Is A.D.H.D./A.D.D. A Gift or A Curse?

I don’t know if I consider it a gift but it certainly is not a disability. I hate the way people whine about them being disabled because of ADD. I am no more disable because of ADD than I would be if I had lost four fingers on one hand or I lost a foot in the war. No D stands for disability and a person with ADD is NOT BROKEN. I do have advantages as an adult because of my ADD but I would also have an if I were smart enough to be in mensa. I am just differant thats all.

I have begun to ponder the question of why would some people think it is a gift and others a curse. I think it is a function of how it affected your life and when you learned you had this gift/curse. If your experience is more like mine where you discover when you are almost fifty years old that all of the problems you have had in your life can be traced to this “gift,” then you may conclude that this is a gift you would rather not have. (This is, to a degree, the point brought up by Tara McGillicuddy. ) However, if your life is more like that of Jennifer Koretsky who, it seems, discovered fairly early in life (in her 20′s, I believe) that she has A.D.D., well…that’s a completely different story. She did not, and will not, go through the next 25 years (or more) of her life with her eyes closed. (Jennifer’s post on the subject is here. It was this post that got me started on revisiting the gift/curse issue.)
So what affect it has had on your life, what “life skills” you were given by your upbringing and, finally, when you discovered you had this “gift” will greatly influence whether you do, indeed, see it as some sort of gift that makes you different and not disabled, or whether you see it as a handicap of sorts that you wish you could eliminate from your life. So, there really is no right or wrong answer to the question posed by the post’s title.

And thank you for posting a comment.

It’s both a gift and a curse if you have ADD/ADHD what ever you are good at you are REALLY good at and things your bad at range from some waht bad to really there are negitive and positve sides to it.

ADD is a gift if you know how to control it like I do , if you are not strong enough to control it , than it is a curse , its your choice , not the ADD’s

Jeremy,

How do you manage to do that?
Control the A.D.D., that is. If you know something about this, there is a whole boatload of people who would like to know about it. It would be of real interest to us all if you could say more.

Jeremy,

Please…don’t hold out on us. If you’ve got some great techniques for controlling A.D.D., let us know what it is. If it requires a lot of explanation I can put it up as a regular post.

There are lots of different ways of controlling your ADD, Exercising in the morning to get the energy out of you for the day is one thing you can do to immediately start seeing a change in your attitude. It works for me. I run a tread mill every morning for 45 minuets.

People with ADD are wired differently in the mind. We think differently than 90% of the rest of the population. People are not born in my opinion with ADD. In my experience with ADD… Wait … See I show the bad ADD traits such procrastination, sleepiness when I am not dealing with my mind properly. ADD is the result of one trying to use his brain like everyone else does, Hence resulting in ADD. Kind of like the normal way of thinking is a square and our way of thing is a circle. You cant stick the square in the circle. You cant use the same thinking methods that everyone else uses. The result is ADD. If I use my brain the way it was genetically programed to be used than most of those bad traits of ADD do not affect me in my everyday life. As a matter of fact it puts me way ahead of others.

For instance, in my life I don’t get involved in anything that I don’t have passion for. If you do something or have a conversation about something that you do not have 101% ambition and passion for , to the point you would die for it, than you will get distracted, you will disrupt people in debating or conversations, you will dream off, you will feel like your going through hell. This is the problem with our schools and ADD children. Most 12 year olds can care less about what some Asian leader did 1200 years ago(global social studies I raised hell in that class). But if that same kid is interested in math and science than I bet you any money he would sit still, not disrupt anyone if the class was studying the social studies of Newton, Da Vinci, Or Gallieo.

Let me say something, Long before the book ” The Da Vinci Method” came out , I always believed my condition was a gift this was my intuition, I used my condition as a weapon in school, business, and my social life. When I read the Da Vinci Method , I was so excited and motivated by my condition when reading that book because it had confirmed a lot of the intuitions I was having when starting university at the age of 16. See when I was 16(1999) and was in University thats really when I started to try to control my mind. I had back in 1999 intuitions about things such as the current global political situation, the job situation in our country, telecommunications trends, and current flow of internet social networking technologies that is gripping our society. A lot of my friends called me a day dreamer, a ” Pie in the sky” type of talker, today ten years later , a lot of them are now are giving me investment money in the social governance projects I am working on, buying stock in my company and see my intuitions in the media that I talked about ten years ago. My gut feeling is not 100% right , but when I put the right mix of mood , energy , distraction, and will behind trying to figure something out , I would say yes I my gut feeling is right 90% of the time the first time , that number is much higher the 2nd or third time. I can come up with the most creative algorithms and answers to complex problems in seconds with out even thinking about them in depth. Ready, Fire, Aim is a good example , if you are showing signs of ADD , and try Ready Aim Fire! than watch the distractibility unfold and the dreaming off start and your life go through hell. Your Brain is not programed for that way of thinking.

