ADHD-ADD Tips

ADHD-ADD Tips — 1 Comment
23
Nov 10

Living With ADD – Productive Procrastination?

The guys over at the website MakeUseOf.com usually write articles about software, websites, and other utilities. For those of us with ADD and technical skills, it’s a productivity nightmare. Not because they do anything bad, but because they offer up so many electronic goodies in the form of free software and tools that it is hard not to get distracted and end up spending hours tracking down all of the great new distraction free writing programs and testing them out when you should be working.

ADD Tips at Make Use OfWhen an article showed up in my RSS feed from the site regarding “productive procrastination” I figured it was a typo, or more likely, a targeted SEO keyword phrase that they were aiming for with the article. I do the same thing here and on other blogs and websites in order to court Google’s SERP favor. Every title I write on this blog, for example, I end up trying to shoehorn in either ADD or ADHD plus some other useful keyword in order to not torpedo my own posts.

In this case, it was neither. It turns out that the article’s premise is that there are ways in which one can procrastinate in a productive manner. The idea being that if you are going to procrastinate anyway (not a bad premise), then you may as well do it in a way that is beneficial to improve your overall time management. For example, if there is a way you can network or otherwise build your professional contacts network while you are not writing that report that is due Monday, at least the time being wasted is building up something that you need anyway, maybe sooner than you think if you don’t finish up that report!

Like many good ideas, nothing in the article is earth shattering, but the concept could be used to one’s advantage.

After thinking about it for a few minutes I considered my own list of ways to procrastinate productively:

  1. Return phone calls – Everyone procrastinates using email, so that doesn’t count. Actual phone calls, however, are usually important enough to count as productivity.
  2. Pay Bills – If you are an adult with ADD, you know that paying bills can get lost in the shuffle. If you aren’t writing that 1,000 word article due in two hours, you might as well avoid some late fees while you are not doing it.
  3. Blog – If you have a professional blog, or a website that makes money from your writing it, then write and post an update. It might not be the most productive thing you could be doing, nor the one that would earn the most money (Ahem!) but it could pay off in the long-term and it might make you feel better to get something off your distracted mind so that it can focus on what it should be doing.
  4. Read – Not fiction, not websites, real, live, knowledge building reading. If you can’t focus on what you should be focusing on, then try and get smarter.
  5. Nap – If you aren’t getting enough sleep, or you are just tired, getting distracted is too easy. Procrastinating when you are tired is just as easy. Try a 20 minute snoozer and see if it restores your productivity. If it works, that “wasted” 20 minutes will probably make the remaining hours and minutes of your day more productive enough to make up for the nap. Just don’t get sucked into laying in bed all day.

Anyone else have ideas for productive procrastination?

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30
Aug 10

Deals On Organization Tools for ADD ADHD

I usually don’t do a lot with deals or online coupons here on ADDessories. There are a lot of deal websites and coupon websites out there that do it better, mostly because they do it 24/7. However, this time I am making an exception, because there are Target stores everywhere, and because the planning and organizing tools that they have right now are so cheap that they are a good way to test out what kind of ADD tools and ADHD organization resources might work best for you.

I’m making a big assumption here that most Targets, or at least most Super Targets have a similar layout and structure to the ones here in Denver, Colorado. If not, you might have to look around the aisles a little bit or see if they have the same deals online or maybe if there are some Target coupon codes online that you can use to get the same kind of value.

Near the entrance of our Target stores, there is a dollar area. The items in this little section are rotated in and out fairly regularly and typically cost $1 or $2.50 depending upon the item. Either way, that is a good deal for a little white board, cork board tiles, or notebooks. Don’t get me wrong this is not high quality office supply store type stuff. These are cheapo, made in China, the cheapest way possible items. However, they will work for a little while and that gives ADDers an opportunity to try them out.

Have you ever wondered if a good ADD organization tip would be to put a white board in every room of your house, or if it would be a great way for people with ADHD to remember things to have a little corkboard tile section by the front door, backdoor, and the door to your bedroom and office? It can be an expensive experiment to see if that works for you if you are shelling out $15 per whiteboard. But, with these cheap whiteboards and dry erase calendars at Target, you could put one in every room of a 10 bedroom house for less than $30. That’s a good way to try out some ideas.

