Random Notes on ADD
For years I wondered why walking through a busy shopping mall was unpleasant and disorienting. There was too much visual stimulation. Too much input felt overwhelming. It made me feel uneasy, almost nauseous like I had mild motion sickness. So I would walk with my eyes down and try to avoid scanning all the neat images and pretty colors, so I could keep focused on why I was there and what I came to purchase. Then I learned that I had symptoms of ADD.
ADD is an abbreviation for Attention Deficit Disorder. It can include Hyper-Activity Disorder, especially in children, then it is called ADHD. There is a lot of controversy about its diagnosis and its treatment. This is because the usual treatment for school children is Ritalin, a drug that stimulates certain portions of the brain thus making the part of it that monitors outside stimulus work better. This helps to control restlessness and impulsivity. Children with ADHD have shown dramatic improvement in their education when properly diagnosed and treated. It is generally the over-use of prescriptions or reactions to the idea of the drug itself that causes the controversy. Prescriptions that benefit adults with ADD are similar. They make part of the brain more alert.
My perspective on this subject comes from two viewpoints: 1) Seeing my own children (now grown adults) struggle with ADD and thus by observation discovering I had it also; 2) Fitting this problem into my understanding of what it means to live as a Christian with shortcomings.
These notes on ADD (random because they were written by someone with ADD!) are a digest of thoughts and opinions and experiences from various writers and from my own life. They are not intended for medical advice and should not replace your own consultation with a physician. I believe we should be on the way toward becoming whole people in body, mind, and soul to the fullest degree humanly possible. That wholeness or wellness or mature integration of self includes freedom from addictions, healthy emotions, physical fitness, right thinking, and a vital spiritual connection with God. Jesus said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.” (Matthew 9:12) He said this in the context of urging compassion, not criticism. All of us have some disorder that needs curing, whether by medicine or counseling or by prayer. All of us have some disease (dis-ease means lack of ease or lack of rest) that needs to be brought to peace. Rather than judge those who are weak, let’s show mercy. Let’s find out how to help our self and others along the way.
Tom Hartmann is a writer who has led thousands of hours of discussion groups on ADD on Compuserve’s online forums. In his book, Think Fast, he says the human race is divided into two camps: Hunters, and Farmers. The hunters (picture a tiger) are constantly monitoring every movement and capable of short bursts of incredible energy. The farmers move steadily and slowly and plow straight lines and wait for grain to grow. The hunters live among the farmers. The hunters are people with ADD while the farmers represent normal people. Which are you?
What’s it like to have ADD? If you always have your checkbook balanced, if you are able to sit still in a chair, if you never speak out of turn, then you don’t know. A Psychotherapist MD who himself has ADD says this: “It is like driving in a hard rain with bad windshield wipers, constantly straining to see clearly.” Isn’t that an amazing description? Can you picture what that is like? He goes on to say, “You get an idea and you have to act on it immediately, before you lose it. Your head is buzzing, spinning, and your body is tapping, moving. The definition of time is, ‘…the thing that keeps everything from happening at once.’ With ADD, time collapses.”
He also says, “You fight inner turmoil, panic, loss of control. Your brain rhythm is either full speed ahead, or full stop, with no in between. You have a constant quest for stimulation for your mind but you have to withdraw from people due to over-stimulation. You are always either under-focused or over-focused. Either your body or your mind is racing all the time.”
Knowing this, you can see why to someone with ADD, boredom is actually painful. The structured American school classroom, moving at the snail’s pace of the slowest child, feels like a prison, a torture trap to be escaped from at all cost. Most ADD kids don’t do well in school.
While too much rigid structure seems like a cage, some structure is exactly what ADD adults like me need in order to harness creativity, reduce distractions, and stay on track to completion of goals. For me, the discovery that I had ADD was a relief. My years of self-recrimination and frustration for dropping important dates, forgetting things, losing track of figures, getting lost in a project, putting trivial things at the same priority as urgent tasks, searching for my keys only to find them in my hand, etc, came to an end. I could forgive myself and recognize that I had a handicap. At least now I could identify it as an attribute like being tall or short or near-sighted and learn to cope with it in a realistic way.