Like research is starting to lean towards that people that have the Da Vinci gene have different brain waves. Stronger Beta, and Theta waves in our heads they say we have. The book and research also tell you that using music can help align these waves in your brain. I am not a 100% believer in this as of yet cause I don’t think there is enough scientific evidence that shows this. BUT my intuition says this is 100% correct and by experience , listing to certain types of music enhance my creative skills(listing to Mozart while studying or writing computer code). Or simply listening to Beethoven before I head out in morning , this I can attest to.

So exercise , listen to good brain wave music, only do the things you would die for, and only listen to your gut Instinct thinking things through to much will raise hell in your brain. These are things for maybe the past three years I have really been able to focus on doing on a daily basis that have helped me regularly control my ADD maybe 20% of the time. You may say Wow only 20% of the time, thats not much , but that is 20% of the time every single day thats about 3 or 4 hours out of the day. Enough for me to follow my dreams and make 100k a year. There are other things I do that control my ADD as high as 40 or 50 percent, but I am not a master of this yet so I will not explain them here. But if I am ever able to do this 7 or 8 hours out of the day WORLD WATCH OUT!!!!!!

Remember ADD is the result of not knowing how to use the gift you have.

I like to think of having the Da Vinci gene as kinda like being a Jedi. It is a special gift and power of the mind that we do not completely understand yet. Yet since proves even today that yes it is a power that alot of famous and influential people posses and use.

This gift is something our society has but really does not understand what it is. It is a power, a power of knowledge, and instant problem solving, creativity, discovery and having your intuition tell you the future. Look at the people who have publicly come forward and said they have their ADD under control, guys like Richard Branson, Michael Jordan , Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Look at the list on the Da Vinici site. I have never met someone with ADD that says they have it under control and not be extremely successful in what they do.

I am in so way shape or form associated with these people http://areyouadavinci.com/ but for those who feel helpless and disorded really need to do thier research and read this book. Wake up and smell the fucking coffee and learn who you are. if you want to chat with mr Doctor you can add cyberfab007 on your skype or email me.

Jeremy Fabiano

You know this article is a perfect example of what I just said, I have the 101% passion,will, and ambition for helping people, though I have never tried to help people with my gift cause I always thought I was not experienced enough to do so. But when writing that post, I was not distracted, disruptive, and it is the first time I have ever written such a post. I did not think about what I was writing , I just did it ( did it at about 120 words per minuet typing) It took all of 15 minuets.

Do you people understand now?

Jeremy,

Thank you for responding as quickly as you did. I thought you were going to offer something that was earth shattering. Instead, you’ve reiterated what is already known. It is already known that exercise helps the A.D.D. mind and it is known that music – the so-called Mozart Effect – has a beneficial effect on many…not just A.D.D.ers. Yet what has surprised me is that someone who is as intelligent as you are – not everyone starts college at 16 – has fallen for the most obvious of fallacies. You have confused correlation with causation. You are not alone in this. The knuckleheads at Unwrapping the B.S. also claim some sort of causal link between A.D.D. and genius. Ad hominem attacks aside, a scientific study requires more than five or ten geniuses who have A.D.D. This does not constitute proof. In fact you are ignoring the millions of A.D.D.ers who are NOT geniuses, who are NOT uber-capitalists. If A.D.D. were THE cause, then anyone with A.D.D. SHOULD, by your logic (and the knucklehead’s logic too) be a genius. If anything, you have been a success IN SPITE of your A.D.D. You’ve learned to contain/control your A.D.D. so that your intelligence can come through.

Jeremy,

I finally got around to reading your posts on this subject.I have to agree with the 2nd sentence of Jeff’s response(and his entire response),regarding reiterating what is already known.

