Living With ADD - What To Expect

For a child, teenager, or adult suffering from ADD, a difficult road may lie ahead. If you have just recently been diagnosed with ADD, you may not know what life will be like for you, how the symptoms will persist, or how age affects ADD. The good news is, as time goes by, you will more than likely learn effective ways to deal with your disorder, making it less and less obtrusive on your life.

As a child, symptoms of ADD are inattentiveness, impulsiveness, distractibility, and often hyperactivity. Interestingly, this does not change that much with age. However, the ability to deal with these symptoms may improve dramatically.

Whether you choose to take medication for your disorder is one deciding factor in how ADD will affect your life. You may wish to discuss with your doctor the long term implications of taking stimulants and other common ADD medications. If you choose to take medications, it may be easier for you to deal with the disorder. However, behaviour therapy may also be utilized.

Certain characteristics you may expect in your lifetime are difficulty in paying close attention to detail, inability to remain immobile for any length of time, fidgeting, or an inability to follow through and complete tasks. These are all traits common of ADD.

However, there are certain things you can do to improve your skills in the areas typically impacted by ADD. For example, utilizing an organizer will do wonders in keeping things in order and manageable. While book calendar systems are very effective, you may want to try the more technologically advanced digital organizers or personal assistants. They work wonders in keeping you organized. The important thing is to train yourself to utilize such a device to keep up with important information and scheduling.

You should also try to utilize schedules and routines as much as possible. You will inherently be forgetful and scatterbrained; by implementing a system of order, you will act out of habit, which leaves less room for error. The more you can do by automation, the better.

You may also want to seek support groups or at least companionship from other people like you. You may have difficult times that you want to discuss with someone that can truly relate to your situation. While other friends and family will listen and offer support they may not be able to understand you in the same manner another person with ADD would.

Sarah is an acclaimed writer on medical matters, and has written extensively on the subjects of Attention Deficit Disorder, Bird Flu and Cohn’s Disease.

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