My major symptoms have been three-fold: easy distractibility, especially visual distractions; crowded thinking, with floods of thoughts rushing in simultaneously; and what I call compacted time, where clocks and calendars become a blur and everything seems to happen concurrently with no sequence or space in between. In addition, numbers don’t communicate to me like words. Words are fluent, marvels of revelation, while numbers are a maddening mystery. Numbers lie to me! But I have found that putting things on paper in a visual form greatly aids my comprehension of numbers-- whether handling finances or budgeting time for a project. Then of course, I have the challenge of handling the paper I have produced, which for ADD-afflicted people like me can become a flurry of drifting white stuff spilling over the edge of my desk.
If you discover you have ADD, there are usually stages you go through. 1. Denial. 2. Anger. 3. Bargaining. “If I take my medications, the problem will go away.” 4. Depression. “Depression is a serious (and common) problem for people with ADD,” says Susan Roberts. 5. Acceptance. You decide you will take your meds & cope, just like people wear glasses to correct their vision.
ADD has been described as a disorder, but with “positive attachments.” ADDers are usually very creative, highly intuitive, usually intelligent. Adders are typically Global Thinkers. They think “outside the box” and are able to leap to correct conclusions that logical thinkers have no way of understanding. When included as part of a team that appreciates their value and also understands their limitations, they can move from being simply unique to being extraordinarily gifted.
“Sustained attention is expensive for an ADDer,” says Thomas Whiteman, PhD, in his book, Adult ADD. “The mental energy expended is enormous and taxing. ADDers fight forgetfulness all the time. They have severe self-recrimination for their inability to stay focused. Failure in relationships makes them retreat from emotional intimacy. Then they often deceive themselves and pretend they have no problem. Anger is another common problem, due to frequent battles with frustration. They can be accused of being self-focused and may indeed have a poor self-image. They often have a running internal dialogue of habitual self-criticism.” Constant self-criticism is not a characteristic of true biblical humility. It is just a bad habit.
ADD is NOT a moral shortcoming. It is a condition at birth of unknown origin, a certain way that a person’s brain is wired, a permanent situation that can be moderated but not eliminated. Here is a checklist that helps identify people who might have ADD (not all these will apply, and symptoms improve with self-awareness):
Medically, ADD-afflicted individuals have been termed “minimally brain damaged.” It appears first in childhood, often with hyperactivity, and usually persists into adulthood. Dr. Ratep says in “Living with ADD- a Workbook for Adults”, that “ADD is a problem of the frontal lobes (of the brain) where information is sorted out and acted upon.” He calls ADD an “impairment.”
While several types of ADD have been identified, three major areas are categorized socially by one counselor who herself has ADD. These three are:
The Active Entertainer - expressive, outgoing, a risk-taker, a salesman.
The Restless Dreamer - who fights frustration. He is inward focused. This kind of ADD person is often misdiagnosed. They can battle severe depression due to stuffing their real feelings. Both of these first two ADDers need structure in order to succeed. The Restless Dreamer also needs encouragement.
The Conscientious Controller – compensates by extreme control, rigid rituals and excessive structure, requiring constant perfectionism. Makes a good accountant.
Many ADD individuals battle feelings of anxiety, irritability, and depression. Some have a strong “startle reflex” or they battle panic disorder. Those who suffered repeated failures from undiagnosed ADD also battle low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence.
Many ADDers hyper-focus in order to achieve success, then suffer an emotional letdown afterwards. Everyone has this experience for example, when reading or concentrating. But for ADDers, it is much more intense. Hyper-focus means to be so intent and so deep in thought that it is painful to be jerked away from it. Periods of time spent hyper-focusing can be emotionally draining. For ADDers, Mood swings are common. Mood control can be improved by:
ADD adults have been diagnosed with impulsivity. “Impulsivity is born of a low tolerance for frustration.” Says Susan Roberts, PhD. “Impulsivity is the tendency to act too quickly and without thinking.” These impulsive actions are independent of reason. They occur before you think. They are “not based on knowing what to do, but doing what you know,” says Russell Barkley. Quick thoughts, quick feelings, quick actions. This characteristic can be moderated by self-discipline or medication but not totally eliminated. Not everyone is designed to think the same way. Some attributes of personality we must live with and indeed, should celebrate.
