Adults Dealing with ADD

Is this you?  Your sitting in traffic already late for a meeting and you can’t find the sales receipts for the month.  The report you’ve worked on all last night is not quite done, but you know that you can wing it the last minute (you always have) but still you’re a nervous wreck and you vow never to let this happen again, just like last time…

OR

You’re sitting in your child’s classroom and the teacher is describing your kids’ inattention and poor organizational skills, and then she is talking about attentional disorders and you think to yourself, “my God that’s me she’s been describing.”

The actual number of adults struggling with attentional disorders is staggering.  For adults in their 40’s and 50’s, the diagnosis for ADD or ADHD didn’t exist when they were children.  Most suffered poor self esteem, poor education and then had limited employment opportunities.  Attention and different brain functioning wasn’t as well understood then as
it is now.

Adults who suffer from inattention also suffer from an array of other related disorders.  Most are depressed, because they have been told all their lives that they are lazy, or crazy, or impatient and rude.  Or that they have attitude problems, or they’re hot heads.  Divorce rates are high for adults with ADD as is unemployment, incarceration and mortality.

The good news is that although there is no “cure” for ADD or different brain functioning, there are methods of channeling restless, impulsive energy, and harnessing tempers and difficult emotions.  My work with adults suffering from ADD is this:  First, I usually assess the whole situation which includes family, employment and past childhood/family issues.  Then I make referrals out for testing to confirm exactly where the problem is.  Next, a possible medication referral and then the hard work of reclaiming a life worth living.  The last part is the most difficult, because it means walking through a painful “memory lane” of failed schooling, confusing relationships, work hardships, and all of the other countless grief’s that one collects along the way.

But it could be done.

Patricia’s ADD “Organize it Now” Schedule

Try this out and see if you don’t feel a little more in control.

Pick a disorganized room, which has been driving you crazy.  Like the kitchen, for instance.  Get a few big garbage bags and all the cleaning supplies you’ll need, like a broom, dust bin, etc.  First, start with cleaning and putting away all of the dishes.  Then turn to the kitchen table and clear off everything putting away all the stuff that doesn’t belong in the kitchen.  Sit down at the now cleared table and look through all of the stuff, throwing away the stuff you know you don’t need.  Like old bills, shopping lists, etc.

Move on to the counters clearing things off and again throwing out all of the stuff you don’t need.  Next do the drawers.  This is an exercise in throwing out things and keeping only those things that are necessary.  The golden rule is that if you haven’t used it in three months, chuck it.

After everything is thrown out and put away, wash the entire kitchen.  Do the floor, the stove, the counter tops, etc.  Make it shine.

Now, to keep it that way, the first rule is to wash things as your cooking, you know, while you’re waiting for the pasta water to boil, rinse out and recycle the tomato sauce jar.  If you add the cooked pasta to a bowl, and mix the sauce in that bowl, you can put the pasta and the sauce pot in the sink and let them soak while you eat.

Finally, the golden rule is “touch it once.”  For instance, the mail, get it, open it, (throw away the envelope) and deal with it.  The final step in keeping this room organized is, before you go to bed, make sure the kitchen is picked up with no dishes in the sink or stuff on the counters or table.  The morning will be surprisingly better.