Check out your local Target or pop over to Target.com and see if you can get rock bottom priced dry erase boards, dry-erase calendars, and more to help improve your organization skills and manage your ADD better without new medications or anything chemical for a change.

- Everyone have a nice– “Hey, is that something interesting over there?”   :)

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18
Jul 10

Best ADD Tip Ever – The Only ADHD Advice You Need *

best-add-tip-adhd-secret Are you ready for the best ADD tip for overcoming ADHD symptoms? It is surprisingly easy, and once you see how this powerful attention deficit disorder tip can be for managing ADHD at work or school, you’ll want to use it all the time.

Is there a catch?

Well, did you see that asterisks up there? That means that there is a catch.

Overcoming Distraction to Get Work Done and Be Most Productive

The key concern when it comes to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is how constant distraction can be overcome in order to be more productive at school, more productive at work, and more productive at home. All the other ADD symptoms are sort of secondary. If ADDers could just get a handle on increasing productivity in the face of ADD, everything else would be a little easier to manage. (If you were as productive as you are capable of at work and around the house, do you think it would matter as much that you occasionally tune out or interrupt your spouse during conversations?)

To become more productive and improve your standing at work or improve your grades at school, the person with ADD need only do just one little thing: keep working.

See, I told you there was a catch.

However, hear me out. For those of us with ADD, the symptom of distractibility is one that keeps us from focusing properly on important tasks. When a major report is due the next day, we find ourselves intrigued by something else entirely. When this happens, there are only two choices. One choice involves using all of the ADHD tips and ADD tools that one can muster to overcome one’s natural tendency to have attention wander from the important tasks at hand, to those of lesser importance, or even no importance at all. The second choice involves just going with the flow, or allowing the mind’s attention to wander as it sees fit.

* The Catch: (That asterisks does indeed mean that there is a catch. Typically, it means a footnote, which is where some company uses really small fonts to explain how they are going to screw you over, and therefore cover themselves legally by “disclosing” the information that you need to realize that the whole thing is a scam. Here on Addessories, we have no reason to trick our fellow ADDers, so this explanatory asterisk is in full-size font type.) The catch is that in order to follow the path of least resistance and give into your mind’s typical urges to find ever more interesting things to focus on, you have to keep working longer than you would if you went the other route.

How much longer?

That is the essence of the catch. You have to keep working until you have finished that important task. That major report, or that semester-long project that you just started and is due tomorrow, must be finished before you stop working, whether that takes four hours or thirty-four hours. You’ll find that you are happier along the way, but the destination will end up being much further away than it should have.

Whether or not this is a good ADD trick for you depends entirely on whether you are the type of person with ADD who finds the journey more important than the destination, or whether you are the type of person with ADHD who finds crossing the finish line the most satisfying.

Which one are you?

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2
Jun 10

ADHD Time Management Tips Microsoft Outlook

outlook-time-management-snooze When it comes to managing the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD or ADD, nothing is quite as frustrating as doing everything right and putting the effort into using all of the organizational tools, electronic organizers, and ADHD planners available to you only to have them not work for your ADD mind for some reason.

One of the most useful computer tools for ADHD available in most office environments without having to go through the trouble of getting new software or utilities installed on your work computer is Microsoft Outlook. Using Outlook can be one of the good ADHD tips.

In some way, MS Outlook is an ADDer’s worst nightmare. There are so many buttons, icons, and features, not to mention tons of functionality from other programs just a few clicks away, that one can easily get distracted and end up spending 45 minutes configuring your Google Gmail email account to synchronize with your Microsoft Outlook email client when you should be working on that presentation that is due in two hours.

On the other hand, all of those planners, calendars, task managers, and to-do lists can be wonderful for the adult with ADHD when used properly. In order to make these computerized organization tools work for ADHD you have to know how to get the most out of each of the different settings and functions. For example, tasks are great, but if you never click the tasks section, you will never see the list. Furthermore, if you don’t always input your tasks on the task list, then important tasks will slip by unnoticed.