Anger is often a component of ADD, yet is often disguised as another emotion. With ADDers, anger quickly escalates. It is important to stop anger before it builds. Anger can be checked. Unchecked, with impulsivity, it can lead to rage and do harm. My counselor says, “Own your emotions. Anger is what it is. Be honest about it. Don’t deny it or stuff it. Deal with it rightly.”
Treatment does not make ADD go away. But treatment “turns down the noise of self-recrimination.” If you have ADD, do this-
Admit to yourself and others that sometimes “I need space.” Eliminate stress from your life even if it restricts your lifestyle. Understand and accept your limitations.
Since ADDers are unable to set priorities, they need help coping. First things First is more than a motto, it is something they desperately need but cannot manage without considerable effort and/or help. Here are some coping skills for Time Management:
Adopt a Daily Routine. Every morning make a list of 3 things to do (no more!). Rank them in order of importance. (ADDers cannot handle longs lists or easily prioritize tasks.) Weekly Habits. Choose the same day of each week to do certain tasks. For example, shop for groceries on Saturday. Routinely pay bills on the same day or date. Time Management will always be a challenge, so organize your day the prior evening. Break tasks into small steps. Work in short bursts. Organize three “S” areas: Space, Self, and Stuff. Space- Everything must be in its place and there must be a place for everything. Ex- a hook for your car keys. Get into the habit of placing them there. Use files, boxes, labels. Use color codes for different stuff. Simplify! Take ten minutes to toss out clutter on a daily basis. (Pay me now or pay me later!) Self- Reduce reading material, distractions, visual clutter, wasted time. Ex- magazines. You’ll try to clip and save everything! Make lists before you shop. Don’t carry credit cards, checkbook, or too much cash. Stuff- Handle paper only twice, once to scan it; then again to “ftd”-it: file it, toss it, or delegate it. Stacks of papers on your desk are a sure sign of ADD, or of information overload.
Other healthy ADD adjustments and coping skills include these lifestyle areas:
There is transforming power available to followers of Christ. But, we need to admit our need of it. The Lord said to the apostle Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) As the Holy Spirit indwells us and as we allow God’s Word to adjust our way of thinking, we take on more of God’s nature, thus becoming the very best we can ever be. But what if we discover we have ADD? We are not immune to flaws and afflictions just because we know Jesus. In fact, Christians are ultimate realists, facing the human situation with no illusions. Sin is real and we are powerless to save ourselves from it, therefore, we need a Savior. Jesus proved His love when He died on the cross to bring us to God. He proved His power to save us when He rose from the dead with eternal life as a free gift for who receive Him.
As a Christian, with all this help available to me, I have no excuse for staying angry or frustrated or depressed or impatient. Yes, I have ADD. No, I won’t use it to justify irresponsible behavior. I will not say, “But that’s the way I am!” Instead, I will rely on God for help. I take the practical steps of making lifestyle choices to moderate my weakness. For example, I worship God every day, sometimes several times a day. I know from experience that time spent in prayer, in quiet adoration, in respecting His presence and contemplating His Word, softly singing praises or choruses from my heart to the Lord, is as soothing to my mind as oil poured on troubled water. It has a lingering affect on me for hours afterward. Wow!
There is no “exception clause” in the list of “Fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 6 that exempts ADDers from showing Christ-likeness, such as patience, gentleness, forbearance, self-control, etc. These things are hard for ADDers! I conclude after much consideration and after my own wrestling with this ailment, that the solution (for me) is increased dependence on the Lord. I must abide in Christ, walk in the Spirit, meditate on the Scriptures, humble myself and admit my weakness, draw on others’ strengths and team up with those around me, take my carnal tendencies and traits to the cross, and ask God for His grace and power to manifest the uplifting life of Jesus in my body, in my ways, and in my personality.
Christians have the privilege of relying on God’s Word rather than changeable feelings. The Bible says we are created in God’s image, that we were redeemed from sin by the sacrifice of God’s Son on the cross. Therefore we are uniquely loved and valued for who we are despite any of our individual weaknesses or handicaps. That is good news! Facing reality, we should resist self-condemnation (read Romans 8) and instead live by faith in the awareness of God’s great love, including a healthy love and respect of our own self as a human being and as a child of God. Indeed, our Heavenly Father is delighted to show His mercy to us in the midst of our daily struggles, giving us His peace and His power to overcome.
