The Upside of ADHD
Enthusiasm, Empathy and High Energy Among Traits the Disorder Carries
By Marilyn Lewis for MSN Health & Fitness
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) hasn’t changed, but how experts view the disorder is evolving in a new direction. Instead of only focusing on the difficulties posed by ADHD, today, the upsides are likely to be noted, too: the quick-wittedness, the speedy grasp of the big picture and the great enthusiasm for nearly everything. These traits make ADHDers endearing and simultaneously exasperating.
This change may sound like just a new way of describing the same old thing, but to those with ADHD, the difference is profound. An estimated 2 percent to 4 percent of American adults and 3 percent to 7 percent of children have the brain-based disorder.For them, it’s the difference between seeing themselves as broken and thinking of themselves as having advantages, even if they have to cope with being fidgety, distractible or easily bored.
In praise of ADHD
JetBlue Airways CEO and founder David Neeleman is famously frank about his ADHD. He was diagnosed in 2001, seven years after he realized he had it. By then, he’d already founded and then sold Morris Air. He had done so well in his own eccentric way that he felt he was doing fine without medication. Still, Neeleman says he’s not anti-meds: “I have talked to a lot of people who swear by the medication.�?/FONT>
Neeleman credits ADHD with his creativity and “out-of-the-box thinking”—it led him to invent e-tickets while at Morris, for example. “One of the weird things about the type of [ADHD] I have is, if you have something you are really, really passionate about, then you are really, really good about focusing on that thing. It’s kind of bizarre that you can’t pay the bills and do mundane tasks, but you can do your hyper-focus area.�?He spends “all my waking hours�?obsessing about JetBlue. The rest of his life, Neeleman says, would be a “disaster�?if not for his wife, who manages their home and children; his accountant, who pays the bills and tracks his finances; and his personal assistant, who sends him his schedule every day and steers him from appointment to appointment, keeping him on track.
Ken Melotte, 43, of Green Bay, Wis., is quick to credit ADHD for his successes, too. “I have ideas immediately,�?says Melotte, who’s on the management team of a national trucking firm. “I instantly start working on solutions, seeing different ways to do things.�?/FONT>
Yet, ADHD has been a struggle for him. Melotte doesn’t care for medication. The disorder vexes him most at work, as a project manager, when he had “a terrible struggle�?keeping track of all the details. On the other hand, he believes that ADHD traits like empathy, intuition and the ability to motivate and inspire others made him a successful manager.
A “context disorder�?/STRONG>
ADHD is considered “context disorder,�?�?Thom Hartmann says. Hartmann, an expert on the disorder, is one of the few who saw the positive side of ADHD before it was fashionable.
“If a left-handed person has a job cutting origami with right-handed scissors, that doesn’t mean they have a disability; they have context disorder,�?Hartmann explains. “Short people trying to play basketball have a context disorder.�?
People with ADHD “may instead be our most creative individuals, our most extraordinary thinkers, our most brilliant inventors and pioneers,�?writes Hartmann in his 2003 book The Edison Gene: ADHD and the Gift of the Hunter Child. He posits that the people with ADHD may carry genetically coded abilities that once were, and may still be, necessary for human survival and that contribute richness to the culture.
A spate of books has come out that echoes Hartmann’s positive spin, including Delivered From Distraction: Getting the Most Out of Life With Attention Deficit Disorder, by Drs. Edward Hallowell and John Ratey, and The Gift of ADHD, by Lara Honos-Webb.
To Hartmann, “Any kind of difference, even those differences that may make life more difficult or be viewed by some as pathologies, have to have some sort of upside, outside of pure disease processes. Otherwise they wouldn’t survive in the gene pool.�?/FONT>
More Information
Men Who Can't Concentrate: Adult Attention Deficits
by Charles Downey
A Massachusetts woman was disgusted with her husband. He flitted from job to job, could never finish a task, lost his temper over the most trivial things, fidgeted constantly, couldn't remember what he said yesterday, drank too much and considered his own needs first. Often, his temper prevented him from getting along with others on the job and at home.
One day his wife, an elementary school teacher, told her husband he acted just like the third grade boys in school who had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and were medicated to overcome it. Her husband was eventually diagnosed with the disorder.
ADHD in Adults
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is not just for children anymore. Experts say about one-half to two-thirds of all ADHD cases (two to five million) occur in adults. Moreover, ADHD is five to seven times more common in males. Until recently, many in the helping professions believed that most symptoms largely disappear in adolescence.
"The disorder was often missed in childhood, so a man often isn't diagnosed until his wife absolutely insists on marital counseling," says Mary Bellis Waller, Ph.D., a psychotherapist and scientist at the Center for Addiction and Behavioral Studies in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
"Most adult males with ADHD show a great deal of impulsivity in starting and ending relationships, difficulties holding onto jobs and money, and heavy involvement with drugs and alcohol," says psychologist Eliot Goldman, Ph.D., coordinator of the adult ADHD clinic at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System on Long Island.
Males with ADHD rarely wear wrist watches and also have a lousy sense of direction, so they frequently get lost while driving. Many college men with ADHD become addicted to Internet surfing because the medium is flashy and you can easily go to another web page once the novelty wears off.
Unfortunately, a large percentage of adults with ADHD have other conditions as well, in particular mood disorders, substance abuse, antisocial personality disorder, and learning disabilities.
