I think I had some ADD symptoms when I was still healthy. Procrastination, for instance. I worked really hard to conquer that one, though, and it was much better by my mid-20s.

Ever since I developed problems with anxiety and depression and also other non-psych diagnoses (chronic fatigue syndrome and autoimmune diseases), my mind ranges from perfectly clear and organized at the best of times to a horrible, foggy muddle. I read a description somewhere of an ADD person as "late, lost, and unprepared" and wanted to wail "that's me!!!" Not always, but way too often.

I recently read Change Your Brain, Change Your Life by Daniel Amen. It's not a new book, but I found the sections on ADD very helpful. For one thing, I only had a vague idea what ADD really was. (I'm not including the "H" here when talking about myself, because that's not something I have too much of a problem with, or at least, those "H" tendencies that I have are not messing up my life like the ADD ones are.)

Dr. Amen talks about people who have ADD/ADHD just "naturally", and he also says that depression can cause the symptoms, and also that the wrong mix of antidepressants/psych meds can cause the symptoms. Yikes on that last one!

There were some tips about organizing, etc. I want/need to find more tips. Most of what's readily available is geared towards children and homework. I've been looking for something that's more for adults but haven't found it yet. When I do find it/create it, I think I'll have to tape it to my wall or else I will forget about it in a few days' time.

I'm trying to embrace the idea that I need to learn new skills to counteract the muddle I get in so often. I don't know about taking medication for it. I may mention it to my pdoc the next time I see him, but I definitely want to do the organization/skills building thing.

My brain has been slipping back into ADD mode the last 4-5 days, so I haven't been working on this right now. I've been trying to figure out where I lost my bus pass.