I’ll be covering some of the great ways to use Outlook to organize your schedule and tasks more efficiently for ADD people. However, for today, I just wanted to convey one very important ADHD trick for people who use Outlook to help them stay organized.

Use Outlook Pop-Up Reminders To Improve ADHD Scheduling

The number one problem with any planner, calendar, or organizer used by adults with ADHD, or teens or kids with ADD for that matter, is remembering to actually use it and look at it. Too many of us have written everything down somewhere only to forget to ever look at what we wrote down. The reminder feature of MS Outlook helps prevent this problem.

By setting a reminder on your scheduled events, you get a right in your face, can’t ignore it, pop-up when your event is coming up. The default reminder goes off 15 minutes before the event starts. You ADDers already know where this is going. You read the reminder, and that is good. Then you click the Dismiss button and go back to what you were doing for “just a few more minutes.” Next thing you know, you are twenty minutes late for that meeting that you just got the reminder for.

To avoid this problem, don’t click dismiss. Click Snooze. That way, the reminder will come up again in five minutes. Do this even if you are planning to start the new even right away. There is no harm in a reminder window popping up and staying open on your computer screen while you are away working on your new task. You can just click Dismiss when you return. On the other hand, there can be a lot of harm if what you meant to happen when you clicked the Dismiss button didn’t actually end up happening as is so often the case.

Try it. Spend a week clicking Snooze and not clicking Dismiss until it pops back up and interrupts you working on your new task. You’ll be surprised at just how much this improves your time organization.

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27
May 10

ADHD Organization Tips From Freelancers

MC900434929[1] I’m not really sure if I have ever mentioned it here or not, but I’m a freelance writer. I specialize in several different areas (sort of a oxymoron, I know) including being a freelance financial writer and freelance technology writer. One of the websites I read from time to time is called Freelance Switch. Originally, I believe, it was conceived as a website to help people make the switch from regular day jobs to becoming full-time freelancers. Over time, it has morphed into more of a generalized resource for various freelance entrepreneurs, especially those work at home small business owners. It isn’t focused on freelance writers, per se. In fact, I feel like its focus is more on designers and developers, but much of what is good for freelance design work is also good for freelance writing business, so I try and drop by the site or catch up on the latest freelancing tips via the RSS Feed. Incidentally, if anyone is interested, you can “follow” my shared Google Reader items if you like. Be aware that they are both very self-serving (I share all of my own posts) and not at all targeted to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADD in any way.

I bring the subject up because time management and organization skills for ADHD are often just more intense or specialized advice that comes from standard organization tips and best practices. In particular, the crazy, hectic, self-managed, be-your-own-boss, lifestyle that is being a freelancer requires high-power time management techniques and organizational tricks to keep up on the many tasks that a small business owner must do to be successful.

A recent posting brought up the concept of a not-do list. The not-do list is a powerful companion to the more ubiquitous to-do list.

Not-Do List ADHD Trick Advice

Here’s how it works.

In addition to your usual ADHD trick of maintaining a calendar, adhd planner or organizer with your important to-do list, you also keep a list of things to not be doing.

Now, this isn’t what you might think. A Not-Do list is not for those abstract ADHD traits that you want to manage by avoiding them. For example, do not procrastinate, might be a worthwhile goal, but it is not what goes on the organizing Not-Do list. Rather, the not do list is for items that have been deliberately and rationally dropped from your to-do list for whatever reason.

Generally, the end result of prioritizing your tasks is that some lower-priority items, or tasks with future due dates, are either dropped from your to-do list, or moved to the bottom of the list. One really good organizational tip when it comes to time management is to keep shorter-term to-do lists because they are more manageable. For example, if it is May and you need to register for classes in July, but the schedule isn’t released until June, that to-do item is just cluttering up your list for a month or more. If there is one thing people who are easily distracted do not need, it is extra clutter to focus on.

Which leads back to the not-do list. Unlike the to-do list, which you should look at to help determine what you should work on next, the not-do list is a reminder of the tasks that might draw your attention away from the more important tasks and pressing needs currently at hand, like writing posts for your ADHD blog. (Ahem!)

