by Helpful Links:
https://www.additudemag.com/ (ADDitude Magazine)
https://www.healthline.com/health/adhd/difference-between-add-and-adhd (Healthline - Difference Between ADD & ADHD)
https://www.additudemag.com/living-with-adhd-facts/ (Living with ADHD)
https://child1st.com/blogs/resources/113559047-16-characteristics-of-kinesthetic-and-tactile-learners (Kinesthetic Learners)
General Information
ADD and ADHD are disorders that affect about 10%-20% of the United States population. It's likely that we all know someone who is unable to sit still for more than a few minutes, pay attention during lectures or when someone is speaking, and interrupts frequently. These are some of the signs of ADHD/ADD. This doesn't mean that everyone who is active or fidgety necessarily has the disorder, and no two people diagnosed with the disorder are going to behave the same. Psychology and psychiatry still have a very underdeveloped understanding of mental disorders, due to the way the symptoms change over time and vary for with different genetics sets and quite often, gender.
ADD and ADHD are not the same illness, although the symptoms due tend to be quite similar.
ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) Symptoms
: impulsivity, poor attention, fidgets or squirms often, interrupts, unable to focus on tasks for extended periods of time, talking excessively, avoiding activities that require them sit still and focus on something in particular for a duration of time, like homework assignments, losing important things, disorganization, easily side-tracked or loses focus when speaking, all of which have significant impairments on social functioning, family life, and at school/work, hyper-focus
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) Symptoms
: the above listed symptoms are the essentially the same, except this one has the extra hyperactivity component, which will often involve the person fidgeting more, getting up out of the seat and work or school at inappropriate times, or more often than normal, expends more energy playing or doing tasks, enjoys doing tasks that require more action and activity, talking excessively, and being unable to play quietly during leisure activities, hyper-focus
Effects
Despite many parents and others often not seeing these as legitimate illness, living with these disorders can be just as challenging as living with any other psychiatric diagnosis. The consequences can be just as bad, too, which can often involve:
poor grades despite level of intelligence, which may even be higher than average
lack of adequate friendships or ability to maintain them
losing items
angry outbursts that can hurt relationships
entering a state of hyper-focus that can be difficult to break from, and being angered when removed from that state
Tips & Strategies
Some ways you can improve your life as someone living with ADHD/ADD are:
Know that you are a kinesthetic learner, so use media and study skills that work with your learning style. This means using different physical activities to help you get as much from your learning experience as possible! You might want to have an object to fiddle with while you're listening to someone, you might need to take frequent breaks, get up and exercise or move around, use different games and techniques to learn. Most of this will involve motion.
Communicate to your friends, family, teachers, professors, and/or employer so that they are aware of what impact this will have on you social function and academic/work performance, as well as any assistance or additional understanding that you may need
Avoid multi-tasking, and trying to break long, drawn-out work into smaller blocks of work
Take time to try new things and find out what works best for you and use what resources you can to help you stay organized and on task toward your goals
Sometimes meditating can help improve your focus and attention span, clearing out any mental clutter that might be making things more difficult for you, if you can sit down and get yourself to do it
Caffeine does help some ADD/HDs, but if you overdo your intake, it can be dangerous. You shouldn't be consuming more than 400mgs (4x coffees, 10x cans of Coke, 2 energy shots) of caffeine a day. Also, try to avoid taking any in the afternoon and evening, as that can make it difficult to sleep. Some teas even have caffeine in them, such as green, black, oolong, and white teas. Most herbal teas do not.
Fidget objects are useful for some people with ADD/HD. The quieter they are, the better, usually, especially if you're going to be at work and/or in lectures or other quiet places.
Eat well. Eating well can be beneficial for just about anyone with or without any medical or mental health condition. Avoid high-sugar, high-fat, high-cholesterol, simple carbohydrates, MSG (monosodium glutamate), and otherwise unnecessary, unhealthy foods. If your body can be in a state of good metabolism and overall health, it will make you feel better, and you'll be less prone to crashes from food-highs.
If you choose to see a therapist/psychiatrist, do what you can to keep up with your appointments. It's really easy to start missing them, and if you are on some kind of medicine for ADD/HD, they're usually addictive, so if you run out of those, it can become very bad very quickly, because not only will you have to deal with the disorder, but the affects of withdrawal, and trust me, you do not want that. You'll probably want to try and keep some kind of calendar or agenda with you when you go. This can also be used for school and work assignments. You can try to get in the habit of looking at it every day, or multiple times a day.
Use hyper-focusing to your benefit, if you can.
Seeking Professional Help
If you think that you have ADD/HD you should seek professional psychological help for an accurate diagnosis. This website is not intended to diagnose or treat any mental illnesses! It is merely here for advice and as a communication platform for those who want to discuss their issues and other things.
If you do choose to see a professional, expect the first meeting to be informative, where they gather information and decide if you should be on medicine or not. If you want to be put on medicine, you'll generally have to schedule another appointment with the psychiatrist, and then discuss all your symptoms with them. Then, you can figure out what medicine would work best for you. My personal recommendation is usually Vyvanse, due to the fact that it is more dissimilar to the amphetamine-like drugs such as Adderall, and has less aversive side-effects in my experience.