If you think you may have ADD, my informed but by no means professional advice is this: Don’t jump to conclusions. Don’t diagnose yourself. Don’t start using ADD as an excuse for irresponsibility. Do talk it over with your spouse, a trusted pastor, or a qualified health care provider. Read more on the subject so you can be armed with good information. Pray and ask God to help you truly and honestly know yourself. If you conclude you might have ADD, evaluate its affect on yourself and those around you. Consider obtaining professional counseling with someone who specializes in this disorder in order to deal with the emotional damage you have suffered if you have been affected in your work, your education, or your marriage.
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Random Notes on ADD was compiled and written 2002 by Ron Wood.
My gratitude to the many writers whom I freely quoted for their valuable insights. Read the books I have listed to learn more! I also want to thank Dr. Daniel Patterson (clinical psychiatrist) and Ms. Ann Foltrauer (counselor and LCSW), both of Wilmington, NC, for their friendship and for their many helpful comments.
Special heartfelt thanks goes to my lovely wife, Lana, who knows first-hand the trials and tribulations of living with ADD in her family. She is a champion mother and wife, and a true straight-line thinker!
For copies of this booklet, please write to us at Ron and Lana Wood, P.O. Box 12749, Wilmington, NC 28405. We also supply training materials to young leaders in struggling nations. To see a list of resources or to learn more, visit our website at HYPERLINK "http://www.touchedbygrace.org" www.touchedbygrace.org.
ADD is an abbreviation for Attention Deficit Disorder. It can include Hyper-Activity Disorder, especially in children, then it is called ADHD. There is a lot of controversy about its diagnosis and its treatment. This is because the usual treatment for school children is Ritalin, a drug that stimulates certain portions of the brain thus making the part of it that monitors outside stimulus work better. This helps to control restlessness and impulsivity. Children with ADHD have shown dramatic improvement in their education when properly diagnosed and treated. It is generally the over-use of prescriptions or reactions to the idea of the drug itself that causes the controversy. Prescriptions that benefit adults with ADD are similar. They make part of the brain more alert.
My perspective on this subject comes from two viewpoints: 1) Seeing my own children (now grown adults) struggle with ADD and thus by observation discovering I had it also; 2) Fitting this problem into my understanding of what it means to live as a Christian with shortcomings.
These notes on ADD (random because they were written by someone with ADD!) are a digest of thoughts and opinions and experiences from various writers and from my own life. They are not intended for medical advice and should not replace your own consultation with a physician. I believe we should be on the way toward becoming whole people in body, mind, and soul to the fullest degree humanly possible. That wholeness or wellness or mature integration of self includes freedom from addictions, healthy emotions, physical fitness, right thinking, and a vital spiritual connection with God. Jesus said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.” (Matthew 9:12) He said this in the context of urging compassion, not criticism. All of us have some disorder that needs curing, whether by medicine or counseling or by prayer. All of us have some disease (dis-ease means lack of ease or lack of rest) that needs to be brought to peace. Rather than judge those who are weak, let’s show mercy. Let’s find out how to help our self and others along the way.
Tom Hartmann is a writer who has led thousands of hours of discussion groups on ADD on Compuserve’s online forums. In his book, Think Fast, he says the human race is divided into two camps: Hunters, and Farmers. The hunters (picture a tiger) are constantly monitoring every movement and capable of short bursts of incredible energy. The farmers move steadily and slowly and plow straight lines and wait for grain to grow. The hunters live among the farmers. The hunters are people with ADD while the farmers represent normal people. Which are you?
What’s it like to have ADD? If you always have your checkbook balanced, if you are able to sit still in a chair, if you never speak out of turn, then you don’t know. A Psychotherapist MD who himself has ADD says this: “It is like driving in a hard rain with bad windshield wipers, constantly straining to see clearly.” Isn’t that an amazing description? Can you picture what that is like? He goes on to say, “You get an idea and you have to act on it immediately, before you lose it. Your head is buzzing, spinning, and your body is tapping, moving. The definition of time is, ‘…the thing that keeps everything from happening at once.’ With ADD, time collapses.”
