Adult Attention Deficit Disorder

Attention Deficit Disorder is often undiagnosed or is not diagnosed until you are an adult. When the latter occurs, it suddenly makes sense why some things have been so hard to do. People with ADD feel like they are carrying a 200 lb bag on their back. There is an inability to focus for long periods of time although it is possible at times to focus intensely on specific tasks. You might read a page and at the bottom did not know what you had read. You know the frustration when you hear a lecture or read an interesting article, but you can’t remember the details. Your desk is disorganized. You procrastinate. You feel that you could have accomplished so much more, even when you are very accomplished.

The first step to helping with ADD is to get a thorough assessment. One of the ways I do that is with a highly sensitive computer program that measures your attention for 22 minutes. We can identify the overt signs of ADD, and also the subtle hidden signs. Once we have a clear picture, we teach you a range of coping strategies that help you work around the ADD. Another helpful route is medicine. I work with the best pharmacologists in the city to prescribe what would help.

The medicines used are stimulants that allow the person to concentrate better. Medicine alone is not the answer, however. The rest of the treatment is behavioral and consists of learning a set of skills to change the behaviors that are ADD related. Another important element is the changing way emotions and thoughts affect the behavior.