Stay safe out there!
https://www.additudemag.com/ (ADDitude Magazine)
https://www.healthline.com/health/adhd/difference-between-add-and-adhd (Healthline - Difference Between ADD & ADHD)
https://www.additudemag.com/living-with-adhd-facts/ (Living with ADHD)
https://child1st.com/blogs/resources/113559047-16-characteristics-of-kinesthetic-and-tactile-learners (Kinesthetic Learners)
General Information
ADD and ADHD are disorders that affect about 10%-20% of the United States population. It's likely that we all know someone who is unable to sit still for more than a few minutes, pay attention during lectures or when someone is speaking, and interrupts frequently. These are some of the signs of ADHD/ADD. This doesn't mean that everyone who is active or fidgety necessarily has the disorder, and no two people diagnosed with the disorder are going to behave the same. Psychology and psychiatry still have a very underdeveloped understanding of mental disorders, due to the way the symptoms change over time and vary for with different genetics sets and quite often, gender.
ADD and ADHD are not the same illness, although the symptoms due tend to be quite similar.
ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) Symptoms
: impulsivity, poor attention, fidgets or squirms often, interrupts, unable to focus on tasks for extended periods of time, talking excessively, avoiding activities that require them sit still and focus on something in particular for a duration of time, like homework assignments, losing important things, disorganization, easily side-tracked or loses focus when speaking, all of which have significant impairments on social functioning, family life, and at school/work, hyper-focusADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) Symptoms
: the above listed symptoms are the essentially the same, except this one has the extra hyperactivity component, which will often involve the person fidgeting more, getting up out of the seat and work or school at inappropriate times, or more often than normal, expends more energy playing or doing tasks, enjoys doing tasks that require more action and activity, talking excessively, and being unable to play quietly during leisure activities, hyper-focusEffects
Despite many parents and others often not seeing these as legitimate illness, living with these disorders can be just as challenging as living with any other psychiatric diagnosis. The consequences can be just as bad, too, which can often involve:
poor grades despite level of intelligence, which may even be higher than average lack of adequate friendships or ability to maintain them losing items angry outbursts that can hurt relationships entering a state of hyper-focus that can be difficult to break from, and being angered when removed from that stateTips & Strategies
Some ways you can improve your life as someone living with ADHD/ADD are:
Know that you are a kinesthetic learner, so use media and study skills that work with your learning style. This means using different physical activities to help you get as much from your learning experience as possible! You might want to have an object to fiddle with while you're listening to someone, you might need to take frequent breaks, get up and exercise or move around, use different games and techniques to learn. Most of this will involve motion. Communicate to your friends, family, teachers, professors, and/or employer so that they are aware of what impact this will have on you social function and academic/work performance, as well as any assistance or additional understanding that you may need Avoid multi-tasking, and trying to break long, drawn-out work into smaller blocks of work Take time to try new things and find out what works best for you and use what resources you can to help you stay organized and on task toward your goals Sometimes meditating can help improve your focus and attention span, clearing out any mental clutter that might be making things more difficult for you, if you can sit down and get yourself to do it Caffeine does help some ADD/HDs, but if you overdo your intake, it can be dangerous. You shouldn't be consuming more than 400mgs (4x coffees, 10x cans of Coke, 2 energy shots) of caffeine a day. Also, try to avoid taking any in the afternoon and evening, as that can make it difficult to sleep. Some teas even have caffeine in them, such as green, black, oolong, and white teas. Most herbal teas do not. Fidget objects are useful for some people with ADD/HD. The quieter they are, the better, usually, especially if you're going to be at work and/or in lectures or other quiet places. Eat well. Eating well can be beneficial for just about anyone with or without any medical or mental health condition. Avoid high-sugar, high-fat, high-cholesterol, simple carbohydrates, MSG (monosodium glutamate), and otherwise unnecessary, unhealthy foods. If your body can be in a state of good metabolism and overall health, it will make you feel better, and you'll be less prone to crashes from food-highs. If you choose to see a therapist/psychiatrist, do what you can to keep up with your appointments. It's really easy to start missing them, and if you are on some kind of medicine for ADD/HD, they're usually addictive, so if you run out of those, it can become very bad very quickly, because not only will you have to deal with the disorder, but the affects of withdrawal, and trust me, you do not want that. You'll probably want to try and keep some kind of calendar or agenda with you when you go. This can also be used for school and work assignments. You can try to get in the habit of looking at it every day, or multiple times a day. Use hyper-focusing to your benefit, if you can. Seeking Professional Help
If you think that you have ADD/HD you should seek professional psychological help for an accurate diagnosis. This website is not intended to diagnose or treat any mental illnesses! It is merely here for advice and as a communication platform for those who want to discuss their issues and other things.
If you do choose to see a professional, expect the first meeting to be informative, where they gather information and decide if you should be on medicine or not. If you want to be put on medicine, you'll generally have to schedule another appointment with the psychiatrist, and then discuss all your symptoms with them. Then, you can figure out what medicine would work best for you. My personal recommendation is usually Vyvanse, due to the fact that it is more dissimilar to the amphetamine-like drugs such as Adderall, and has less aversive side-effects in my experience.
Stay safe out there!
