Reddit reviews Taking Charge of Adult ADHD
We found 30 Reddit comments about Taking Charge of Adult ADHD. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Reddit reviews Taking Charge of Adult ADHDWe found 30 Reddit comments about Taking Charge of Adult ADHD. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
I'm not at all trying to be a dick here but those are exactly the feelings that lead me to get an ADHD diagnosis. Not caring almost feels good until said problem bites you in the arse.
If life is going well and you are happy then don't worry. If the tendencies you described are messing things up then maybe go get a test. My life is so much better now.
Edit:
Shoutout to /r/adhd!
Also, video dude wrote a book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Taking-Charge-Adult-Russell-Barkley/dp/1606233386
Edit 2:
Here is an informative and adorable video for anyone unsure if they have ADHD. It's great. Go watch it.
https://youtu.be/cx13a2-unjE
One thing to remember about ADHD (courtesy of Barkley) is we can't internalize habits like normal people do. Someone with a regular brain could use this to slowly build a habit and then stop using it. If you wanted to use a shock bracelet to make sure you do something, you'd likely have to commit to it permanently.
Behavioral modification for ADHD should include long-term systems, not forming habits--and unfortunately there are no short cuts.
I don't know if those links will work. Let me know if they don't and I'll try to find another.
Yeah! It's called Taking Charge of Adult ADHD. It's one of the most helpful things I've read since being diagnosed a couple years ago. Really explains how executive dysfunction works, as well as a lot of other helpful info. https://www.amazon.com/Taking-Charge-Adult-Russell-Barkley/dp/1606233386/
Everyone experiences the things you are describing some of the time. However, it sounds like you experience all of these things a lot, and it also seems like these experiences are getting in your way at times. When your everyday experiences are interfering with your day-to-day life, it is a great idea to see a specialist. You can start with your regular doctor, or you can go to a psychologist or psychiatrist. If neuropsychological testing is indicated, your doctor or psychologist will refer you if needed.
It's not a good idea to speculate about diagnosis via the internet. But it is perhaps worth mentioning that you spontaneously self-described many of the symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. It may make sense to bring up this possibility with your doctor or psychologist.
If you are looking for more information, you might try:
Good luck! If you need more books or websites, let me know and I'll do my best to direct you to good resources.
Extra videos for you to watch.
Books and CBT
Barkley has two books about this and he is considered the leading ADHD book author on Adult ADHD. Barkley actually has far more than 2 books but the below two are the ones meant for normal people. He has 200+ scientific journals articles/medical textbook chapters to his name and his treatment handbook for ADHD has 6136 scientific cites of his treatment handbook for medical practitioners that came out 10 years ago (2005), and only 1 paper on his theory of Executive Function (1997) has 4898 scientific cites. A very old book on his about ADHD and self control (1997) has 2220 scientific cites. To put this in context there is about a 1000 scientific research papers each year on ADHD
The other authorative author on ADHD is Dr. Hallowell (Driven to Distraction, Delivered from Distraction) are considered the authoritative books on Adult ADHD
Barkley recommends 3 CBT programs by these people. They have books on amazon (I have not read them). I recommend you read these with a therapist for much of it is geared not to you but the therapist who then practice these techniques with yout.
Does he know how much you struggle with those tasks? He could give you a hand sharing his way of dealing with them. Even on meds, I had a hard time dealing with some bureaucratic matters and I couldn't have done it without my wife, who did not have ADHD. All it took was her pointing me on the right direction.
In general, what I realized works best for me is writing down less than five daily to-dos on a piece of paper that you keep in front of you. Be humble and don't aim high at first, start with three things like cleaning one bathroom (even just buy the cleaning supplies) or replace a lightbulb. As you complete them, mark the to-dos as completed. Not just a tick, cross-out that motherfucker, you owned it!! You'll get addicted to the satisfaction of getting things done. I keep my lists on a notebook and, whenever I run low on confidence or self-esteem, I flip back and there they are, tasks after tasks crossed out, some of them several times. It's a great morale boost.
Taking charge of adult ADHD is full with little tricks to help dealing with house chores as well as being in a relationship. The book itself is written in a very ADHD-friendly manner, with short chapters and multiple summary boxes.
