ADD

So I was reading the other day and noticed that a Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that about 20 percent of Americans believe that ADD is a bogus disease. Everyone that I know who has it, including me, wishes it were.

The old "boys will be boys" proverb...that's probably ADD related (ADD is 5 to 7 times more likely in males than females)...and that could be why it's missed so often. I think that the saddest part is that many people aren't diagnosed until they're adults (it's estimated the 1/2 to 2/3 of all cases are adult ADD)...meaning that people have lived with ADD for most of their life. While that's good in a way (they often learn coping mechanisms that aren't chemical), they still suffer some sort of impairment (a diagnostic criteria). This impairment is genetic (I seem to recall that it's concurrent with DRD4...but biology really isn't my thing), so if I have it then it's a solid bet that at least one parent has it to some degree...and siblings (if I have them) also have it.

For men, this is often seen in male-female relationships (they tend to be pretty impulsive in them...dropping a relationship when the novelty wears off), finances (big boys...big toys, right?), and substance abuse. My personal experience with ADD has been pretty typical for anyone born before the increased attention. (Ok, I'll admit...I'm not a part of the "boomer" generation, but I'm pretty close.) The short attention span, the ease with which I become distracted, unorganized, and moody is normal for someone with my "condition", but I, like many others have fought against these tendencies for years, learning coping mechanisms that have, for the most part, enabled me to survive unmedicated. (Let me just say that it's easier with medication, but I hate to take medication I don't have to take.)

Trying to describe what it's like to someone who doesn't have it is a little difficult. I guess I would say that it's seems like it's a little like the difference between classical and modern art. I think most people have an image of a situation in their mind that is representational...they sit through a meeting and things fit together...in their picture, you can tell what is a face and what is an ear. For me, it's a little like a Picasso painting...it might be a face...but what's that ear doing in the middle of the forehead? Some people describe it as having a whirlwind in their mind or constantly flipping channels on a remote...and it's like that too.

They say there's an up-side to it...the boundless energy and enthusiam that most people think of when they hear ADD is really pretty much ADHD, which is a combination of disorders. However, most people with ADD are typically more capable of innovative thinking, creativity, and curiosity...which is good when they're in careers or work for employers that encourage those things (not all careers or employers do). We also tend to be more aware of our emotions, offer acceptance and forgiveness of others, and be fairly quick-witted, which enables us to be very sociable. However, we can also appear to be rebellious (because we're curious and innovative), cold and emotionally stunted (when one of our coping mechanisms is extreme emotional control), and generally a smart-ass.

So, yeah, I'm all that...depending on who you talk to I'm probably more along the rebellious, smart-ass line than the creative, sociable line. But one thing I'm not is under the misconception that this is a bogus disease.