Reframing Adult ADHD

[Daniel E.]

Changing Negative Beliefs and Attitudes - Adult ADD/ADHD
by Carole Jacobs and Isadore Wendel, Ph.D., MSCP, authors of The Everything Health Guide to Adult ADD/ADHD

As many great thinkers have attested over the centuries, external changes start on the inside. Before you can make positive changes that impact your talents, your relationships, your job, and your physical health, you need to change the way you think about and view yourself. When you have a disorder like adult ADHD that comes with so many built-in negatives, one effective way to begin to change the way you perceive yourself is to look at the positive side of your ADHD traits.

The Bright Side of Hyperactivity
Many adults with ADHD have turned their natural hyperactivity into an asset by tapping into their bottomless reservoir of energy to help them accomplish more in one day that most people can accomplish in a week. Some of the world's most accomplished artists, writers, painters, inventors, politicians, and filmmakers have harnessed their hyperactivity and turned it into fame and fortune.

Like them, you can reframe negative ADHD characteristics into positives that can help you achieve your wildest dreams. Here are some examples of new ways to look at adult ADHD symptoms.

• I have so much more energy that other people that I can get projects done long before they're due and still have time for the things I enjoy doing.
• Because I have the energy and stamina to accomplish more than most people, I can use it to learn more, get ahead faster, and use my knowledge to achieve great things.
• Because I'm very busy and productive, I burn up a lot of mental and physical energy every day and am usually able to get a good night's sleep.
• The more experience I have, the more information I have about what I really love to do, what I do well, and what type of things I merely tolerate.

Inattention
While adult ADHD is a disorder that involves a lack of attention, for many adults, the problem is that they pay too much attention to things that interest them and ignore everything else.

The hyperfocus of adult ADHD is what allowed an inventor like Guglielmo Marconi to develop the wireless telegraph. He was able to get up every day, focus on his fledging invention, and blank out everything else ? including his financial, health, and marital problems. Here are some ways to change your negative perceptions regarding inattention.

• Maybe the reason I'm not paying attention is because I'm bored with this job and I need to think about searching for a job that will fully utilize my talents.
• I know other people need to read the entire manual to figure out how to do this, but maybe I should respect the fact that I already understand how to do this without having to slog through the fine print.
• I'm not really interested in going go the opera with my wife, but maybe if I opened myself up to the idea, I would learn something new and enjoyable or find a new way to relax with my wife that would improve our marriage.
• I'm very lucky that I was able to hyperfocus on the tiny details that made this project so successful. This is a quality I can use to do superior work in every aspect of my life.

Distractibility
There's a silver lining to being easily distracted if you work in life-and-death situations like emergency medical care or firefighting. For instance, firefighters are often able to detect smoke before others and can react quickly.

Medical experts often notice small details that may have been overlooked by others ? such as a small change in the color of a mole, or a lump that looks suspicious. Their internal early warning system enables them to save lives before symptoms become so serious the condition is irreversible.

If you suffer from distractibility, try looking for ways to flip it from a negative to a positive attribute. Here are some examples.

• I'm really glad I noticed that new little mole on my leg and went to see a dermatologist before it became any bigger.
• My husband always kids me about my overly refined sense of smell and says I really don't need to wash his jeans every single night for them to smell clean. But if I hadn't smelled what I thought was natural gas in the kitchen, our house may have burned down before the fire department was able to get here.
• People at work told me I was just paranoid when I told them I had a horrible feeling about our new boss. Sure enough, two months later, she fired everyone in the department and replaced them with people from her old firm. If I hadn't trusted my gut feelings and found another job before this happened, I'd be out of work like my former colleagues.

Impulsivity
While impulsivity can be a dangerous trait if it propels you to do something reckless, careless, and stupid, it also means you're more willing to take leaps of faith that would leave less courageous types shaking in their boots. The history books are full of famous ADHD inventors, entrepreneurs, and artists who went out on a limb to forge new ways of doing things and left more cautious colleagues in the dust. Without all those impulsive ADHD inventors throughout history, we might still be traveling in stagecoaches or using quill pens to write reports.

If you always seem to be ahead of the curve when it comes to anything new, you may be ?suffering? from impulsivity. Here are some examples of how to turn it to your advantage.

• I'm really glad my impulsivity prompted me to accept a new position I wasn't sure I'd succeed at. Now I'm making a lot more money and doing work that is much more stimulating and rewarding.
• I was pretty nervous about asking one particular woman out after seeing her once at the coffee shop, but my instincts told me to go for it, so I picked up the phone and called her. If I hadn't called her, we probably never would have met again. Making that first scary phone call resulted in a happy marriage and four beautiful kids!
• I know a lot of people probably think rock climbing is risky. But after learning the techniques, I'm able to climb in a way that minimizes danger but still exposes me to the adrenaline rush I crave.

