Tag: Treatment Options

I  was undiagnosed for decades and decades. When I was sent off to a therapist by the person I was living with in the early 1990s, he said, “I was far too successful to even consider ADHD.”
I had managed my ADHD with exercise and nutrition from the time I was a child. As a 3-year-old my nickname was Bunny – given a choice of a raw cucumber and a piece of candy, I chose the cucumber. I have continued exercise and nutrition all my life.

I did live with the confusion of being labeled Lazy, Crazy, or Stupid at various points in my life because of the clutter that has always been part of my life.

It has only been recently that I have been able to understand and accept my successes are the results of the STRENGTHS of ADHD – Creativity, High Energy, Persistence, Out-of-the-Box Thinking, Confidence, and Leadership.

I have been sharing my experiences with a series of podcasts with emphasis on female struggles that are ignored by the researchers. Our hormones are too challenging.

Carol A. Vincie

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My parents enrolled me in acting classes at 3 as a way of managing my ‘inability to stay still for any length of time.’ I was diagnosed with ADHD at 13; it came as no surprise to my parents. Being a performer on stage has been my mainstay; I have experienced much anguish & turbulence as a consequence of my ADHD: lots of school exclusions & loss of friendships by people who thought I was deliberately naughty.

My impulsivity’s got me into trouble & I lost my place at a famous performing arts school because of it. In spite of this condition’s downsides, there are upsides. I’m on a full time acting course at a different place now & they really ‘get me.’ There are others there who struggle with ADHD too, but we’re in a theatre all day now, not a classroom, which makes things more manageable. I have lots of energy but I am more able to control my impulses now with the help of strategies & low dose medication. I used to feel sorry for myself having ADHD but I’m so determined to succeed!

Sam Gould

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The hardest thing starting at about three was my disturbed mind banging my head on the floor, later my attention-seeking behaviour always for the wrong reasons at my frustration at school. My mother got the blame as a bad parent but she was driven so never gave up. It turned into OCD from seven then suicide attempts at twelve & still running away from school as well as from home. From eight was sent to boarding school, told was for own good; male discipline but humiliation from teachers was always a problem as I found hard to follow instructions. The option for a special school my Mum thought would hinder me? But my self-confidence/esteem could not have been lower. I could never concentrate, even topics was good at. Distractions & tense, nervous energy the norm. Diagnosed at 44, medication doesn’t work, 54 now. Catastrophic thinking hinders & masking. Treatment options day-to-day is cycling, self-help books & talking to parents of children with it. Feeling locked in my head.

Dominic Gauden

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