So, you have some issues with focus and concentration...now what? There is a connection to anxiety and attention deficit. What are the symptoms and signs?
Women are usually the ones to be diagnosed later on in life. Unless they were hyperactive, dyslexic,or had other issues in school that prompted immediate attention. For instance, if you had an IEP (individualized education plan) or 504 with the school district...or a really good teacher who kept their eye on you, chances are, you were probably not going to be sent for testing.
Years pass, and you have created some coping mechanisms to get by. Maybe you were SUPER athletic, and that helped to keep you on top of burning the extra energy.
Maybe you were the kind of woman who had a ton of sticky notes all over the place. And I mean..EVERYWHERE. Stickies in the car. Stickies in the kitchen. Apps galore.
And you still missed appointments...
And you still felt unaccomplished...
And you still missed dates, birthdays, anniversaries...
Some adjectives used to describe you may have been: flighty, unkept, forgettful, messy, artistic, scattered, overly chatty, jittery, disheveled, or even hyperfocused on the WRONG things.
This is not uncommon
I've had patients who found that they were only able to focus best with a tv on, airpods in, and their computer on something in the background. For some reason, it created "silence" for them. Some needed a quiet room and accomodations from teachers and school in order to finish a test or assignment. If not, they'd be walking around, bugging other classmates, or get lost in some task they should have finished 30 minutes ago.
Speech is often different too. I've had patients who find themselves stuttering over words, as they are clouded with so many things that they just need to say. And they can't say it all at the same time, right? So they bounce from one topic to another even in the middle of the topic of conversation. And it frustrates those whom they love.
...Sometimes your husband just wanted to know what you thought about for dinner..not get caught on a story about the can-opener, which led you to a story about being in the supermarket and seeing Amy who's son has a cold, and he goes to your church, and he has the cutest freckles, but bosses your kids around....you get my point...
What are your options? Will you be like this forever?
You can do medication. You can get counseling to learn about any trauma, anxiety, or coping mechanisms in connection to why you do what you. You can even hire a specialist to help you work on executive functioning. You can takes vitamins and supplements and nootropics to help you "get it together". Or, you could also go with the popular option of suffering in silence, and surviving on coffee and Red Bull three to four times a day to get by. It may be this way lifelong. With kids or a stressful work environment you'll likely notice "flares". But when you get to "Netflix and chill", don't have somewhere to be, no kids to shuffle around, then it may go undetected.
If you want to go the med route, there are a number of options out there that your practitioner can get you acquainted with. For many, that does make them nervous.. and for some, they just decide to bite the bullet.
Been on medication before? Feel like the doses didn't work? Concerned about becoming addicted to the use of stimulants?
These are all valid concerns. I'm a true believer that medications should not be used as a fix-all. You're still going to have to learn to do some things, or revamp some brain wires, in order to see some true change. Because more people are becoming diagnosed. And more pharmacies are finding their stock on backorder. And more and more people are demanding a pill to cure the ill.
Consider this:
Make a Colorful Schedule: Use different colors for different activities on your schedule. Yes! An actual board in the house, or Google Calendar (if you're like me). Mark important times with a notification or an alarm..and LABEL the alarm. I had to catch myself on that. I had like 9,029,392 alarms going off throughout the day and it was driving my hubby crazy!
Get moving: You need to get that dopamine to dump!
Time yourself: Set that timer on your phone and really stick to it. When cleaning the kitchen, picking up after the kids, and plug in time to just do nothing. Yeaaas...toes up.
Labs, lately? Has your provider tested your catecholamine levels? It takes a look at your dopamine levels (not too many people actually care to know this, but it will blow your mind to put the pieces together)...
Fidget stuff: If you have something you can do before bed, downtime, or in the morning specifically for hand coordination, it released dopamine and helps with engagement. Whatever happened to fidget spinners?
Enlist the minions (if ya got em'): If your littles are of age, absolutely ask or bribe them to help you out. You'd be surprised what they can accomplish when they know they're responsible for a task to help Mommy.
I hope this helps. Give yourself grace. Some days are still going to be rough. But you've got this.
-Sip, sip
Cre
Think you may have ADHD and want to learn about your options? Concerned about what else you can do to support yourself with a possible diagnosis besides the use of an amphetamine?
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