Three Easy Steps from Negatives to Positive
Overcoming the negative aspects of ADHD is a step-by-step process of exploring your negative behaviors for ways they can be turned around to your benefit. Here are three easy steps to get you from negative to positive using impulsivity as an example.

• Understand how you are reacting to your symptoms. Realize your symptoms ? not you ? are in control and are actively preventing you from getting where you want to go. If your impulsivity always lands you in hot water, that's a pretty good sign you're not harnessing your impulsivity in a positive way.
• Brainstorm how you can make lemonade from lemons. Thinking outside the box (something you already excel at), write down a list of things you can do with your impulsivity that would actually benefit you at home, at work, with your family, with friends, and in social settings.
• Make one change at a time. Start closing the gap between negative and positive by working on one strategy to gradually change a negative trait into a positive one. For instance, if your impulsivity led you down a ski slope you didn't have the moves to master, find another area of life where you can take a risk that won't land you in the emergency ward. It could be creating a more efficient, easier, or inexpensive way to do something at work, or using your impulsivity to propel yourself into a new career that others might not have the courage to attempt.

As a person with ADHD, you have some disadvantages that simply need to be thought of as advantages ? kind of like building a door to knock on when one isn't there. The key to success is to gradually transform negative, unproductive thoughts and feelings into more positive, productive behaviors that get better results and turn your liabilities into assets.

​

Fact
Some adults with ADHD are highly intuitive and able to pick up on unexpressed emotion, subtle body language, and nonverbal communication, although many others have enormous difficulty reading nonverbal cues. This may explain why a disproportionate number of psychologists and psychiatrists are ADHD adults ? and a good example of how you can turn an adult ADHD negative into a positive.

Essential
On the hit TV series House, Dr. House is easily distracted by unusual stimuli. Because he is able to make lightning-speed associations between seemingly unrelated medical problems or symptoms, he arrives at ?out of the blue? diagnoses that are nearly always correct, which amazes his colleagues.

​

Related articles:
Wired for the 21st Century
Tapping into Special ADHD Gifts
The Two Sides of Adult ADHD

---------- Post added at 11:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:13 PM ----------

A chart from Attention Deficit Disorder : A Different Perception:

Disorder Perspective ​	ADD as a Natural Adaptive Trait "The Hunter" ​
Distractible.	Constantly monitoring environment
Attention span is short, but can become intensely focused for long periods of time.	Able to throw themselves into the chase on a moment's notice.
Poor planner, disorganized and impulsive (makes snap decisions).	Flexible; ready to change strategy quickly.
Distorted sense of time: unaware of how long it will take to do something.	Tireless: capable of sustained drives, but only when "hot on the trail" of some goal.
Impatient.	Results oriented. Acutely aware of whether the goal is getting closer now.
Doesn't convert words into concepts adeptly, and vice versa. May or may not have a reading disability.	Visual/concrete thinker, clearly seeing a tangible goal even if there are no words for it.
Has difficulty following instructions.	Independent.
Daydreamer.	Bored by mundane tasks; enjoy new ideas, excitement, "the hunt," being hot on the trail.
Acts without considering consequences.	Willing and able to take risks and face danger.
Lacking in the social graces.	"No time for niceties when there are decisions to be made!"

Another book in the genre: The Gift of Adult ADD

 

[Ronbell]

I agree with what this article is trying to do (encourage people with ADHD that they shouldn't allow their disorder to overcome them) , but I disagree with the reality of the situation.

Hyperactivity does not increase my energy reserves. If anything, it decreases them. If you're running a marathon, what's more important? Energy reserve capacity or ability to manage energy? Marathon runners maintain the same speed, stride, and breathing patterns in order finish the race...they don't run like people do in interval training (like ADHD) where you're running at sporadic speeds and resting as well..that's what ADHD is. If I'm not able to focus my energy, it's just going to burn up faster.

Inattention and distraction: Just because I notice things that others may oversee, doesn't mean that I won't forget about it two seconds later. Being distracted and noticing details would be a strength...if the memory issues that were present in ADHD didn't exist.

A more realistic example would be:

-I've got my keys, I'm going to my truck. "Oh look, Steve left his backpack behind"

So I put down my keys to grab the backpack, and head out to the truck. I get to the truck, and realize: "Shoot, I left my keys inside". So I put the backpack down near the truck door so I remember to load it when I get the keys. I go back upstairs and grab my keys. On my way out, I see a police car drive by. I wonder: "It's 6am, what are they doing? Probably going to buy donuts." I get in the truck and drive away, leaving Steve's backpack in the parking lot. I only remember his backpack when I see him.

Hyperfocus: Hyperfocus only exists in the realm that ADHDers have a hard time maintaining: Passion. Because of our distractable nature and inability to maintain emotions including passion, it's very, very hard to consistently maintain any form of hyperfocus. People forget that ADHD is like watching your favourite television show, but changing the channel anyways. It's why depression is co morbid in many people with ADHD: They just kind find anything they care enough to be able to stick with it. It is not something you can control with a switch.