I have only started my own investigation about ADD,and the symptoms that relate to my own mental state of mind. I believe what you are doing to be successful in life is great for you,according to you. And wish you the best.

Personally, I find a great deal of comfort in listening to a variety of music played by gifted guitarist (Jerry Garcia,Dicky Betts,Junior Brown,to name a few). But that’s the point of my response.

People w/ADD and people without ADD have they’re own way of dealing with life. Right or wrong,I think it is a matter of personal opinion. That’s a gift I will always have..that’s a freedom I will die for.

Your question “Do you people understand now.” I can only understand you are fast typer,and admire that. I use 1 finger(or 2 if I’m feeling really coordinated).

Scott.

Jeremy,

I’m still trying to understand. You stated, you have a dream of making 100K a year. I just made 1000K in a few seconds. Try holding the K button down on your keyboard.

I did’nt have to even smell F’ing coffee to do this. Or purchase a book. It’s just one of my amazing gifts.

Do you understand now? My way of dealing with ADD?

Scott.

Scott,

Here’s your A.D.D. Brilliance coming through!!

“I didn’t have to even smell F’ing coffee to do this. Or purchase a book. It’s just one of my amazing gifts.”

Frackin’ Great!!

Thank You Jeff,

I counting right now,,,,I see Da Vinci typed 5 times. I think I will see if I can trade my book “You Can Be A Genius By Using Sarcasm” For that Da Vinci book.

Scott.

OMG THANK YOU for talking about this. I HATE it when people say that ADD is a gift. Like you said, there are different types of ADD. Just because you happen to have an easier form of ADD to deal with doesn’t mean you can make the statement that ADD is a gift. I mean, sure there are ways of dealing with it. Exercising will definitely make it better. I’ve even heard of people who take a certain drug or supplement and, along with exercise, are doing really well! However, to call it a gift??? That’s just stupid. Personally, if it weren’t for my faith in God, ADD would have destroyed my life. And it HAS made my life pretty darn miserable. I hate it… I really do. Yeah I deal with it, I take multivitamins, I try to exercise as much as I can but I also get sick a lot so that’s hard for me. Basically ADD just makes whatever situation you’re dealing with in life a whole lot worse. The benefits definitely DO NOT outweigh the drawbacks, at least in my case.

Also I love the sense of humor

Christina,

I’m always glad to hear that something I’ve written has struck a chord with a reader so, thank you for letting me know. I’m in COMPLETE agreement with you that the benefits DO NOT outweigh the drawbacks. Further, there is no scientific evidence of there being any benefits whatsoever. Anything that could be labeled a “benefit” is really just an attempt -on the part of an ADDer- to put a positive spin on something that is not positive at all. Bottom line, though, is that we have to live with our ADD so we might as well paint a smile on that ogre instead of seeing it as the ogre it really is. However, some days…it’s just an ogre.

Christina,

I have been thinking about this gift thing, and I have been very critical of ppl who try to sell me on the idea that ADD is a gift. I understand how you feel when someone says:”ADD is a gift!”

At first(be diagnosed with ADD)I thought it was just a thing that happened later in life to me(47 or 48 yrs old,can’t remember, lol). Did’nt realy even know what ADD is,I just knew I was having problems, and needed to see a Dr. and know why my mind was screwing up. Then started the meds for it. When the meds started working(the same day I started taking them),I felt as if I was “gifted”, because I realized how great I was at doing stuff, that most ppl can’t do. And always had been, but never knew it. Then comes the bad news…I looked back on my life, and saw a boy that that was never satified or knew why he was un-happy being who was.

That could’nt be gift, no matter what anybody says,writes,or tries to sell me. But I’m not going to stop living, and I have to try as hard as I can to control what will never stop being a curse. One of the hardest thing for me to do is be patient with ppl that say having ADD or any mental illness,disease,etc.. may be a good thing, if we look at it as a good thing.But I’m learning(and trying) to not judge a person that wants to decieve themselves only. But I have ADD and it it is not good…..I will boldly say:”To not have ADD or any mental problems..IS A GIFT!”

Jeff,

Oh yeah Bro. You most certainly “struck a chord” with this subject! Your name is well known for telling the truth! Some ppl it seams are a little defensive about it though……But that’s great! It shows that you are being heard! Some ppl are trying to make a living out of not telling the truth about ADD, so I saved the parts of the turkey I cooked, that I don’t like, and will let em eat it, when they are starving.

