Tag Archives: Attention Deficit Disorder

Jan 15 2015

Sneek a Peek inside my PRIVATE Journal

I’m never sure if I just have trouble following “rules”, have attention deficit disorder, or get easily bored.  I’ve decided it’s all three . . . and I’m not joking.

I decided to embrace “my tendencies” for the journal writing class.  Instead of just journal WRITING I’m combining it with doodling, collage, free writing (aka stream of consciousness) and what ever else might amuse me.

FURTHERMORE!

  • I do not like starting on blank white pages so I smeared paint on the pages.
  • I do not like doing anything in sequence.  I am just writing, doodling, collaging at random throughout the journal

Old Journal already covered with acrylic paint

Cover of old journal I’m using – already covered with acrylic paint

DSCN6194

A free-write with one-line doodles

Prompt "FIVE"

Prompt “FIVE”

In class – randomly pick a word cut out from newspaper.  Free associate a list of words  (The last word written might have significance).  I free associated all over the page and lost track of the last word (which, as you know, is rare for me as I like to get in the last word).

Maybe it unconsciously prompted this next collage?

FIVE Fingers

FIVE Fingers

I might use this collage as a writing prompt to see what my unconscious is saying  . . .  or not

DSCN6190

It’s suggested to journal 3 pages every day.  Instead of 3 pages I did 3 sections: Free writing, things-to-do-list and one-line bird doodles

P.S. Since this is my PRIVATE journal don’t tell anyone else.

Feb 10 2013

Can’t Focus on Focusing? ADD/ADHD Self Assessment

P1020463Attention Deficit, Hyper-activity Disorder/ Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD/ADD) can be a serious condition impacting not just children but also adults.  The self-assessment below is just a check-list of major symptoms.

Diagnosis & treatment always needs to be done by a Medical Doctor.  

I’ve never thought of myself as having ADD.  When I was growing up this was not a diagnosis.  Even though my answers are tongue-in-cheek (but true) this type of brain processing can be a serious impairment for many.

Managing Adult ADHD symptoms

Self-assessment check-list:

Adults with ADHD are more likely to:

  • Lose their jobs  (I have  been close to losing my job but I’m smarter than my boss and clever enough to talk her out of it)
  • Have interpersonal difficulties with coworkers and managers (Solution:  I work for myself)
  • Experience relationship difficulties and breakups (I break myself up as often as I can.  The laughs help minimize the difficulties)
  • Struggle with substance abuse, if they’re not treating their condition (My substance of choice is carbs and sugar.  It’s never a struggle . . . just give in)

If you think you might have ADHD or ADD, answer the below questions. Do you often do the following?

  1. Find it difficult to concentrate? (So far, so good)
  2. Hyperfocus on things you want to do and don’t notice the passage of time? (I have 4 clocks in my 12 x 12 office. AND my job IS to HYPERFOCUS on my clients)
  3. Have difficulty getting organized? (Too personal a question)
  4. Miss appointments, deadlines, or other obligations?  (Way too personal)
  5. Make lots of careless mistakes?  (They aren’t careless, just relatively unimportant.  I hyperfocus on what IS important)
  6. Procrastinate when given a task? (Only on tasks that are not fun or interesting)
  7. Bounce from project to project, unable to complete most of them? (I rarely complete any project because I’m into process not product)
  8. Have racing thoughts?  (Only when I’m taking a test like this)
  9. Become easily bored and lose track in conversations? (When the conversations are about me I never bore)
  10. Make impulsive decisions (e.g., spend money, change plans, or become sexually involved with someone? (WAAAAAAAY  too personal a questions)
  11. Blurt inappropriate things and sometimes get in trouble for it? (I never blurt, only interject)
  12. Find it difficult to sit still? (Not when I’m hyperfocusing)
  13. Have low self-esteem as a result of past failures? (I’ve moved on from past failures – remember I’m into PROCESS, not product)
  14. Consider yourself an underachiever in school? (I WAS an under achiever – graduated at the BOTTOM of the top 10%)

If you answered yes to at least 10 of these questions, you may have ADHD. (You be the judge, I lost interest in counting half way through)

“Diagnosing adult ADHD is a difficult science because it overlaps with other mental health disorders, which makes diagnosis tricky. Also, much of the diagnostic research to date has been done on children, and the diagnostic features that doctors use for children often take different form in adults. The only way to know for sure if you have adult ADHD is to work closely with your doctor on assessing your symptoms and medical history.”  Managing Adult ADHD symptoms

May 25 2011

Hopefully “Curiosity Killed the Cat” is now an Urban Myth

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Curiosity killed the cat” is a proverb used to warn against being too curious lest one come to harm. A less frequently seen rejoinder to “curiosity killed the cat” is “satisfaction brought it back”.[1]

In my Most Marvelous Men’s Group today we were talking about purpose and how there is a thread that runs through our lives from the very beginning that helps point to our greater purpose in life.  (Well, actually I was talking and they were listening. I probably was lecturing since that is closer to my own purpose than just talk!)

As an example, I shared that one thread in my life has been curiosity.  I am interested in so many different things that I know a little about a lot or a lot about little . . .  Many people find me “scattered” or roll their eyes when they hear about a new project I’ve undertaken.

Growing up, my curiosity about my world led me to believe something was wrong with me.

  • Why didn’t I become an expert in one topic instead of a dilettante in many?
  • Why did I start something and then not finish it before moving on to something new?
  • Why did I waste time reading the dictionary for fun, looking up the meaning of words that I would never use?
  • Why did I become disinterested once I tried something?
  • Why did I constantly read non-fiction books but rarely finished any?
  • AND Why wasn’t I living up to my potential

I’ve now decided that I am neither stupid nor unfocused –  just curious – once my curiosity has been satisfied I move on to the next curious thing.  It’s enriched and kept me engaged in life. And part of my purpose is to help others become curious about life and possibilities.

Have any of you had a similar experience?  

Just curious.

“The earliest printed reference to the origin of this proverb is attributed to the British playwright Ben Jonson in his 1598 play, Every Man in His Humour, which was performed first by William Shakespeare.”

…Helter skelter, hang sorrow, care will kill a cat, up-tails all, and a pox on the hangman.

Curiosity hasn’t received a good press over the centuries:

  • Saint Augustine wrote in Confessions, AD 397, that, in the eons before creating heaven and earth, God “fashioned hell for the inquisitive”.
  • John Clarke, in Paroemiologia, 1639 suggested that “He that pryeth into every cloud may be struck with a thunderbolt”.
  • In Don Juan, Lord Byron called curiosity “that low vice”. 
  • In the 21 st century it’s sometimes labeled a Disorder – (a good thing that Attention Deficit Disorder wasn’t around when I was growing up or I would have been drugged out of my curiosity)
Apr 20 2011

A = Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder

I think I remember I forgot to write a post for “A” in the Blogging Challenge A – Z

And just in case I forgot the letter “D” this will satisfy that too.

Thanks Joyce for the video,  if it was you who sent it to me.

 If you weren’t the one who sent it “Thank you” to whomever sent it to me.

 If no one sent it and I found it myself then forget it.