Pills Don’t Teach Skills

Humans have the capacity to learn and retain new information. This is also true for people with ADD, trust me…I know!

Learning through repetition or habit is medically referred to as declarative learning. Declarative learning and memory is based on memorization, which can be accomplished with repetition. Through repetition, certain tasks over a period of time can be accomplished and the process or outcome is learned. For people with ADD, the repetition of performing a task or certain steps teaches us and it becomes a habit.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, the repetition of things like reminding myself to stay calm, to consider others feelings or to focus on tasks as examples, becomes engrained in our brains. Our brains have that ability to absorb and learn, its just a different process when people are challenged by ADD.

I find repetition is best accomplished through setting reminders in my Outlook calendar, which also synchronizes to my Blackberry. With constant reminders set, the learning and memory retention flourishes in the right environment. Give it a try, in this case…..repeating yourself is good.

As an ADD’er, I have grown a lot with learning to control what I say, controlling that verbally impulsiveness. In today’s age of technology, this impulsiveness must now be controlled on the Internet, specifically with email.

Whether it is a personal or work related email, we’ve all received the type of email that makes you want to respond back with fury and give someone a piece of your mind! Controlling that impulsiveness is very important on email. There is a lot of potential for an email to be misunderstood or misinterpreted.

As an ADD’er, I have adopted a strategy that allows me to respond and not regret what I have written. Here are a few tips I follow to manage this:

1) Keep cool, the understanding or intent of the message may not be understood
2) Create your response in a Word document first, to avoid sending something by accident. It also allows you to cool down and gather your thoughts.
3) Once you have formatted your response, save it and come back to it later. It may offer you a different perspective and allow you to respond more effectively.

Responding too quickly without thinking and maintaining control can create more issues, impact relationships and simply turn into an embarrassment.

A friend of mine stumbled across an interesting article on the myths and facts about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Thought I would share it with you.

Click here to read the MSN article.

When I was a kid my parents were big music fans and one of their favorites was Kenny Rogers. A classic one of his songs I heard the other day was The Gambler. Ah……..memories.

“You got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.”

I loved that message in his lyrics, it can really be applied to so much in life. A lot people with ADD are challenged by not knowing when to walk away. We can become hyper-focused on a task or job and become relentless in the pursuit of accomplishing it. Unfortunately, there are times when that mode of hyper-focus doesn’t allow us to see that the path we are on might not be worth pursuing or following through with. We tend to wear those blinders and need to be more aware of what is surrounding us. What can surround us are things that might shed a different light on the task at hand, or another task that should be a priority. If we ignore what surrounds us, that path of hyper-focus we are on can end up being the wrong path.

As Kenny said:

“So I handed him my bottle and he drank down my last swallow.
Then he bummed a cigarette and asked me for a light.
And the night got deathly quiet, and his face lost all expression.
Said, if you’re gonna play the game, boy, ya gotta learn to play it right.”

As an ADD’er, I’m constantly trying to improve my listening and concentrations skills. While surfing the web, I stumbled across an interesting article called Top 5 Tips to Improve Your Concentration on About.com. Apparently the five FOCUS tips can help you concentrate more effectively and I thought it was an interesting read worth sharing with you.

F = Five More Rule: Read FIVE MORE pages. Finish FIVE MORE math problems. Work FIVE MORE minutes.
O = One Think At a Time: Instead of NOT worrying about another, lesser priority (which will cause your mind to think about the very thing it’s not supposed to think about!), assign it a single task with start-stop time parameters.
C = Conquer Procrastination: Next time you’re about to postpone a responsibility ask yourself, “Do I have to do this? Do I want it done so it’s not on my mind? Will it be any easier later?” Those three questions can give you the incentive to mentally apply yourself.
U = Use Your Hands as Blinkers: Placing your hands on the side of your face blocks out surroundings so they are literally “out of sight, out of mind.
S = See As If For the First or Last Time: Next time your mind is a million miles away, simply look around you and really SEE your surroundings. Study that exquisite flower in the vase. Get up close to the picture on the wall and marvel at the artist’s craftsmanship.

There you have it, the FOCUS tips in abbreviated form. If you’d like to read the full article, here is the link Top 5 Tips to Improve Your Concentration

Over four years ago, I started utilizing an ADD Coach and time has flown by since I started this process. As I do every August, I take a one month break from ADD coaching and use my time to reflect on what I have accomplished in the coaching process. When I reflect back on the many ways I have worked on self growth, many topics like time management, temperament, listening, compassion, the thought process, food/diet, exercise and to-do lists come to mind as just a few ways I have grown and become a better person.