Ironically, the random ADHD book I got from the library is by Dr. Barkley: Taking Charge of Adult ADHD
I'll look into the books you suggested.
To add on to the excellent advise above:
I was diagnosed w/ ADD roughly 3 months ago. I say ADD instead of ADHD because I don't have much in the way of the "hyperactive" part. A week ago I ran across a video where Russell Barkley explains ADHD. It gave me a new perspective on ADHD. It even convinced my father (who is a doctor) that ADHD might actually exist. I was more than blown away by Dr. Barkley! So, I looked into everything else he had done. I found my way to his book "Taking Charge of Adult ADHD"; so, I immediately put in a request at my local library. I started reading two days ago. It gave a goodly amount of thought to diagnosis for the first five chapters of the book. And the whole time I couldn't help but feel that I wasn't truly ADHD; a number of pieces were missing. Then I saw it!! A heading titled "When You Don't Quite Fit the Picture of ADHD". The subsequent pages and paragraphs gave some cursory diagnostic material before giving a potential diagnosis of Sluggish-Cognitive-Tempo. Sadly, nothing more was said about SCT since so little research has been dont; so, I went to Wikipedia. Eureka! Socially withdrawn, lethargic, depression, ODD (Oppositional Defiance Disorder)...It all fit!
And the "what" problem happens far too often. Anxiety it one of the biggest things that comes up during therapy. I hate going out 99% of the time. I would much rather stay home and keep to myself. My therapist has given some assignments to just go out and strike up small talk w/ random people. But it's too much for me to do, and I have yet to successfully complete an assignment.
I'm never happy about the prospect of going out w/ friends, or even having them over to my place. I'd rather keep my solitude. I'm worried that I'm going to eventually ruin the good friendships that I have. But the more worrisome part is that I don't care as much I should. I really just want to be left alone.
I have the best ideas for doing stuff. I have my future all planned out...until I start. Then I lose any passion that I had, or I quit after I get frustrated enough.
College was a bust for me. I never had an interest to go, but I was eventually coerced to give it a shot. I started w/ just 3 classes, but I still ended getting so frustrated that I walked out of class one day and never went back.
I'm continuing to research, and I plan on bringing it up w/ my therapist on my next visit.
I don't want to read through the wall-of-texts responses (though I read most of your post) so I may be repeating what everyone else has said. But I guess if I'm repeating it, then it's important :P
I totally get what you're saying. I'm starting medication after doing a test titration and I too worry if I'm not actually ADHD, but maybe I'm "just lazy" or "undisciplined", or maybe I have another diagnosis, or maybe I DO have ADHD and medicine isn't going to work for me, and... and... and...
I think it's normal to worry, but you have to keep in mind, just because you feel worried or unsure or like you don't have ADHD, that doesn't mean it reflects reality, and likely it doesn't, especially if a pro at ADHD diagnosis thinks you do.
For me it helped to look at symptoms of ADHD and common problems of ADHD (PI especially, which is my diagnosis). Seeing things that never clicked were a problem, because to me they are so normal. It can be hard to tell what's off or not when you've only ever lived in your body, unless the problems are extremely obvious. But the subtle symptoms, that do cause problems, aren't all that obvious. Seeing symptoms that fit me that I never thought about really validated to me that I have ADHD and I remind myself of the symptoms when I start to doubt.
If you want to look at symptoms and you think it may help you too, look online at various sources, but usually they have the same 9-20 symptoms, which can fit you, but it helps to see a lot of symptoms, fi you really need the validation. For that I suggest [Taking Charge of Adult ADHD] (http://www.amazon.com/Taking-Charge-Adult-Russell-Barkley/dp/1606233386/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372882376&sr=8-1&keywords=taking+charge+of+adult+adhd) by Russel Barkley (he's one of the leading experts on attention disorders in north america). Also there are some videos of his lectures that he gives to organizations and such on youtube, and I've found those generally helpful and very informative and I highly recommend them.
Also remember, just because you don't have a specific symptom that a lot of other ADHD people have (like slow processing) that doesn't mean you don't have ADHD. There is a reason that you don't have to have all of the symptoms to get a diagnosis, but a certain number, because ADHD looks different in every person.
