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Adult ADHD Support Group
Time: 10:30am-12:30pm
Date: Sunday, 19th February
Location: Waterloo
Topic: "Working with ADHD?" with Coach Andrew Lewis
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The Gift of ADD?
Biased research
There has been virtually no research into the advantages of ADD, sadly the medical establishment is just not that interested in this area. For many doctors, arguing the “disorder” model is understandably a much easier way to gain funding and support for patients than a more complicated “neurological difference than can cause problems” model would be. Those with ADD traits but who don't suffer serious problems are excluded from diagnosis, seemingly for "medical convenience". You cannot be ADD and function well in society?
Medicine understands disorder
Medicine tends to define everything as disorder or illness; that is the business of doctors, psychiatrists, pharmaceuticals and therapists. There is no scope for medicine to define strengths, abilities, traits or attributes. If ADD is a genetically inherited, neurological difference that brings both good and bad, then the doctors have immediately excluded all the functioning people with ADD by their definition. This is deliberate selection of “disordered ADD” only. The well-functioning people with ADHD are excluded, they may have challenges but their strengths help them overcome them and survive, even excel, in society. Research indicates that around 40% of people with ADD have had problems with depression, is this figure so high because the DSM criteria specifically rule out happy ADD people who find their niche in the World? The scientists have not done any research on positive traits, maybe one day they will, but with no pharmaceutical funding it may be a long wait.
Who needs executive functions?
I struggle with the logic behind ADD only being negative. Human left-brained executive functions were a very late addition in evolutionary terms, to the already very sophisticated human mind. Sometimes they seem to have too strong a grip on an individual forcing blind obedience, excess worry and anxiety about the future, creating illness and stress as the logical left brain "fights" the more intuitive emotional right brain, creating denial and justification for negative behaviour? I wonder whether we would see problems like global warming, pollution and the frequent abuse of power, if human executive functions were less dominant?
As a late addition to our neurology, the executive functions in effect interfere with normal brain processing by "biasing" our decisions toward future reward, structure and conformity. I am being a little extreme here and no doubt people with ADD (myself included) suffer many problems from having weaker executive functions, but these functions are by no means perfect! A gentler touch from the frontal lobes, allows the original more intuitive, pattern seeking, big picture seeing right brain to be more dominant. No bad thing if you want to be creative, passionate and fully engaged.
ADD Gifts
Some doctors do argue the benefits, my favourite being Dr. Edward Hallowell, ADHD himself, he recognises ADD gifts in his books such as Delivered from Distraction
- Creative talent
- Out-of-the-box, original thinking
- Unconventional in humour, thought and action
- Persistence and tenacity
- Warm-hearted and generous
- Highly intuitive
To date science has seemingly obstinately ignored the possibility, despite the evidence, that many significant contemporary figures are ADD and that many significant figures from history seem to meet the DSM IV ADD criteria. Declared ADD individuals like Richard Branson of Virgin and Robbie Williams the singer, look to be the tip of the iceberg of people with ADD that make, or whose past inventions, creations, explorations and changes have made, a vast beneficial difference to our lives today. Science is not likely to change its focus from disorder to difference any time soon, but we can hope and keep asking. In the meanwhile over the next months, I plan to focus on these positive traits and explain how those living with ADD and ADHD can take better advantage of them.