It’s an age old story among the world of ADDers about people with ADD going off and suddenly doing long-standing projects with laser focus for a period of hours when what they should really be doing is filling out those forms that have to be delivered in one hour. In other words, the not-do list is used to remind yourself of those important, but not pressing needs that might be particularly distracting for that day or week.

Try putting that necessary, but long-term project on your not-do list for this week as a way of maintain focus on those things that must be accomplished this week instead.

Let me know how it works out for you. I’ll be trying it myself.

ADHD-ADD Tips — 1 Comment
24
May 10

ADHD Tip for Time Management

There are a lot of tips out there for time management, and even more time management advice. Most of it is aimed, of course, at the public at large. After all, time management is one of those things that plenty of people have trouble with whether they have ADHD or not. Like many other symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the difficulties of time management with ADD are often extreme versions of the the issues non-ADD folks have with time management. However, many of the time management tricks used by the general population can be very useful ADHD tricks for ADDers as well.

adhd-tool-timer-time-management This post will be very short because, as a follow-up post will show, I have already spent way too much time "off task" today. I haven’t been screwing around, per se, nor have I been wasting my time. Most of the tasks and functions that I have tackled this morning have value and will benefit me in one way or another. However, as is often the case with focus problems, there are other very important tasks that I should be doing right now instead. In fact, when I sat down this morning there were some "must do" tasks on my plate that have not yet found their way to my fork – metaphorically speaking.

One of these many sideline tasks that have been distracting from important tasks is re-finding, downloading, and installing an old ADHD tool that I used to have on my computer that I forgot about when I did my upgrade to a newer, faster system with Windows 7 installed.

ADHD Tools Timers

One of the tough things to swallow about all of the ADHD advice and ADD tools or tricks thrown around is their mind numbing similarity. After a while of reading about attention deficit disorder and the research being done for ADD, as well as the number self-help books and other books for ADHD, you start to see a lot of the same things mentioned over and over again. Sometimes, that is for good reason. Many of the ADHD tips given by these resources are good ones that are particularly effective. Sometimes, on the other hand, it seems that the conventional wisdom is just being repeated within the mental health community echo chamber and that all innovation in the realm of helping with ADHD symptoms has ceased.

Using a timer is one of the most common suggestions for help managing ADHD time management issues. This tip occupies both of the realms mentioned above, being both a good tip, and one so rote as to be wholly unhelpful to many people. Which is why I wanted to pop up a post about one computer-based ADHD tool that has proven helpful for me to some degree.

There is a small Windows utility called Multi-Timer 1.1 which is freeware. The guy who developed it has also written a fancier, nicer looking version, but that one is not free, and as ADHD tools go, sometimes simpler is better.

What makes Multi-Timer so useful for ADHD time management is that it shows multiple timers at once. Obviously, the ADHD mind likes to do more than one thing at a time. Sometimes this stream of multitasking works well, and other times, not so much. Either way, it is very likely that while working, an adult with ADHD will encounter another task that is just as important or more important than the one being worked on. Having multiple timers allows for the original timer to keep running (or be paused) while the timer on the next task starts.

Even more useful, this timer utility allows for both count up and count down timers to be used simultaneously. This provides the ability to both time how long something takes, as well as provide a time structure for something that should take a certain amount of time. By default, Multi-timer displays 10 timers at once and each time can be selected individually via a tab. I like to set the 5 timers on the right side to my most common count down timer periods. For example, I have 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 5 minutes, and 1 hour as my count down timers. (The last timer is the one I use for variable times like 25 minutes if I need that for some reason.)  I use the timers on the left as my count up timers, starting one for each change of task or setting as appropriate.

Ironically, some of the best ADHD help comes not from the timers themselves, but from seeing the timer application on the screen counting down (or counting up) and become embarrassed, upset, or disturbed by what is showing on the timer. This can be a stunningly effective way to refocus. Imagine that you have a writing project that  should take 30 minutes. You start a timer and hammer away. Later, you get distracted by other tasks. Eventually, you close enough windows that the timer shows through and you notice that the time spent on the task so far is 55 minutes. This can make you stop looking for that Jim Croce song you just remembered you love so much and get back to finishing the writing, because you aren’t going to let it go over 1 hour!