If Ritalin didn't work for you that just means ritalin doesn't work for you. Everyone responds differently. For some people Aderral makes them a zombie, for others it makes thinks click. Vyvanse is terrible for some people, and for others it makes them feel capable for once in their life. Ritalin may not work for you, but another medicine may be awesome. It's often trial and error of doses and different medications for people.
Dythimia can cause similar symptoms, but if the person that diagnosed you ADHD knew about that, they would have taken it into consideration. If you are still concerned, make sure to bring your worries up with them, as to whether it could all be dysthimia or not. But if someone who is extremely skilled in ADHD diagnosis thinks you have ADHD, chances are pretty slim that you aren't (though possible, but again not likely, so err on the side of you being ADHD, if that makes sense). Personally the way you describe stuff does sound ADHD and some of it doesn't sound like just dysthimia (but again I'm not professional).
I can't really pinpoint too many occasions in my past of ADHD affecting my performance (especially because I have bipolar 2 disorder, so I was depressed a lot in my adolescence and teenage years so that tangles things up). I don't think that's necessairly uncommon. Another thing is that there are a lot of cases of women having ADHD that wasn't noticed as a kid. Part of it is that ADHD is seen as a boy disorder, so teachers will be less likely to think a girl has ADHD. Another important factor is that girls more often have the PI type of ADHD, and that by default is often not nearly as obvious as the hyper type of ADHD. You'll be much more likely to notice the kid running around class blurting out answers and having trouble controlling emotions as compared to the kid who is quiet, daydreamy, and has trouble focusing. It just doesn't grab your attention as much.
Ok, I'm writing a book, sorry, i'll stop here lol. (My ADHD makes it really hard to be succinct :P)
tl;dr: If you are worried about your symptoms make sure to bring it up with your doc. A lot of ppl worry about whether they aren't ADHD but if an ADHD expert says you are ADHD chances are very likely you are ADHD. Also you have to give treatment time. Medications work differently for everyone so you may have to switch doses and medication. And this is a problem people have had for their entire life. It takes time to figure it out and learn how to cope with it, medicine wise and in other strategies. Best of luck!
edit: oh and yeah I do the obsess for a week thing and then give up. I'm not sure if it's a symptom of ADHD but I wouldn't be surprised. Novel things are exciting (and thus easier for ADHDers to summon the energy to work on it) but when they are less exciting, though rewarding, it gets harder to start it and to continue with it. I'm hoping for myself medication will help me to keep up with things I enjoy and keep doing them, and complete projects.
http://www.amazon.com/Taking-Charge-Adult-Russell-Barkley/dp/1606233386
BOOM
Honestly, it's going to get easier, and then it's going to get harder. Expect to take a few months (at least) to figure out the appropriate meds and the right dosage for you, to learn what the meds can fix and what they can't, and to learn how to deal with side effects like insomnia and irritability. Then you'll need to come up with strategies for stuff the meds won't touch, because as half the people on this sub will tell you, Adderall can just as easily be used to keep you focused on homework as it can be to spend seven hours sorting everything in your living room by color. It helps. It helps so much. But it's not magic and you have to point it in the right direction.
If you've got any kind of student health coverage, you might have access to a therapist who has ADHD-specific experience who can help you explore coping mechanisms like planners, calendars, checklists, etc. and sort real tasks from small distractions. (In my experience, therapists who don't have ADHD experience aren't much use. If I had a nickel for every one who told me to study harder, I'd have at least 15¢.) If not, read the books Taking Charge of Adult ADHD and Driven to Distraction.
Source: I was diagnosed halfway through college, and even with medication, it took me an extra two years to get my undergrad degree. (The meds also fucked with my sleep something fierce.) My undergrad capstone project came out all right, but I ignored all my other coursework and scraped by with a 2.3 in-major GPA. Years later, I'm working in industry and have put together a suite of checklists and calendars to get me through the day-to-day, but long-term planning and prioritization are still rough.
https://www.amazon.com/Taking-Charge-Adult-Russell-Barkley/dp/1606233386
It's Taking Charge of Adult ADHD, my apologies.