He also says, “You fight inner turmoil, panic, loss of control. Your brain rhythm is either full speed ahead, or full stop, with no in between. You have a constant quest for stimulation for your mind but you have to withdraw from people due to over-stimulation. You are always either under-focused or over-focused. Either your body or your mind is racing all the time.”
Knowing this, you can see why to someone with ADD, boredom is actually painful. The structured American school classroom, moving at the snail’s pace of the slowest child, feels like a prison, a torture trap to be escaped from at all cost. Most ADD kids don’t do well in school.
While too much rigid structure seems like a cage, some structure is exactly what ADD adults like me need in order to harness creativity, reduce distractions, and stay on track to completion of goals. For me, the discovery that I had ADD was a relief. My years of self-recrimination and frustration for dropping important dates, forgetting things, losing track of figures, getting lost in a project, putting trivial things at the same priority as urgent tasks, searching for my keys only to find them in my hand, etc, came to an end. I could forgive myself and recognize that I had a handicap. At least now I could identify it as an attribute like being tall or short or near-sighted and learn to cope with it in a realistic way.
My major symptoms have been three-fold: easy distractibility, especially visual distractions; crowded thinking, with floods of thoughts rushing in simultaneously; and what I call compacted time, where clocks and calendars become a blur and everything seems to happen concurrently with no sequence or space in between. In addition, numbers don’t communicate to me like words. Words are fluent, marvels of revelation, while numbers are a maddening mystery. Numbers lie to me! But I have found that putting things on paper in a visual form greatly aids my comprehension of numbers-- whether handling finances or budgeting time for a project. Then of course, I have the challenge of handling the paper I have produced, which for ADD-afflicted people like me can become a flurry of drifting white stuff spilling over the edge of my desk.
If you discover you have ADD, there are usually stages you go through. 1. Denial. 2. Anger. 3. Bargaining. “If I take my medications, the problem will go away.” 4. Depression. “Depression is a serious (and common) problem for people with ADD,” says Susan Roberts. 5. Acceptance. You decide you will take your meds & cope, just like people wear glasses to correct their vision.
ADD has been described as a disorder, but with “positive attachments.” ADDers are usually very creative, highly intuitive, usually intelligent. Adders are typically Global Thinkers. They think “outside the box” and are able to leap to correct conclusions that logical thinkers have no way of understanding. When included as part of a team that appreciates their value and also understands their limitations, they can move from being simply unique to being extraordinarily gifted.
“Sustained attention is expensive for an ADDer,” says Thomas Whiteman, PhD, in his book, Adult ADD. “The mental energy expended is enormous and taxing. ADDers fight forgetfulness all the time. They have severe self-recrimination for their inability to stay focused. Failure in relationships makes them retreat from emotional intimacy. Then they often deceive themselves and pretend they have no problem. Anger is another common problem, due to frequent battles with frustration. They can be accused of being self-focused and may indeed have a poor self-image. They often have a running internal dialogue of habitual self-criticism.” Constant self-criticism is not a characteristic of true biblical humility. It is just a bad habit.
ADD is NOT a moral shortcoming. It is a condition at birth of unknown origin, a certain way that a person’s brain is wired, a permanent situation that can be moderated but not eliminated. Here is a checklist that helps identify people who might have ADD (not all these will apply, and symptoms improve with self-awareness):
- Do things impulsively
- Always on the go
- Need help handling emotions, fight frustrations
- Need to build your self-image
- Hard to control your temper
- A substance abuser
- Can’t organize a schedule
- Can’t put tasks in order or do important things first
- Trouble managing finances; Start without finishing
- Difficulty planning time and following through
- Forget things easily
- Difficulty in school classes
- Trouble communicating
- Not a good listener
- Relationships often in crisis, constant turmoil
- Can’t focus on one thing at a time (easily distracted)
Medically, ADD-afflicted individuals have been termed “minimally brain damaged.” It appears first in childhood, often with hyperactivity, and usually persists into adulthood. Dr. Ratep says in “Living with ADD- a Workbook for Adults”, that “ADD is a problem of the frontal lobes (of the brain) where information is sorted out and acted upon.” He calls ADD an “impairment.”
