National AD/HD Awareness Day
September 17, 2008
I'm hosting
an event in Santa Rosa in recognition of National AD/HD Awareness Day on
September 17, 2008. Please come if you are local. Contact me for time and
location.
Ever since
my diagnosis 5 years ago, I've been passionate about informing people about this
issue. My diagnosis proved to be a blessing because it helped me understand so
much of my life. It definitely helped me develop self-compassion, which has
changed everything.
So many
adults in their mid-50's are discovering after years of having this condition
and finally hitting some kind of wall, which they can't climb over, that much of
what they condemned themselves for was unavoidable.
So many
metaphors have explained it so succinctly for me. The PFC (pre-frontal cortex)
of the brain is the part most affected by having ADD. It's like having no
symphony conductor to tell the various parts when to act. It's like driiving in
the rain with bad windshield wipers. It's like needing glasses, not knowing it
for years and squinting in an attempt to bring things into focus.
I got caught
in the ADHD net at the end of my certification in coaching school. My supervisor
told me I was having a hard time with self management. Yes, that pretty much
named it. People with ADD have problems with "self regulation". They don't know
when to quit , how to start or how to stop once they get moving. Dr. Hallowell,
the author of Driven to Distraction, tells kids with ADD that they have "race
car" brains and "bicycle brakes". He describes himself as a brake doctor who
helps kids learn to put on their brakes.