Heredity
According to Arthur Robin, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and behavior neuroscience at Wayne State University School of Medicine, recent research reveals ADHD is largely passed on through heredity.
A study of identical twins found that in 81% of cases, if one twin had ADHD, the other also had it (a condition known to scientists as concordance). But a study of fraternal twins found concordance in only 29% of those siblings. Another study of twins revealed 67% concordance in identical twins, but zero for fraternal twins. Additionally, researchers in the area of molecular genetics have discovered a link between a particular gene known as DRD4 repeater gene and ADHD. That's the same gene that has previously been associated with the personality trait of high novelty seeking behavior.
Making it Work
Some men with ADHD actually harness it for on-the-edge careers as race car drivers, oil riggers, policemen, entrepreneurs, stock brokers or other jobs that require considerable vim and vigor. Unfortunately, men with ADHD may also have short attention spans, be easily distracted, unorganized, and subject to temper tantrums that make them less than perfect people persons.
The Feelings of ADHD
"It's like having a whirlwind in your mind," said one man with ADHD. Everything seems to be blowing around and nothing stays put. It can also be like watching someone change channels on the television every few seconds. You can get a general idea of what is going on, but you miss most of the content."
Adds Dr. Robin, "Generally, people with ADHD are at the mercy of their moods. An odd idea pops into their minds and they follow that until another off-the-wall notion crops up." With an inability to think matters through, people with ADHD act on too many impulses and often become ensnared in the legal system.
Living with ADHD
While there is no cure, symptoms can be managed with prescribed medications like Ritalin, Dexedrine and Adderall. Some men keep themselves on track by using day books, computers and tape recorders, and by posting schedules and appointments throughout the home and office and learning better time management skills. Men who seek professional help learn to find additional relief in regular exercise, maintaining a sense of humor, reducing negative thoughts about themselves, reducing alcohol and drug use, and enlisting a friend to help them finish tasks and remember commitments.
Most adults with ADHD can and do lead successful personal and professional lives. One physician diagnosed with ADHD used his tremendous energy to see an unusual number of patients during a typical day. But he knew he was weak on follow-through so he turned down complex cases that involved many details and outside consultants.
Another was a real estate salesman, who was a flashy glad-hander and who could charm the fangs out of a rattlesnake, but found his commissions drying up. While undergoing treatment for ADHD, he discovered his office was totally disorganized, which made it unable for him to follow up on leads. It took a year to set up a filing system that has put his income back on track.
"About half [of these men] are helped by medications. The other half improve their lives by learning how to get organized and pay attention to details," Dr. Goldman says.
The Bright Side
ADHD does have its upside. As listed in a recent edition of ADDitudes, an on-line magazine for people with ADHD, there are at least 10 benefits to ADHD:
1. Boundless energy and enthusiasm
People with ADHD frequently have the energy and stamina to persist with sports and other demanding activities without slowing down or losing strength.
2. Innovative thinking
People with ADHD, who often feel less bound by rules and tried procedures, frequently are able to "think out of the box" and come up with inventive solutions. Albert Einstein is thought to have had ADHD.
3. Curiosity
People with ADHD frequently are more curious than others. Their tendency and ability to hyperfocus impels them to ferret out information and details in a wide variety of areas.
4. Emotional intuition
People with ADHD feel their emotions strongly and often have an uncanny ability to be "in touch" with their emotions, as well as the emotions of others.
5. Great memory for minute details
While most of us tend to remember the big picture and forget the details, people with ADHD are just the opposite. Their exceptional recall for details makes them an asset on team projects.
6. Acceptance and forgiveness of others
Perhaps because of their own trying social experiences, people with ADHD tend to be more accepting of others' foibles and more forgiving of others' mistakes.
7. Embracing risk and change
People with ADHD are often more willing to take risks to achieve their goals. They are unafraid of change and enjoy the challenge of adapting to new ways of doing things.
8. Persistence
People with ADHD bounce back more quickly, and more often, than most other people. When confronted with negative feedback or failure, they are more likely to persist in overcoming obstacles and criticisms.
9. Sociability
Their energy, creativity, and love of excitement is a tremendous social asset. People with ADHD often find themselves motivating and energizing large groups of friends and co-workers.
10. Creativity
Many people with ADHD are exceptionally creative and productive visual artists, performers, composers, and writers. Beethoven and Mozart are both believed to have had ADHD.
RESOURCES:
National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/adhd.cfm
Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD)
http://www.chadd.org
National Attention Deficit Disorder Association
http://www.add.org
ADDitude Magazine
http://www.additudemag.com
From: http://www.swedish.org/16875.cfm
ADD in the Corner Office
These five top executives discovered that AD/HD or a learning disability can be a capitalist tool.
by Lois Gilman
As students, they seemed to be heading nowhere—fast. ...... You might say that these nowhere kids turned their lives around. ......... Besides having difficulty in school, these executives share another thing in common: They all suffer from AD/HD or learning disabilities. Neeleman has AD/HD; Swonk, Meckler, and Schwab have dyslexia, and Orfalea has both. Each managed to turn his or her liabilities into assets on their respective career paths. If you have difficulty with organization, reading, or remembering math facts, these entrepreneurs prove that such limitations don’t preclude a bright future. Read the article :
http://www.additudemag.com/experts.asp?DEPT_NO=404&ARTICLE_NO=23&ARCV=1
From: http://articles.health.msn.com/id/100109339
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