While several types of ADD have been identified, three major areas are categorized socially by one counselor who herself has ADD. These three are:
The Active Entertainer - expressive, outgoing, a risk-taker, a salesman.
The Restless Dreamer - who fights frustration. He is inward focused. This kind of ADD person is often misdiagnosed. They can battle severe depression due to stuffing their real feelings. Both of these first two ADDers need structure in order to succeed. The Restless Dreamer also needs encouragement.
The Conscientious Controller – compensates by extreme control, rigid rituals and excessive structure, requiring constant perfectionism. Makes a good accountant.
Many ADD individuals battle feelings of anxiety, irritability, and depression. Some have a strong “startle reflex” or they battle panic disorder. Those who suffered repeated failures from undiagnosed ADD also battle low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence.
Many ADDers hyper-focus in order to achieve success, then suffer an emotional letdown afterwards. Everyone has this experience for example, when reading or concentrating. But for ADDers, it is much more intense. Hyper-focus means to be so intent and so deep in thought that it is painful to be jerked away from it. Periods of time spent hyper-focusing can be emotionally draining. For ADDers, Mood swings are common. Mood control can be improved by:
- Become aware of your moods (ADDers are notoriously poor self-observers!)
- Deep breathing from the diaphragm (the Yielded Breath, a prayer of surrender, of peace)
- Meditation (stilling your mental storm, practicing “Be still and know that I am God!”)
- Physical exercise- aerobic is best. Move your body- still your mind. Exercise every day!
- Visualization (ex- see yourself on a peaceful desert island)
- Music (soothes the brain and harmonizes the thoughts in a powerful way)
- Laughter (a healthy release of pent-up emotions. “Does good like a medicine!”
- A Good Night’s Sleep (very important for the body and the brain, restores functionality)
ADD adults have been diagnosed with impulsivity. “Impulsivity is born of a low tolerance for frustration.” Says Susan Roberts, PhD. “Impulsivity is the tendency to act too quickly and without thinking.” These impulsive actions are independent of reason. They occur before you think. They are “not based on knowing what to do, but doing what you know,” says Russell Barkley. Quick thoughts, quick feelings, quick actions. This characteristic can be moderated by self-discipline or medication but not totally eliminated. Not everyone is designed to think the same way. Some attributes of personality we must live with and indeed, should celebrate.
Anger is often a component of ADD, yet is often disguised as another emotion. With ADDers, anger quickly escalates. It is important to stop anger before it builds. Anger can be checked. Unchecked, with impulsivity, it can lead to rage and do harm. My counselor says, “Own your emotions. Anger is what it is. Be honest about it. Don’t deny it or stuff it. Deal with it rightly.”
Treatment does not make ADD go away. But treatment “turns down the noise of self-recrimination.” If you have ADD, do this-
- Seek treatment.
- Accept yourself. (If you have a history of failure, realize there is real hope for you!)
- Decide to be honest. Tell trusted people about your issues.
- Give gifts of attention to other people. (Excellent idea!) Realize, a lifetime of distraction has taught you bad habits. Your attention costs you- give it away to those you love.
- Practice active listening. Repeat and clarify. Ask, ‘What happened next?’ ‘How did that make you feel?’
- Make contracts with others. Put it in writing so you are accountable.
- Establish a system together so you have structure.
- Use reminders (NO guilt or shame) like whiteboards, beepers, DayTimers, PDAs, etc.
Admit to yourself and others that sometimes “I need space.” Eliminate stress from your life even if it restricts your lifestyle. Understand and accept your limitations.