Like Augusts of the past, my break from coaching always allows me to see the value of working on me and better understand what I have accomplished. When we all set our sites on a goal we can feel like the grind of working towards that goal can be overwhelming and on occasion, it will feel like very little progress is being made. Staying committed to the coaching process is so important. After more than four years of coaching, I can step back and see how far I have come and how much value coaching has brought to my life.

If you or anyone you know is considering using an ADD Coach, I would support you completely in that decision. It delivers excellent personal growth and tremendous value to people with ADD. If you have a chance, check out ADD Coach Pete Quily’s 26 Benefits of Adult ADD Coaching.

After 17 days of vacation and pure relaxation, its time to get moving again and offer up more of my thoughts and experiences on ADD. Scheduling down time like vacations is important to help us ADD’ers turn that switch off, that normally keeps us in perpetual motion and thought.

During my vacation I embarked on finishing a book I started last month called Dare To Forgive by Edward Hallowell. You may recall this authors most recognized book called Driven To Distraction, which was one of the original ADD books on recognizing and coping with attention deficit disorder.

Dare To Forgive is about learning to practice forgiveness. However the books byline is what I loved, “the power of letting go and moving on”. When I originally read that, it was kind of in my mind and out, I didn’t retain it. After finishing the book on my vacation, I closed the book and looked at the cover to see that byline again. It was at that point it really had meaning.

Learning to forgive is paramount in our lives. If you have ADD or know anyone who does, most ADD’ers struggle with forgiveness and compassion. It’s something that needs to be worked on and I am very pleased with the journey I have taken on learning and practicing forgiveness. When we don’t forgive, we are in a state of anger and wasted emotions that take a toll on our body and health. Not forgiving keeps the negativity and stress of a situation constant in our minds and thoughts. Even if it lies within our subconscious, we still carry that negativity.

During my vacation, I learned a lot about forgiving. Forgiving others was part of that process, however the biggest lesson was learning to forgive myself. Freeing my self from the angers and stress of a situation in my life was very liberating and allowed me to move past an issue that had bothered me for years. The power of letting go and moving on can and will make your life better, you just need to practice a little forgiveness.

OK, I have ADD and the thought of using Twitter or “Tweeting” as it is referred to baffles me. Some of the many challenges ADD poses to people include procrastination, lack of focus/attention, organization, fidgeting, easily distracted and patience.

With Twitter being a free social networking service that enables people to send and read each others updates up to 140 characters…….it seems to me that Twitter provides an ideal environment for many people with ADD to be distracted and lose focus on what they should be focusing on. The addictive traits of many people with ADD could become a problem on this site. For me, I just see it as a dangerous place to waste a lot of my time and lose myself. That’s just me. If it works for you, well done!

While Twitter has become one the most popular web sites in the world, this ADD’er won’t be Tweeting any time soon.

Growing up with AC/DC, I just loved this when I came across the image on Google Images.

Last October I posted an article called “Mmmmmmmm……Fish Oil & Omega 3” and wanted to offer my readers a follow up on my own use of fish oil and omega 3.

As mentioned previously, the treatment of ADD with fish oil and omega 3 supplements have gained popularity. The lack of both fish and fresh fruits and vegetables in a diet causes deficiency of essential fatty acids in the body. Recent studies have shown people with ADD that were given fish oil and omega 3 supplements showed less signs of ADD than those who are not given the supplements. Treatment of ADD with fish oil and omega 3 requires regular dosage of supplements, so the experts say.

I’m here to tell you, this stuff works for me! Over the past ten months I have noticed a considerable difference since I started taking my fish oil and omega 3. In my experience, I have noticed improvements with my cognitive skills, anxiousness and I think clearer…..which I know is not a proper medical term, but I do. My reading, focus and general concentration is improved as well. I actually ran out of my fish oil and omega 3 and went for a few days without last month, and noticed an obvious regression without.

I am not a Doctor, so please consult with your family Doctor before staring any type of supplements. If you are interested in trying Nordic Naturals ProOmega C0Q10 which has been successful for me, it can be purchased through a company I buy from called Promedics at www.promedics.ca. No matter where you buy from, make sure they are screened for mercury and heavy metals.