audiograms to test if my hearing is impaired. Results said my hearing is fine. There's my depressions, although it'd be fairer to call them extreme mood swings. I can never be at ease being very happy, because I know from experience somewhere ahead of me, there's a huge pit of gloom waiting. Now depression has quite often been diagnosed in many patients where the underlying disorder is ADD. All of them grew up being labelled "slow", or "dreamy" or worse, because of their inability to focus. They usually know they aren't all these remarks, but come to believe it because there seems to be no explanation for their poor performance in school or at home. And then finally there's my hypersensitivities. One example is smell. Cigarette smoke, well pretty much any smoke gives me immediate stomachaches, as do some perfumes. I'm pretty sure that doesn't happen to normal people. These are the Aha ~! coincidences with ADD that helped me arrive at the conclusion that I am ADDed. However, since self-diagnosis is so dangerous ( W orse than being misdiagnosed The M issed Diagnosis - people tend to find what they're looking for ), this website is really written to see if there is another explanation. The cause of my moods and memory problems may not be ADD after all, may in fact be due to one of the several conditions that are dealt with in the following pages. Do look at my Updates Page often for my re-definitions of this problem o'mine. |
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The Razor's Edge A Possible ADDer Speaks ~!
 Member of the Explorer Webstar ~! Member Sites by Teresa Gallagher. One word: grook. by Catherine Woodgold. She's got great pages about memory as it applies to ADDers. by Jan Upton. These folks are involved in shifting a new paradigm in education. The author challenges the conventional wisdom about ADD. by Ann. operated by Lynne the Listkeeper. The list is a place where people do their grooking about ADD-related stuff. If you've ADD, or suspect you have, or maybe the two terms apply to someone you know, git on this list. It will do you a world of good. by Catherine Jamieson. Attention Deficit Disorder is a gift. Read her links. by Vinc Wong. Me, moi, yours truly, still searching for le mot juste. Other positive ADD websites Other Nice Links If you want to read bad stuff about ADD, ask your friendly neighbourhood shrink, or do a search on the Internet. From Main Body From Side Bar The final Aha ~! experience that sealed my conviction that I belonged in the company of the ADDers was a posting to the Explorer mailing list. I've lurked on the list for some months at time of writing, and I must declare of all the lists I've ever been on, none has enriched my life and led to better understanding of myself than this one. So for those of you on the list who are here reading this, even though you don't know me, this site's for you too. The posting in question regarded the hunter/farmer theory as espoused by Thom Hartmann. The hunter/farmer theory is proposed as a kind of alternative explanation of ADD, and was posted to the list by Mary & Bill Allsopp. Since their observations pertain highly to ADD, I found it extremely positive that I answered yes to all their questions except for number 15, in their Are You a Genetic Hunter posting. Also equally convincing was the post that said something about hypoglycemia, which I believe is the name for low blood sugar, or at least wide swings of blood sugar levels. The post mentions that ADD afflicted folks commonly have a fairly normal condition that masks itself as low blood sugar. I get that plenty often, and blueberry soda never fails to give me a sugar high. I'd wondered about that for the longest time. * NUMNESIA (num ne' zhi a) n. 1. a condition that manifests itself in having to look back and forth between the phone and the local phone number 2-3 times before dialing is completed. 2. that which results in repeating a phone number that someone has just told you over and over until you reach the telephone, pick up the receiver, and forget the whole thing completely. 3. the act of trying to figure out whose phone number is scribbled on that piece of paper. |
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