Since ADDers are unable to set priorities, they need help coping. First things First is more than a motto, it is something they desperately need but cannot manage without considerable effort and/or help. Here are some coping skills for Time Management:
Adopt a Daily Routine. Every morning make a list of 3 things to do (no more!). Rank them in order of importance. (ADDers cannot handle longs lists or easily prioritize tasks.) Weekly Habits. Choose the same day of each week to do certain tasks. For example, shop for groceries on Saturday. Routinely pay bills on the same day or date. Time Management will always be a challenge, so organize your day the prior evening. Break tasks into small steps. Work in short bursts. Organize three “S” areas: Space, Self, and Stuff. Space- Everything must be in its place and there must be a place for everything. Ex- a hook for your car keys. Get into the habit of placing them there. Use files, boxes, labels. Use color codes for different stuff. Simplify! Take ten minutes to toss out clutter on a daily basis. (Pay me now or pay me later!) Self- Reduce reading material, distractions, visual clutter, wasted time. Ex- magazines. You’ll try to clip and save everything! Make lists before you shop. Don’t carry credit cards, checkbook, or too much cash. Stuff- Handle paper only twice, once to scan it; then again to “ftd”-it: file it, toss it, or delegate it. Stacks of papers on your desk are a sure sign of ADD, or of information overload.
Other healthy ADD adjustments and coping skills include these lifestyle areas:
- DIETARY CHANGES-
- High Protein-Low Carbohydrate diet - perfect for ADDers.
Eat three meals a day plus two snacks. Include protein (lean meats, eggs, nuts, protein powder, cheese, cottage cheese, cream cheese) in all your meals (has amino acids needed for neurotransmitters in the brain).
- More complex carbohydrates, not white bread, pasta or potatoes. Use oatmeal, whole grain bread or bagels.
- Watch out for juices and candy. Sugar is not good for ADDers.
- Reduce or eliminate simple carbohydrates (bread, pasta, white rice, potatoes, sugar, corn syrup, honey, candy).
- Increase omega-3 fatty acids - tuna, salmon, walnuts, brazil nuts. - EXERCISE -is essential! Increases blood flow to brain, raises serotonin levels. Exercise five times a week for 30-45 minutes each time. Walk fast to elevate your heart rate. A regular sex life with your spouse is also very healthy and therapeutic for ADDers.
- MEDICATION- is helpful for many but should not be the sole treatment (Ritalin, Adderal, plus other drugs that deal with depression or anxiety). Medication does help the majority (about 75%). Also should have counseling and coaching.
- COACHING- Have someone who agrees to help train you to deal with your disability. Help you to develop good internal supervision skills. Set personal goals, learn skills of organizing, planning. Monitor you for consistent performance; be there to encourage you.
- COPING- Get real about you! Use visual reminders, practice active listening, enlist the family or team. Control your environment so you are not overwhelmed with input or drop the ball.
- ANTS- eliminate Automatic Negative Thoughts. (Critical self-talk, negative mental programming) These tend toward depression, isolation, & self-hatred. For ANT killers, I recommend using the prescription of quoting the Scriptures. See Philippians 4:6-8.
- STRUCTURE- ADDers need structure. Organize your space, your self, your stuff. Establish priorities after discussion with family, team. Write it down. Hold yourself to it.
- EMOTIONAL TRAUMA- Very common. Anxiety may be present to the point of Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Deal with it using spiritual, familial, and professional help.
- ERRONEOUS BELIEFS- Is your sabotage success by repetitive bad habits? Have you failed so often you now believe the lie that you are a failure? (In debt again? Divorced again? Fired again?) Why does this happen? Your beliefs drive your behavior! Change your beliefs, change your thoughts, change your ways, and thus, change your destiny! Remember this and say it aloud to yourself- The Good News is that the Bad News is wrong! You can change your life, and with God’s help and a little helpful insight and honesty, all things are possible for you!
Think Fast- The ADD Experience by Tom Hartmann and Janie BowmanFinally, from a Christian perspective, I have some personal observations: I believe God’s grace grows stronger when we acknowledge our weakness. The power of God is especially drawn toward the humble. “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Honestly facing our limitations is a form of humility. Faith can then focus on God’s power, not our abilities. We all need help in different ways. We are not created equal, at least not in talent and abilities. We can’t expel a built-in weakness like we can drive out an evil spirit. But we can take carnality to the cross, and we can learn to cope with our deficiencies.
Living with ADD- A Workbook for Adults by Susan Roberts (practical, very good)
Attention Deficit Disorder- A Different Perspective by Tom Hartmann
Healing ADD by Daniel Amen, MD (Dr, Amen has done extensive original medical research with brain scans showing defined physiological brain images common to those with ADD.