This one for executive functioning: https://www.amazon.com/Taking-Charge-Adult-Russell-Barkley/dp/1606233386
Taking Charge of Adult ADHD has a symptom form on page 145 called "ADHD Symptom Tracking Scale" to track medication effectiveness. You might reference the book for ideas.
Section 1 is 18 symptoms to rank from Never/Rarely(0) to Very Often (3). Section 2 asks how the set of symptoms affects different parts of your life.
Yes, it does. Everything I had to do as a kid but didn’t want to was harder and induced tears and breakdowns and took 20 times longer than it should have. Later on, I just avoided or procrastinated to an extreme extent.
I struggled to remember and elaborate well during my assessment and received a subclinical diagnosis due to no early history but presenting issues in adult life.
After the diagnosis my psych recommended Taking Charge of Adult ADHD which covers how ADHD is in childhood as well. Of course this brought up more memories of things I did as a kid. If you have time before the assessment I’d recommend reading it as I think it’ll help frame your mindset to better explain how ADHD affects you now and did when you were younger.
It's actually called Taking Charge of ADHD
https://www.amazon.com/Taking-Charge-Adult-Russell-Barkley/dp/1606233386
My husband does not want help either. Also thinks he can do just fine on his own. But what he doesn't understand is that he is making progress because, I am encouraging certain conversations to happen which allows him to make connections in his own head about how his ADHD effects him and how he can manage better. So there is a lot of self help books / audio books, tips. Those things do help if you have a good understanding of ADHD, they really can help day to day life go a lot smoother.
My first baby step was increasing my own knowledge and understanding of exactly how ADHD effects someone. Little tips and tricks I passed on, things are a lot better than they were. There's a lot of casual reading material out there as well as lectures and stuff, I have not personally read some of the ADHD books (I think may be detailed on the front page), but other's have said they are very helpful.
Maybe you could encourage your husband to get an audio book version or just to read a few pages. Chances are it might interest him so much he'll hyper focus his way through it.
If I were buying a book today though, I'd start here: Taking Charge of Adult ADHD by Russell Barkley
I hope this helps!
> I personally lean towards Dr. Hallowell's perspective because I've found it more helpful in my day-to-day life
Yeah I think I agree - I think Barkley's stuff is phenomenal for explaining the validity of ADHD as a condition/disorder/disability/etc and explaining why and how it's not just an matter of discipline or laziness or know-how. Hallowell's stuff is great because it includes that but, like you said, helps with the daily management and I find it helps me feel validated and stay a little more hopeful.
I do have Barkley's book on managing adult ADHD on my reading list though so I'm very curious to see how it compares to Hallowell's practitioner approach.
It would probably more helpful for her to be asking the questions if she's willing to be helpful. Complaining is not going to be a successful strategy for her. She needs to help set up the household in a way that
is helpful.
http://www.amazon.com/Taking-Charge-Adult-Russell-Barkley/dp/1606233386
http://www.amazon.com/Stopping-Coaster-Someone-Attention-Disorder/dp/0981548709
He has a book Taking Charge of Adult ADHD which would have more treatment information. I have not seen much of this info in videos.
No problem! It took me a while (years, actually) to realize and to come to terms with the fact that I have ADHD. I've just started down the same road (diagnosis a month or so ago) and am still figuring things out, so I know how rough it is. Finally getting my diagnosis was a tremendous relief, and hopefully will be for you too. It's really empowering, to be honest, knowing this sort of thing about yourself, because you can finally start to deal with it in a healthy, effective way. If you've got time, you should watch these videos by Dr. Russel Barkley, one of the foremost ADHD researchers (and a very nice guy, I might add). He has also written some books that elaborate further into the disorder, covering treatment options, how to mitigate your ADHD symptoms in various aspects of life, and other coping mechanisms This one in particular should be helpful (I'm reading it now and am enjoying it very much): Taking Charge of Adult ADHD.
I should have covered that, you're right. Lack of foresight on my part. Russell Barkley describes it as perseveration. We have it backwards: rather than focusing really well, instead we fail to react to new appropriate stimuli. Getting "stuck", as it were, doing the same thing. I think this is why we (I say "we" because I strongly identify with your experience) don't have a big problem with fiction, which is interesting from moment to moment, while textbooks can prove less straightforward. That's also why Barkley describes it as a "time blindness" in his book. I strongly recommend getting the book, by the way - it really helped me conceptualise how ADHD impairs me.
