Controlling ADD/ADHD

Adult ADD/ADHD can present challenges across all areas of life, from getting organized at home to reaching your potential at work. It can be tough on your health and both your personal and on-the-job relationships. Your symptoms may lead to extreme procrastination, trouble making deadlines, and impulsive behavior. In addition, you may feel that friends and family don’t understand what you’re up against.

Fortunately, there are skills you can learn to help get your symptoms of ADD/ADHD under control. You can improve your daily habits, learn to recognize and use your strengths, and develop techniques that help you work more efficiently, increase organization, and interact better with others. Change won’t happen overnight, though. These ADD/ADHD self-help strategies require practice, patience, and, perhaps most importantly, a positive attitude.

You may be holding onto misconceptions about how much you can help yourself with adult ADD/ADHD.
MYTH: Medication is the only way to solve my ADD/ADHD.
FACT: While medication can help some people manage the symptoms ADD/ADHD, it is not a cure, nor the only solution. If used at all, it should be taken alongside other treatments or self-help strategies.
MYTH: Having ADD/ADHD means I’m lazy or unintelligent, so I won’t be able to help myself.
FACT: The effects of ADD/ADHD may have led to you and others labeling you this way, but the truth is that you are not unmotivated or unintelligent—you have a disorder that gets in the way of certain normal functions. In fact, adults with ADD/ADHD often have to find very smart ways to compensate for their disorder.
MYTH: A health professional can solve all my ADD/ADHD problems.
FACT: Health professionals can help you manage symptoms of ADD/ADHD, but they can only do so much. You’re the one living with the problems, so you’re the one who can make the most difference in overcoming them.
MYTH: ADD/ADHD is a life sentence—I’ll always suffer from its symptoms.
FACT: While it is true that there is no cure for ADD/ADHD, there is a lot you can do to reduce the problems it causes. Once you become accustomed to using strategies to help yourself, you may find that managing your symptoms becomes second nature.