Adult ADD by Thomas Whiteman and Michelle Novotini (my favorite if I had only one book)
Honey Are You Listening? (my wife’s favorite!) (I can’t remember the author’s name, but we read it years ago and I still remember how very helpful it was.)
A. D. D. Wandering Minds and Wired Bodies, a booklet by Edward T. Welch (especially helpful for Christian parents.)
There is transforming power available to followers of Christ. But, we need to admit our need of it. The Lord said to the apostle Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) As the Holy Spirit indwells us and as we allow God’s Word to adjust our way of thinking, we take on more of God’s nature, thus becoming the very best we can ever be. But what if we discover we have ADD? We are not immune to flaws and afflictions just because we know Jesus. In fact, Christians are ultimate realists, facing the human situation with no illusions. Sin is real and we are powerless to save ourselves from it, therefore, we need a Savior. Jesus proved His love when He died on the cross to bring us to God. He proved His power to save us when He rose from the dead with eternal life as a free gift for who receive Him.
As a Christian, with all this help available to me, I have no excuse for staying angry or frustrated or depressed or impatient. Yes, I have ADD. No, I won’t use it to justify irresponsible behavior. I will not say, “But that’s the way I am!” Instead, I will rely on God for help. I take the practical steps of making lifestyle choices to moderate my weakness. For example, I worship God every day, sometimes several times a day. I know from experience that time spent in prayer, in quiet adoration, in respecting His presence and contemplating His Word, softly singing praises or choruses from my heart to the Lord, is as soothing to my mind as oil poured on troubled water. It has a lingering affect on me for hours afterward. Wow!
There is no “exception clause” in the list of “Fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 6 that exempts ADDers from showing Christ-likeness, such as patience, gentleness, forbearance, self-control, etc. These things are hard for ADDers! I conclude after much consideration and after my own wrestling with this ailment, that the solution (for me) is increased dependence on the Lord. I must abide in Christ, walk in the Spirit, meditate on the Scriptures, humble myself and admit my weakness, draw on others’ strengths and team up with those around me, take my carnal tendencies and traits to the cross, and ask God for His grace and power to manifest the uplifting life of Jesus in my body, in my ways, and in my personality.
Christians have the privilege of relying on God’s Word rather than changeable feelings. The Bible says we are created in God’s image, that we were redeemed from sin by the sacrifice of God’s Son on the cross. Therefore we are uniquely loved and valued for who we are despite any of our individual weaknesses or handicaps. That is good news! Facing reality, we should resist self-condemnation (read Romans 8) and instead live by faith in the awareness of God’s great love, including a healthy love and respect of our own self as a human being and as a child of God. Indeed, our Heavenly Father is delighted to show His mercy to us in the midst of our daily struggles, giving us His peace and His power to overcome.
If you think you may have ADD, my informed but by no means professional advice is this: Don’t jump to conclusions. Don’t diagnose yourself. Don’t start using ADD as an excuse for irresponsibility. Do talk it over with your spouse, a trusted pastor, or a qualified health care provider. Read more on the subject so you can be armed with good information. Pray and ask God to help you truly and honestly know yourself. If you conclude you might have ADD, evaluate its affect on yourself and those around you. Consider obtaining professional counseling with someone who specializes in this disorder in order to deal with the emotional damage you have suffered if you have been affected in your work, your education, or your marriage.
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Random Notes on ADD was compiled and written 2002 by Ron Wood.
My gratitude to the many writers whom I freely quoted for their valuable insights. Read the books I have listed to learn more! I also want to thank Dr. Daniel Patterson (clinical psychiatrist) and Ms. Ann Foltrauer (counselor and LCSW), both of Wilmington, NC, for their friendship and for their many helpful comments.
Special heartfelt thanks goes to my lovely wife, Lana, who knows first-hand the trials and tribulations of living with ADD in her family. She is a champion mother and wife, and a true straight-line thinker!
For copies of this booklet, please write to us at Ron and Lana Wood, P.O. Box 12749, Wilmington, NC 28405. We also supply training materials to young leaders in struggling nations. To see a list of resources or to learn more, visit our website at HYPERLINK "http://www.touchedbygrace.org" www.touchedbygrace.org.