Try downloading the timer and see if it works for you. Often the toughest part of using it is remembering to start it up in the first place and then remembering to trigger the timers themselves. Even so, it may work just often enough to make your days more productive.

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3
May 10

How To Take St. John's Wort For Depression With ADHD and ADD

Taking St. John’s Wort to treat mild depression that occurs with ADHD might be a helpful way to control symptoms that don’t respond as well as you would like to traditional attention deficit hyperactivity disorder medicines and therapies. As always, discuss all of your symptoms with your doctor or medical professional whether they are symptoms of attention deficit disorder or otherwise.

This posting is continued from Use St. Johns Worth For Depression with ADHD ADD

It should go without saying, but here it is anyway.

I am not a doctor. Nothing in this article or on this website should be considered medical advice. All information including dosages, medications, timing, and recommendations and warnings are for general knowledge only and is not medical advice. Consult with a physician before starting any treatment. Drug interactions can be dangerous or unpleasant. Consult a pharmacist or physician about taking any medicine, herbal remedy, or supplement.

st-johns-wort-for-depression-adhd-medicine Before anyone jumps on the, Let’s Try St John Wort to treat possible depression with attention deficit disorder Bandwagon, here are some facts you need to know.

How To Use St. John’s Wort

  1. Not all herbal medicines, natural remedies, vitamins, supplements, and pills are created equal. Time and time again, studies or investigative journalism has shown that LOTS of over the counter medicines don’t have what they say they have in them. Just because it says it on the label doesn’t make it true. My ADHD trick for getting real alternative ADD treatments in a bottle is to always buy from a company that has something to lose. That is, buy your St. John’s Wort from a respected brand that has more to lose from the bad publicity about selling a crappy product than they have to gain from cutting corners. The easiest way to use this ADHD tip is to buy your stuff at Whole Foods or Vitamin Cottage or the like. These companies build their entire business model around being “better” and “more trustworthy.” That means the suppliers know that they are out, if bad publicity threatens to drag down their brand name. If you don’t want to go that route, then buy from a well-known and respected supplement brand.
  2. St John’s Wort can be what my gal once termed, “buzzy.” That means that it can make your mind seem a little buzzed. Not in an intoxicated way, and not in a racing way, but in a crackling, seems like I can feel the electricity firing in my neurons, sort of way. What that all means is that it can make it very hard to fall asleep and stay asleep. So, start by taking your St Johns Wort in the mornings, not in the evenings until you have an idea of how it affects you.
  3. Like all depression medications, and unlike most ADHD drugs, St. John’s Wort is not an instant effect medicine. It must build up in your body, or more specifically in your brain, before it has any effect. That means you need to take it for six weeks or so before deciding if it does or does not work. It may start working sooner. However, if if seems to be working on Day 2, that just be a good day or a placebo effect. More importantly, it might be that something else is working, so don’t just attribute it to the St. Johns Wort. Instead, look around and evaluate what you are doing that is different, maybe there is something else going on that helps with your inattention or other ADD symptoms and you need to know what that is. (I have one ADD friend who is always more focused after a night of drinking, but after the hangover ends. There isn’t much you can do with that alternative ADD treatment-wise, but at least you know not to judge the effectiveness of other things on that kind of day.)
  4. Finally, get the dosage right. Remember how I said not all pills are created equal? That goes double in the supplement world of alternative herbal therapies, because there is no regulations telling manufacturers or customers what SHOULD be in the bottle. Contrast this to multivitamins where the label has to say what percentage a vitamin is of the government established recommended daily allowance. That way you know if your vitamin has the right amount of Vitamin B, for example.
  5. The right dosage for adults using St. John’s Wort for the treatment of minor depression is 300mg with 0.3% hypericins taken three times a day. Note that to get a full dosage like this without encroaching on bedtime, you’ll need to use a schedule like first thing in the morning, after breakfast, and after lunch, or something similar. Furthermore, note that you need BOTH of those numbers to be on the label. A cheapo way of making St. John’s Wort is to just throw a bunch of it in a vat regardless of quality and then make 300mg pills. The 0.3% hypercins means that the right amount of actual medicinal quality stuff is in there.
  6. Don’t just get Hypercin extract or hyperphorin, or whatever. All the best studies test the WHOLE St. John’s Wort herb, not just extracts of it. Some research suggests that while the compound called hyperforin within St. Johns Wort might be the main cause of improvement for mild depression treatment, there is also research suggesting that some of the other components inside of the herb might be important as well. If you are getting 0.3% hypercins, then you are getting all of the hyperforin already, so you might as well get the other stuff.
  7. Lastly, St. John’s Wort can interfere with other prescription drugs and medications so research the heck out of what you are taking before you start up. If you are already taking anti-depressants the DO NOT start taking St John Wort too. That is a recipe for big trouble. Also, it seems that almost everything in the world interferes with heart medications, so specifically check with  your doctor first if you are taking any heart medicine. I don’t have to tell you which is more important of the two if you want to stay alive.