Gotta tell ya, Scott. Telling the truth has gotten me in trouble many times in my life. No one really likes to hear it.

I know what ya mean Jeff. I wonder if being honest is a gift? It can sometimes be a bad decision to be too honest, I think, for me. If someone I care about asks me my opinion about..lets say for instance, a freind asks me:”Dose this job I did building new cabinets in my kitchen look good?”

If I tell him how I realy(honestly) think about his craftmanship, it could make him think that I think I am a better and more skilled than he is. And that would be the honest truth (lol). But It would be better for him and me if I would say:”Yeah man, looks great!”

But when it comes to a question of serious matters about his(or his familys) health and well being, then I must be honest at the risk of losing a friend.

Part 1
ADHD is paradoxically both a gift and a curse and in fact, is often regarded as being "the curse of genius" since 98% of all geniuses have ADHD.
When an ADHD person needs to learn something that interests him, he or she learns it almost instantly with little apparent effort.
The downside is that when having to learn something boring, the ADHD person has difficulty slowing his/her mind down and maintaining that slowness long enough to sustain focus on a boring subject. An ADHD person also constantly notices little things that others whose minds are moving at normal slower speed, never notice.
An ADHD person will notice designs in wood grain, patterns of ceiling tiles, the sound of high heels clacking in the hall, the argument on the phone in the next room, and a myriad other things, ALL AT ONCE.

Part 2
ADHD people often have an easier time staying physically fit & maintaining an ideal weight range, because of all the extra exercise & calories burnt in fidgeting, etc.
ADHD also gives the blessing of youthfulness well into old age. The ADHD adult will be the one participating in childrens & teenagers activities & having as much fun as the kids are having.
An excellent example of the paradox of ADHD is Einstein, who was one of the greatest geniuses of all time, and who, even as an old man, playfully stuck his tongue out when being photographed just as a mischievious kid would do .
(Had to split it since error message kept saying it was too long, but of course never says what the maximum allowed length even IS. And I see other comments were longer than mine…so…damifino!)

"98% of all geniuses have ADHD." This is astounding news! I suspected this was about right. But I've never been able to find an authoritative source to back up this claim. I assume YOU did…right? Can you share the link? I assume the link will be to a scientific study based on lots of data. Am I correct?

MORE GREAT NEWS!! This is WONDERFUL! ADHD people can easily stay physically fit (even though they may load up on carbs to slow down their brain and which contributes to weight gain). And they engage in so many youthful activities. Even better, sticking out your tongue PROVES you have ADHD. As I write this, I'm sticking out my tongue and I am finding that I have a better grasp of inertial frames of reference and their possible relationship to Lorenz Transformations though, I gotta be real honest, I'm not sure if sticking out my tongue is helping me to to understand how any of this relates to quarks, charm, or the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.

Anyway, I've learned so much today. Thanks for sharing this information. Now, please excuse me while I go and play with those little children over there.

Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with Jeff, and ask you to cite your sources. Even on my side that doesn't sound like… anything I've ever heard about ADHD. Actually, people with ADHD are statistically standard with others (That was my third concession in part 1), and ADHDers are no more likely the be fat or skinny. I have ADHD and it has taken a lot of work for me to get into the shape I am (I lost 42 pounds). And working out is a little hard because a half hour is a long time on a treadmill for a guy who has an attention span of about 4 minutes.

Thank you for your support, but please, cite your sources. An English professor once told me "You have no Idea how little authority your voice holds. Until you have a degree, you site your sources." I know it's a little brutal, but it's the honest truth, and that's what you get when you have professors in your family.

- Paradigm of Thought

Albert was so silly. Remember when he got stuck on the monkey bars hanging upside down? Those short kids were jumping up and holding on to his hair. His scalp was so strong that even shrort heavy out of shape non ADD boys could not pull hard enough to pull his hair out. The bright side of that story is >An unfortegable Hair Style!! That Isaac Newton would have been amazed by!!

“I believe A.D.D. is a gift because to see it for what it truly is – the incurable curse – is too depressing. I will give back this gift in a heart beat. I will trade this gift for a bit less intelligence. I will trade this gift for a bit more sleep. I will trade this gift for a bit more stability in my life.”