Adding to what /u/Bookbringer said, I've been listening to Dr. Russell
Barkley's book, and he made an interesting observation. He noted that, generally speaking, the people who were diagnosed earlier had more severe cases of ADHD. On the flip side, people with milder cases and later diagnoses were frequently being treated for anxiety, depression, or both in addition to the ADHD. He argues that this is probably because ADHD either causes or severely exacerbates major self esteem and failure issues, both of which can easily contribute to or even full on cause A&D. In terms of how to deal with your doctor, I would say something like this:
"Hi (doctor) ___, while I agree that I show a lot of symptoms of depression and would probably benefit from treatment, I still think ADHD is worth looking into. I believe I show a lot of symptoms of it, and given the nature of my depression I think that these symptoms might be a contributing factor. If nothing else, exploring the possibility would make me feel calmer, because at least I'll know a little more about how my mind works.
Thank you,
/u/drakeymod."
It has been my general experience that proposing a combination of two conditions gets a better response than focusing entirely on the one that your provider doesn't think is the culprit. Furthermore, any doctor worth their salt should either help you look into this further, or be able to give you one hell of an explanation for why they don't think that's the case. On the off chance that your doctor is in the latter group, seek a second opinion, because if you're right (and I suspect you might be), then ignoring ADHD when treating depression is like trying to put out a fire beside a leaking oil drum by beating out the flames: it's horrifically inefficient.
this is the mostly suggested book for adult adhd (no idea about your age)
http://www.amazon.com/Taking-Charge-Adult-Russell-Barkley/dp/1606233386
Taking Charge of Adult ADHD is a great one. I own that one and it has lots of practical tips on how to manage your ADHD.
https://www.amazon.com/Taking-Charge-Adult-Russell-Barkley/dp/1606233386/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492364641&sr=8-1&keywords=taking+charge+of+adult+adhd
Also, this one explains how and why our brains evolved to have executive functions in the first place:
https://www.amazon.com/Executive-Functions-What-They-Evolved/dp/146250535X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492364578&sr=8-1&keywords=executive+functions+barkley
It's more for deep understanding of human nature and why people with ADHD are so impaired.
The first one I’ve read and found to be helpful. The second one I haven’t read, but I have implemented daily mindfulness practices and they almost singlehandedly saved me during a period of time when medications were failing me. The third I haven’t read but comes highly recommended by trusted sources.
Using CBT to Facilitate Coping Inside and Out The Adult ADHD Tool Kit (Paperback) - Common https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OKRFQIK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_UA5WAbKMDPNYF
The Mindfulness Prescription for Adult ADHD: An 8-Step Program for Strengthening Attention, Managing Emotions, and Achieving Your Goals https://www.amazon.com/dp/1590308476/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_pC5WAbSY00SDW
Taking Charge of Adult ADHD https://www.amazon.com/dp/1606233386/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_cD5WAb5JK6M71
I definitely think CBT with a therapist is something you should pursue. Before I had even made the connection that I might have adult ADHD, I started seeing someone who specialised in meditative therapies, his background being in Buddhism. I was a bit hesitant at first because, well, it sounded a bit hokey to me but it was actually very helpful. Something he said that is the perfect description for our condition (at least for me) is that "your mind is like a stallion running wild. We want to tame it--not break it--so you can take control of it". For whatever reason, that outlook helped a lot. Unfortunately, I had to stop seeing him because my insurance ran out but I would go back in a second.
Fast forward about a month and I have been formally diagnosed and am getting on medicine (its a clinical trial, 3rd phase--so we will see what happens) and until I get back on insurance I plan to use a couple books I found via a video that was actually posted by u/roland00 on another thread. (BTW that video was a lecture by Russell Barkley and was immensely helpful, so thank you very, very much u/roland00) Anyway there are a bunch out there but I went with this one and this one. Check the "customers also bought" section for others. Good luck on your journey!
Find a new doctor and then buy this doctor this book: https://www.amazon.com/Taking-Charge-Adult-Russell-Barkley/dp/1606233386