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Post by laura on Nov 10, 2009 21:48:36 GMT
this is a really good easyily readable newsletter about diagnosing adults with adhd, the problems because of comorbidities, adult symptoms different to children ect i though this bit was interesting A thorough childhood history is important for 3 reasons: (1) the amount of impairment that childhood symptoms caused could establish a pattern in terms of frequency, pervasiveness, and severity; (2) symptoms may have been overlooked or been written off as something else when the patient was a child; and (3) the patient may not have been given a diagnosis of ADHD as a child because the symptoms only surfaced with the stresses and demands of adulthood. Especially for highly functioning individuals, for whom the structured environment of elementary school may have served to suppress symptoms, the more rigorous, academically demanding, and less structured setting of college life may precipitate the emergence of symptoms. www.nyuepilepsy.org/psych/psychiatrist/assets/Fall_2007_Newsletter._Vol_2_No_3.pdf
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2009 22:28:48 GMT
Thanks for pointing this out--it's an interesting article.
Points 2 and 3 are very relevant to older ADHDers--neither teachers nor the medical profession had heard of ADHD when some of us were children, so a whole set of mainly morality-based frameworks were applied to our behaviour and performance. For those with ADD, moving to secondary school and the onset of homework in particular may show a marked change in ability to cope (Monday 12 September 1966--life changed for ever!) .
I think there is work to be done on the impact of habit in older ADHDers. Drugs make a difference, but if ADHD has gone undiagnosed and untreated for decades then patterns of living will have built up, and these may be hard to change. WHich is a polite way of saying "how the hell do you break 40 years of bad habits!"
I'd be very interested to hear if anyone else shares this view, or if you think I'm barking up the wrong tree.
H
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2009 22:45:08 GMT
I generally agree with the points raised and with Hugh too.
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Post by Atticus on Nov 10, 2009 22:54:07 GMT
I think there is work to be done on the impact of habit in older ADHDers. Drugs make a difference, but if ADHD has gone undiagnosed and untreated for decades then patterns of living will have built up, and these may be hard to change. WHich is a polite way of saying "how the hell do you break 40 years of bad habits!" I'd be very interested to hear if anyone else shares this view, or if you think I'm barking up the wrong tree. H This is very true.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2009 23:21:50 GMT
Maybe we need to change some things about ourselves and change some of the things around ourselves and maybe avoid as much as possible things we cant change or am I just over simplifying.
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Post by andy12345 on Nov 11, 2009 1:56:29 GMT
Personally, I think most cases of ADHD become far more holistically threatening when one starts to get the typical life added stress or bill management, car maintenance, random issues, looking after oneself etc etc.
It's so easy to stress test people, even without ADHD.
Just take away something that they rely on and can't get hold of easily. Watch them cave in.
If a spoiled child becomes an adult, has their £1000 month pocket money docked to £100 month boo hoo can you imagine how they will handle it? NOT, is the answer, unless they were trained to.
Unfortunately, its not always easy to program people.
So, as a child ADHD can be pretty damaging to the surrounding environment (family, furniture, animals, neighbours, teachers pupils)
Once adult, the internal strife really kicks in, if I understand it all correctly.hence drug, alcohol abuse etc. gambling, things to take ones mind off it all.
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Post by laura on Nov 11, 2009 10:57:07 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2009 11:56:00 GMT
For me years of addiction covered the signs of ADHD after years in recovery I started self medicating again then I found out about my condition.
I only found out after doing a college course which highlighted my condition and drove me mad. I avoided school and never went. After years of untreated ADHD it has got worse. I am lucky my fionce has put up with me and now she is a great support and helps with finding out solutions to the condition.
My ADHD was very holistically threatening at a young age, about 7-9 from then I got more and more destrutive. I have been alot better in the last 11 years just more aware there was something wrong with me. Where as in the past I thought it was everybody elses fault I was mad.
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Post by andy12345 on Nov 11, 2009 14:27:54 GMT
Hmmmmm, so much for my crackpot theory, still, I need more summaries.....hint hint
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2009 20:17:46 GMT
Hugh, i totally understand where coming from,im 33 and newly diagnosed. Im looking at coping strateries and trying to implement them but its hard to change 33 yrs off learned behaviour. I've found it harder in adulthood than when i was yonger I suppose cause parents protected , and nobody judged me. And em-looyment jobs etc I struggle with xx
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2009 16:28:22 GMT
Personally, I think most cases of ADHD become far more holistically threatening when one starts to get the typical life added stress or bill management, car maintenance, random issues, looking after oneself etc etc. [snip] Yes, I'm sure this is the case for many people. It can be a vicious circle, because ADHD leads to underperformance on the stressful tasks. One of the most stressful parts of ADD for me is always losing things, and if it's something important and I need it quickly I go completely to pieces, searching by tearing things apart rather than going methodically, and often overlooking whatever it is when I have found it! I know this is a pure stress cycle, but it gets me every time. H
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2009 16:29:31 GMT
I've jusy noticed--I seem to have graduated from newbie to "low post member". Oh the glory, the glory.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2009 16:30:48 GMT
Maybe we need to change some things about ourselves and change some of the things around ourselves and maybe avoid as much as possible things we cant change or am I just over simplifying. I agree with you--except it's anything but simple! There's also something about knowing the difference between the two.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2009 16:41:17 GMT
All depends on the definition of "symptom". I feel that a symptom in this case may only be noticed if you bump into it in life: at primary school, no homework meant largely no problem, so in practice no symptom--or more to the point, no *publicly apparent* symptom. Couldn't get the Science Direct article--bastard publishers! Ironically, I'm closely involved in scientific communications issues, especially Open Access for all. Thanks for the reference, though: I'll see if a friend can get hold of the PDF for me.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2009 16:55:42 GMT
Hugh, i totally understand where coming from,im 33 and newly diagnosed. Im looking at coping strateries and trying to implement them but its hard to change 33 yrs off learned behaviour. I've found it harder in adulthood than when i was yonger I suppose cause parents protected , and nobody judged me. And em-looyment jobs etc I struggle with xx Can't get there all at once. Great you can see what the problem is--first step to finding solutions. I've learnt I should not necessarily try to imitate the way non-ADHD people do things.
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