In a March 7 article on the Huffington Post, writer Katlin Bell rebukes stereotypes that have been applied to children (now young adults) who have been on long-term medication for ADHD and related disorders, and the parents who agreed to the ADHD medication regimen in the first place:

Based on my own experience and dozens of interviews, I can confidently attest that the drugs are anything but a quick fix for the young people who take them. Rather, they are complicated and imperfect remedies that raise perhaps as many issues as they resolve.

The young adults I have interviewed -- even those whose parents or doctors pushed treatment on them as young children -- have presented more varied and more subtle accounts of their experiences than you might assume, given the tenor of the current debate.

That is, they weren't just passive receptacles for psychopharmaceuticals. Nor were they "drugged" into some never-ending state of unthinking acceptance or comfortable numbness.

Ten or fifteen or twenty years into their relationship with medication, they have had plenty of time to consider the drugs' potential impacts on their day-to-day lives and long-term development.

Labels: medications, adult_ADHD

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Cynthia Phillips doesn't have Attention Deficit Disorder, but her husband, Phil, does. In their book ADD: Welcome to Our World, the couple describes their life together and the time they've spent learning to understand and adjust to the manner in which ADD affects their lives.

"The Phillips' aim is to help the reader know if they or someone they love has ADD, what God thinks about it. How to survive and thrive... how to parent a child who is affected by ADD/ADHD... how to distinguish between true ADD and 'society-induced' ADD..."

Drawing from years of experience, the Phillipses say their goal is to re-educate people on the realities of ADD, and to paint a brighter picture about living with this condition. Source: The Daily Sentinel (TX)

Labels: adult_ADHD, support, benefits

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Ben Goldfard didn't know growing up that he had ADD. He knew that staying focused was a struggle and that his mind often jumped from one topic to another, but it wasn't until he was a husband and father that he was actually diagnosed. He offers his tongue-in-cheek opinion of the benefits of not using medication to "control" his ADD.

"With some mentoring, mind-mapping, and push-ups, I have turned my ADD into effective multi-tasking. I can't speak for everyone, because it would take too long, but for me, Ritalin would have been a chemical straight jacket. It would have closed the window of opportunity to attain above-average success..."

Though he's not suggesting that people with ADD throw away their medication, Goldfard is challenging people to view ADD and ADHD not as disabilities, but as blessings.

Labels: medications, adult_ADHD, benefits

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ADHD used to be considered a condition that faded with the onset of puberty. But we now know that people who are accurately diagnosed with ADHD will likely have to learn to manage the condition for the rest of their lives.

"Even as children, they are accident-prone, and their parents get well-acquainted with the local emergency room. As they get older, rock climbing, bungee jumping, car racing, motorcycle riding, white-water rafting and related activities are among their favorite activities."

As people with ADHD grow up and grow older, they learn to be less disorganized and impulsive, but the ADHD symptoms rarely disappear altogether. Read more at SunHerald.com.

Cedars Academy is an Aspergers school that helps children diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome.

Labels: adult_ADHD, diagnosis, symtoms

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Labels: adult_ADHD

Posted By: 4ADHD.com 1 Comment