Pfff. Look as I quinch at the the ignorance. You are the equivalent to Cypher in the movie matrix. Ya know….the one who wants to be plugged back in.

I wouldn’t say that ADD makes me smarter than everyone else but it sure as hell is a perspective that can not be taught. I would say it gives a person more potential than the average. Hyper sensitivity is such a nice trait. I love my ability to psychoanalyze myself and others. I am way above par in reading body language. Hyper sensitivity causes people to over feel their own feelings which is why people have problems focusing and other issues. The only cure is educating yourself about yourself. If you understand why you feel the way you do it relieves the anxiety and THAT makes perfect sense. Instead of wondering why everyone else isn’t feeling as strongly as you are, understand they also feel the SAME THINGS but your internal body language volume meter is on 9 whiles theres is on 5. What you hear loud and clear is just a faint whisper to the normies. Now thats a huge advantage if you ask me. ADD destroys the human ability to be conforming…..DAAAARRRNNNN. You are being forced to be true to yourself. What a fucking curse. I guess I have the advantage of learning at a very young age that I was ADD and add to that I started in music at a very young, you can imagine where all my so called extra energy went to. Also add several encyclopedias to my disposal at a young age and you could image elementary through high school was extremely boring.

So if ADD is so wonderful mr. courtney why are people struggling with it so?

Well the majority of the population is not ADD therefore education is geared toward the major. Which involves a lot of sitting, being quiet and listening to someone talk. For an ADD person this means not being able to satisfy his curiosity because after the teacher has said 5 words the ADD child already has 5 questions that he really wants answered right now before the teacher continues. And then after realizing he’s not going to get his answers without a fight, since hes being “disruptive”, he proceeds to stare out the window to ignore the poorly taught topic and tackle topics in his mind that give some type of gratification. Now that has nothing to do with instant gratification it has to do with quality of education. Who wants to be half taught? That was just 6 grade…

Rather than describe my own perspective on the topic lets get down to the how, as in how to make yourself a more efficient ADD person. Some others state this as controlling add…whatever

First is education. You need to educate yourself on what you are in for as far as ADD is concerned so you can anticipate and expect what is to come. This almost immediately cause all anxiety to cease. Its very comforting to be able to expect how certain situations are going to make you feel, go into the situation and have the expected come true. If you do this on a basic/core level you can’t go wrong. The better you get at it, the more specific you can be in your predictions and the more it will become 2nd nature. If you expect to feel “I hate this job I want to go home” you wont leave cause you understand you all ready took that into consideration and obviously still choose to go versus the uneducated ADD person who is plagued by these feelings but has no conclusion why…hes thinking “maybe somethings really is wrong and I shouldn’t be here?”. Another situation where understanding everyone else is having the same feelings but you feel them stronger, is a benefit. If you understand that everyone else is suffering it somehow makes it ok. Just understand that you understand yourself better than the average.

How to educate? Psychology books. Read em and plenty of them. Learn what the hypothalamus is and learn its functions and its history, as this is the center of who you are.
Read books on body language. Your hyper sensitivity causes a flood of information when you just look at a person. Learn to interpret it correctly. This is an awesome part of the gift. I can be standing in line and my mood will suddenly change in reflection to someone else who is looking at me. I can almost literally feel what they are feeling. Took me a while to figure what the hell was going on.
You as an ADD person have a unique personality still unique from other ADD people. Use the above tools to figure out yourself and how you work as in individual.

Next is meditation and affirmations. Learn how to meditate correctly. And then do a shit load of it. And I do mean a lot. Why? Because it causes changes that are, as far as I can tell, are permanent. So once you get to certain levels you can back off and enjoy the benefits which mainly consist of taking your so called hyper focus and putting the remote in your on hand for once. And it is lovely.
Affirmations helps anyone really. They give you an increased ability to drive yourself in a preconceived direction versus being a victim of the emotions that you feel so well.

In conclusion I feel a lot of ADDers will be over whelmed with the intuition that comes along with being ADD. They will look at the world, see that it is going to hell in a hand basket try desperately to figure why do anything in this world when all the things that are considered important by the majority of this world really are nothing but superficial and ignorant. Money,sex, power etc etc etc.
To them I say see your gift for what it is and realize that you ARE the beacon of light. While being surrounded by millions of fake superficial people, here you are standing alone and true to yourself even though at times you don’t even want to be and even may have spent years trying not to be. Its not so much that we are true to ourselves as it that we hear our inner thoughts loud and clear and only when a person truly knows themself can they actually even begin to change themselves. Only when a person truly knows themself can they even begin to understand what it is they really want.