That should about do it. If you want to verify (PLEASE DO) the research and medical information I have jotted down here quickly, and without any editing, start with the U.S. Nation Library of Medicine from the National Institutes of Health at PubMed.gov. Here is a link to get you started. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12543057

Yes, there is a lot of medical and scientific terminology in there, but don’t wimp out. Keep reading and you will get the gist of what is going on even if you don’t know what molarity is. The last sentence or two of the abstract is usually a conclusion, so at the very least read that. Also, always note the date of the research. It is often the case that the first study has very positive results because the first research is usually don’t as a proof of concept that more research is worthwhile. Even though the results are often reported in a splashy manner, these experiments are done on the cheap with limited controls and small groups of test subjects. Later research is typically more reliable, and when it comes to the brain, stuff from before 1980 is the mental equivalent of using leaches, so forget about research from the 1970s and before that has not been followed up significantly.

Have you tried using St. John’s Wort or other herbal medicines as alternative therapy for your ADHD or co-morbid conditions like depression? What has your experience (good or bad) been?

ADD Medication / ADHD-ADD Tips — 1 Comment
29
Apr 10

Depression and ADHD St Johns Wort Treatment

adhd-medicine-st-johns-wort-depression This one is going to be a little on the short and sweet side because I’m supposed to be doing other work (Hmmm, where have we all heard that before?), but it keeps bouncing around in my head, and that can be just as unproductive as a little writing tangent. So, you’ll have to forgive me if this post does not live up to my usual standard of backing up what I say with links to the original source materials and research evidence. As always, the best ADHD tips I can give is to please DO check up on what I (and others) say about ADD treatments and other ADHD tips.

If you have done much reading about attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder then you know that

  • a) Those are both the same thing, I did that for the benefit of searchers
  • b) That many adults with ADHD, teens with ADD, and children that have ADHD are frequently diagnosed with other mental health issues in addition to their official diagnosis of attention deficit disorder.
  • c) That one of the difficulties in effectively treating ADHD is that certain conditions or issues can overlap each other.

These “add-on” conditions are known by the unfortunate medical term, “co-morbid,” which couldn’t sound worse if you tried. That is mostly because most people do not know the full definition of the word morbid, which is both “of or caused by disease or medical condition,” as well as, “gruesome.”

Note the very important difference between co-morbid conditions, which are those that occur together, but independently from each other, versus, a medical issue that is caused by, or the result of another medical issue. For example, improper insulin balance is NOT co-morbid with diabetes. A person has messed up insulin BECAUSE OF diabetes.

One common co-morbid condition of ADD is depression. Again, depression is NOT caused by ADHD, nor vice versa, it just so happens that the brain biology of people with ADD appears to give rise to depression sometimes as well.

The difficulty of having both depression and ADHD at the same time is that some of the symptoms of ADHD and depression can overlap meaning that while trying to treat and medicate certain issues, one might be barking up the wrong tree, so to speak, by using ADHD medication to help with symptoms that are actually caused by depression in whole or in part.

One symptom of some mild depression is apathy. Apathy, can easily lead to procrastination, which is also a potential symptom of a persons ADHD, particularly for those with the inattentive type of ADD. So, while you pump your body full of Adderall, and talk for hours with your therapist or ADD coach about your procrastination, you might be completely missing the target.