Use this information to capitalize on your ability. Understand how this fits into the job market and then capitalize on it. Then enjoy life and your uniqueness.

“This is an awesome part of the gift. I can be standing in line and my mood will suddenly change in reflection to someone else who is looking at me. I can almost literally feel what they are feeling. Took me a while to figure what the hell was going on.”

Sometimes it is what they are feeling and other times its your own emotions responding to the message they are ending. They say that the brain automatically filters out info and that people with ADD filter out less information so this could be the result. The interesting thing for me is that this can happen between me and a person who is NOT in my line of sight. I will get an emotional reading or response and then have to scour the room with my eyes to find where it came from and everytime I find the person. I think people with ADD have extremely good mental reflexes and maybe that also plays a part. I will automatically look at people who are just about to look at me. Therefore I always get comments that I’m always looking at everybody. I’m busy..reading and interpreting. And its fun and interesting…

Courtney,

Very interesting opinion you have about YOUR A.D.D.. My A.D.D. has not climbed to that level, or if these gifts You have are caused by A.D.D., then it may be that I was misdiagnosed. I would like to hear more about the Mind Reading type of gift you have. Sounds very interesting.

Scott.

Before I comment what do you consider, about yourself, to be a result of the ADD in your own life?

“I guess I have the advantage of learning at a very young age that I was ADD and add to that I started in music at a very young, you can imagine where all my so called extra energy went to.” Plug me back into the matrix. I’ve lived with ADHD for 52 years. I’m tired of wrestling with it. If anyone wants this gift, I’ll gladly give it to them.

The result(s) of A.D.D. in my own life…is an impossible question to answer. I will explain why: Today is not what yesterday was like. But I still have A.D.D.. I have many of the same symptoms that many people with A.D.D. have. The result(s) of these symptoms may be different tommorro. Your comments may result in me considering A.D.D. in a different way. I won’t blame A.D.D. for everything I do wrong, or for how smart I may, or may not be.

Thank You for at least responding and showing interest in my opinion.

I lost my sence of smell when I was 17, from an injury to my spinal cord. Hit the back of my head, after jumping out of car @ 80mph (my gift of needing stimulation?). But if I could still smell, and I was standing in line, lets say @ Wal-Mart, and a plumber was standing behind me and smelled like a sewer line. I think I would know what everyone, that were NOT in my line of sight, may be wondering or feeling about me.(gift of paranoia?)

Or maybe not, if they were able to automaticaly filter out these feelings. That could be the result of not having A.D.D. for these non-gifted shoppers. (I’m being sarcastic to make my point). Obviously, I am going with “Curse” when looking at ADHD/ADD in my life. That’s my reality and the result(s) so far.

Thats the type of attitude I assumed you had and exactly I did not reply. What the hell does loosing your smell from a spinal injury and jumping out of a moving car have to do with being ADD? Not a got damn thing thats what? Who said you were ADD? Looks like you are using ADD as a scape goat for your problems. Paranoia is as common an emotion as happy or sad. If you have a paranoia level that is so high it causes social dysfunction, thats not ADD. Thats called paranoia. I feel that ADD amplifies what is already there. So in the case this was true and we remove ADD from your equation you still would have a higher than normal paranoia level. Once again paranoia is a common everyday emotion. I’d say that ADD people do have a higher than normal paranoia level but you “knowing what everyone not in your line of sight may be wondering” is nothing what so ever out of the ordinary from anyone else who doesn’t have add. Its just YOUR personality. ADD does make you a pessimist and think that everyone is thinking bad things about you, or make you think that everyone else is out to get you, which was what you subtly implied with your sarcasm. The thing is ADD or atleast ADD like symptoms are usually accompanied in the bundle of psychological disorders people tend to acquire.
More than likely you might have add like symptoms but don’t actually have ADD. ADD is usually cored around the difference in focus control and ability versus the norm. You have not stated anything to that effect. So once again I ask you what about yourself do you consider to be add. ADDers maybe risk takers but it becomes that through a logical process and theres nothing logical about jumping out of a 80mph moving car. And ADD doesn’t necessarily make a person physically daring so hurting yourself at 17 has no merit either. As if you don’t know anyone physically daring who isn’t ADD. You say that you are going with curse when looking at ADD in your life but haven’t stated anything that was ADD related.