The reason I sought any sort of diagnosis and treatment in the first place was an overwhelming sense of apathy. In fact, I started out being treated for depression and being prescribed various medications for it like Zoloft rather than being diagnosed with adult ADHD. This was partly due to my focusing on the apathy in all of my sessions and either ignoring, not mentioning, or not understanding the potential importance of some of my other “quirks.”

Lately, I have been having trouble not with my focus so much as with my ability to GET GOING ON ANYTHING. Additionally, there have been some very major events happen in my life, including some spectacular failures, to which I had virtually no emotional reaction of any kind. It makes me wonder if it was a mistake to stop investigating the depression or anxiety angles to focus on just the ADD.

No one knows your mind or your body like you do. Unfortunately, our system dictates that you work through expensive, and (rightfully) skeptical middlemen called doctors or therapists to access some of the treatments, medications, and information about most medical conditions, including the ones that deal with your mind. That rules out starting back up the Zoloft or whatever else I was trying.

Now, let’s be clear. I never advocate trying to “get around” your doctor or medical professionals, and I do plan to talk to my guy about my ADHD plus depression hypothesis during our next visit. But, until my current supply of meds and prescriptions runs out, I’m conducting a self-experiment on my theory.

If you are suffering from depression, or think you are, seek professional help immediately. Do not wait based on trying this idea out!

St. John’s Wort is occasionally (and generally wrongly) mentioned as a possible non-prescription therapy for ADHD. This is not surprising as pretty much any herb, natural remedy, or medicine that shows the slightest effect on the brain is eventually promoted as a cure for ADHD and every other mental condition there is. However, real scientific research has shown that St. John’s Wort can be just as effective at treating mild depression as prescription depression medications. In fact, in some research St Johns Wort has been shown to be more effective for treating mild depression cases.

Unfortunately, just like with ADHD, the human mind is a complex and splendored thing. Not everyone responds the same way to every medicine or treatment, especially when we are talking about the brain. However, St. John’s Wort is available everywhere and is not very expensive, so it has a sort of “give it a shot” quality to it. Just keep in mind, St. Johns Wort has only been shown to be effective treatment for MILD depression.

St. John’s Wort is not an instant effect medicine. It must build up in your body, or more specifically in your brain…

The catch is that just grabbing a bottle of St. Johns Wort off the shelf at Whole Foods and throwing a couple down is not going to work. In order to be an effective treatment, you have to get it right. Which is why next up is how to take St. John’s Wort for depression with ADHD ADD.

I am not a doctor. Nothing in this article or on this website should be considered medical advice. All information including dosages, medications, timing, and recommendations and warnings are for general knowledge only and is not medical advice. Consult with a physician before starting any treatment. Drug interactions can be dangerous or unpleasant. Consult a pharmacist or physician about taking any medicine, herbal remedy, or supplement.

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18
Apr 10

ADHD Kids Will Be Kids

"I’m not really sure I buy into the whole ADD thing," he says, like he’s explaining his views on a new multilevel marketing opportunity.

It’s one of those times when the topic of attention deficit syndrome has come up somehow, and the person speaking isn’t very educated in exactly what is ADD or how ADD symptoms affect kids or adults.

What he really means is that he isn’t sure how much he believes in ADHD. The original term of ADD was replaced by ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity syndrome, because mental health professionals were concerned that attention deficit disorders were being underdiagnosed in children who were then either going untreated, or being treated for the wrong thing. In this sense, my friend is correct. There is no such thing as ADD and therefore, no need to buy into it.

Of course, this is not what he is saying. He means that he isn’t sure that ADHD is not just made up by a bunch of shrinks trying to get rich by giving their equally rich clients an excuse for their child’s behavior. He means that what is really going on is that either there are bad parents or bad kids involved, or that maybe this whole "ADHD thing" is nothing more than kids being kids.

Everyone Gets Distracted Sometimes

"Everybody gets distracted sometimes. Heck, I get distracted all the time when I’m bored or stuck in long meetings."