Courtney, I wouldn’t rush to judgment concerning Scott and his ADDness. He has certainly shown, through past comments, that he has a fair number ADD characteristics.

The events leading to the night I jumped from the car. Was’nt a dare.(it was’nt the point I was trying to make) It was a short explantion of why I lost my ability to smell. I could have said; “As I was walking into Wal-Mart, I may have noticed that some people looked mad,happy,gothic,rude,etc…or depending on the day, friday for exmaple, when people are rushing to get stuff done(banking,weekend activity…).” I just used the smelly plumber this time, but I can’t realy can’t smell, so you may have missed the point.

It was your comment “This is an awsome part of the gift……”, Courtney, that I thought was kinda funny. I don’t see the “Gift of ADD” there. I am NOT judging you, I just was pointing out that I think there are no supernatural abilties caused by ADD. May be I misunderstood “I will automaticaly look at people who are just about to look at me”. It’s the “just about to look” part.

I am not complaining or upset about your comments, I enjoy reading them.

Oh, sorry I did’nt answer your question: “Who said you have add?” And….the awswer is….Dr. William Ruwe! Courtney, I have many “Scapegoats” that I could use to try to make people feel sorry for me. You can judge me by going here> http://addmsorboth.blogspot.com/2009/09/first-shall-be-last-lets-hope-so.html

This post by Jeff here is a different subject, that I am commenting on. It’s not about me. I just give my opinions, then try to explain why I think ADHD/ ADD is a Curse,and not a Gift.

Courtney. What you have said is how Ive felt my entire life. I remember my lecturer at college threatened numerous times to put curtains near my window coz I kept looking out the room during the whole lecture. He doubted I would do well but I was the best Marketing student in 4 years and since 2008 no one has achieved that feat. I think when us ADDers find something we are passionate about we thrive!!!!

I have ADD or ADHD (I am not exactly sure) and I see it as a gift because I can think about and comprehend unique ideas and I see the world in a way that no person with out this gift can. I an incredbly bright is a coplement I often hear, because I can think about things in a unconventionel ways and solve problems in new fashions. I am not the smartest person but I am creative and well read. Wise is being able to see things totally things differently and be creative in a new way. Smart is being able to figure thngs out without being nessisarily creative. ADD and ADHD let you be both. Some of the brightest minds in history have had a mental defect like ADD and ADHD but they still flurished. These “disorders” dont make you stupid they make you brillant!

The problem is that there is zero evidence that ADD/ADHD is in any way linked to intelligence. As you noted, “some of the brightest minds….had a mental defect” and that, in fact, may be true. However, not all of the them, which would lead me to think that intelligence can exist with or without a “mental defect,” therefore the mental defect is not the cause.

i was diagnosed with adhd when i was six and i have struggled my entire life with trying to answer this question: does my ability to sense the dead and other presences coincide with my adhd?  Before you all think i am nutz, i have had this ability for as long as i can remember. It surfaced more as i got older but it started with graphic and disturbing night terrors. It has gotten better as i have gotten older but it still is something that i have struggled with. It is not so much that i see these spirits anymore, it is more that i can sense and feel when they are around. Can anyone answer this question definitively?

Hmmm…not exactly your “run of the mill” question. I’ve no experience with that at all so I can’t answer that question. Hopefully some of the readers may be able to help you here.

Definitively answer that question? Probably not. But here’s the thing about ADHD. I remember when adult ADHD was first starting to get some visibility, and there were many, many conversations about, “Is my such-and-such related to my ADHD?” The bad news is that people with ADHD DO have some proclivity to find connections that others might not pull up at all. So, in the end, people decided that everything, including completely opposite things, were related to ADHD. Many of the comments in this thread follow this pattern of finding (non-scientifically) strange and mysteries connections. 

But at the end of the day, ADHD is complex enough without connecting it to every other quirk a brain can have, (and there are so many!). If sensing the presence of the dead is problematic, you could have it evaluated independently. If it doesn’t bother you, it doesn’t really matter if you call it part of ADHD or part of you just being you. 

Thank you, Lew, for trying to address this question.

Jeff
(Sent via crackberry)