Ah, yes. The "evidence" that many people cite as proof that ADHD is a sham or, at the very least, an over-diagnosed fad that has too many kids hopped up on Ritalin when they should just be left alone.

I don’t really bother too much with conversations like these anymore. One important ADHD tip is to not take statements like these too much to heart. Some people are uneducated about certain things and proud of it, thank you very much. Talking to them about whether or not ADHD is real is a waste of time. Other people might listen or even take the time to evaluate a rational argument given the right environment. However, knowing when and where that is isn’t easy.

In this case, I decided to try and explain what ADHD really was, how the media distorts ADD, and how a bunch of blowhards wielding faulty logic and ignorance have managed to push a heap of skepticism on the diagnosis of ADHD for children and adults.

Everyone does get distracted. And, yes, it is very common to get distracted or let your mind wander when you are bored or uninterested in something. But, how common is it to get distracted while walking from your bedroom door to the bathroom? How common is it to then also be distracted on the way back?

How common is it to be distracted in the middle of what someone is saying directly to you, no matter how important or how interesting. Even more telling, how common is it to be distracted while YOU are talking. Ever stop talking mid-sentence? Rarely or several times a day?

People with ADHD aren’t just easily distracted by the usual things, they are constantly distracted by things that are not distracting. Often, people with ADHD are distracted by nothing more than their own mind. Being distracted by your own thoughts, the state of varnish on a table, the color of a rug, or the sound of the air conditioning is not a common occurrence. While it may happen on a certain day or in a certain setting for most people, such distractions happen every single day for people with ADHD. In fact, they happen several times a day, every day. Needing a special ADHD planner in order to keep organized is not common.

ADHD isn’t about getting distracted sometimes. ADHD is about getting distracted ALL THE TIME. That there is a difference, is all that you have to buy.

ADD Organization Tips / ADHD-ADD Tips — 1 Comment
2
Jul 09

ADHD ADD Organization Tip

Some tips and techniques to help adults with ADHD-ADD or kids with ADHD-ADD are complicated.  Others are little tricks that are so easy that they might seem like they couldn’t possibly help, but they do.

One trick that many people with ADHD-ADD find helpful is to add color to standard organization tools.

Customizing ADHD-ADD Planners

If you have a planner you use as your ADD planner, try adding some color to it and see how the planner’s organizational effectiveness increases.

There are some requirements.

First, the colors must be mutable, that is they must change from page to page, weekly, monthly, or whatever.  Having a colored block or area pre-printed on your planner won’t help, because your mind will eventually block it out.

Essentially, the ADHD-ADD mind begins to ignore things it perceives as common, boring, or rote.  The first time it encounters a colorful page in your planner, it will gleefully pay attention to all of the colors (perhaps at the same time). 

But, as each page goes on, the brain becomes more used to the colors and perceives them not as new and novel, but as the same old thing.  As such, the ADHD mind will not divert its attention from whatever else is occupying it to make anything other than a cursory note of those colors.

Instead of getting pre-colored pages or sheets, use highlighters or markers to add your own dynamic colors.

For example, highlight your most critical task in the to-do list in yellow.  Highlight that critical can’t miss meeting in orange.  Highlight your spouse’s birthday in blue.  Write that important website to check out in purple ink.

Be sure to not overdo the color.  Too many colors becomes just so much noise to any brain, especially the ADHD-ADD brain.  Try and have just four or five colors (not including your usual black or blue ink) and use them sparingly.

Lastly, do not highlight the same things the same way each time.  Again, the key is to make the page look new and different, not to always have a 9:00am staff meeting highlighted in orange.

Change the color used to highlight your critical to-do item with the color you used to highlight your critical meeting.  Also, experiment with thick highlighting, think highlighting, highlighting a whole line and highlighting just a few key words.

You’ll find that there are two major benefits.

One benefit is that you have to actually go through that list you only half-read anymore in order to find the items that you want to highlight which means you will get more exposure to your whole list.

The second benefit is that your mind’s eye will constantly pop to each colored item because they are constantly in different locations and different colors which means you might actually not ignore that super-critical-top-of-the-list item that somehow normally just seems to blend in with things so instead you end up focusing on something like setting the Tivo to record So You Think You Can Dance.