I used to play videogames for 16 hours at a time. I can't play them for a single minute now. My interests and hobbies change at a whim. I will struggle my entire life to find something I can be passionate about. I'm content knowing that I probably won't settle on anything, and will float from one profession to the next. I'm a surveyor now, and I'm looking to become an Electrical Engineer come next year. 3 or 4 years later? Maybe something related, maybe not.

Impusivity:

My impulsive nature has actually benefited me and been a bane. I have moved around the country constantly on a whim. It has allowed me to double my income and experience a job that better recognizes my strengths and weaknesses. On the downside, sure, I've made almost 80k in my first year out here..but I've bought so much crap on impulse and whim that I don't actually own anything. I'm no further ahead then when I was making less than 20k a year (no car, house, still have debts, and I still don't own a single piece of furniture). Only big difference here is that I'm not border lining on homelessness.

The fact remains: ADHD is a disorder for a reason. If people were capable of controlling the beneficial sides of the disorder, they could very well be as successful as this article.

On the opposite side, I think the goal of most articles like these are to encourage people with ADHD into believing they're capable of being extraordinary...except what they don't realize is that artificial motivation they're trying to provide is more damaging then beneficial.

For example, if you tell someone: Hey, that guy over there is a millionaire. He grew up next door to you, and went to the same schools...why aren't you a millionaire?

All it does is create self doubts and depression when you're not able to achieve the things they say you're capable of. Especially when ADHDers only live in the present, and have a hard time working towards long term goals. We are not able to persevere in the same context they're describing....at least, not under our own control.

 

[Daniel E.]

To your point: There is no "gifts book" for my disorder, OCD And to lump people with the same diagnosis as having similar gifts/strengths is a stretch.

But some of the books in this genre are written by people with ADHD, so I think there has to be some truth to it -- at least in the general approach.

All it does is create self doubts and depression when you're not able to achieve the things they say you're capable of

OTOH, from the book The Gift of Adult ADD:

It's self-evident that a deficit disorder causes impairment. Indeed, impairment in functioning is required to diagnose ADD in an adult. What is less evident--but equally important--is that in many ways ADD is a gift....

While it's important not to glamorize the gifts of ADD, an extreme focus on the problems of ADD can also take its toll. I have worked with suicidal clients driven to despair by the unrelenting punishments of an environment focuseded excessively, harshly, and rigidly on what they could not do, rather than what they could do.

So to generalize these articles and books so that it's generic to almost everyone who has a mental disorder: It's helpful to focus on one's personal strengths (and those strengths differ for each person). In other words, when it comes to therapy and self-help, a solution-focused approach is better than just focusing on problems:

The following assumptions provide the framework on which solution focused therapy is founded:

1. There are significant advantages in focusing on the positive and on solutions for the future. Focusing on strengths and solution-talk will increase the likelihood that therapy will be brief.
2. Individuals who come to therapy do have the capacity to act effectively. This capacity, however, is temporarily blocked by negative cognitions.
3. There are exceptions to every problem.
4. Clients tend to present one side of the problem. Solution focused therapists invite clients to view their problems from a different side.
5. Small change fosters bigger change.
6. Clients want to change, they have the capacity to change and they are doing their best to make change happen.
7. As each individual is unique, so too is every solution.

http://forum.psychlinks.ca/therapy-and-therapists/19641-solution-focused-techniques.html

---------- Post added at 12:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:16 AM ----------

A related discussion at Amazon.com (a very negative review with 11 comments):

Amazon.com: Adult ADHD is Real's review of The Gift of Adult ADD: How to Transform Yo...

---------- Post added at 01:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:44 PM ----------

Some more excerpts from that book:

Got for it. And while you're at it, stop and smell the roses. This is the mixed message of our culture. The problem is, stopping and smelling the roses can be a thorny business for ADD adults...

The key is self-efficacy....Once you're aware of exactly how ADD limits your life, you can begin to make different choices...


Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), a widely used and very effective form of therapy, can help you change your thoughts about yourself and the life challenges you face. CBT therapists help you focus on the positive, widening your perspective to allow you to see that any challenge can also be an opportunity. That is the function of this book--it is a therapeutic reframing of the negatives of ADD as positives.

The way out of despair and shame is to find what you do well and focus on that. By building your life around strengths rather than patched-up weaknesses, you can help your greatest gifts find expression...


For every person the profile of these gifts will be different...For many it is challenging work that allows the opportunity to create, mix it up, or take frequent breaks to physically move around.

Many ADD adults struggle with depression. Sometimes this is a result of internalizing a punitive stance toward what looks like lazy, sloppy behavior. Often it is due to the depletion of trying too hard to fit in.

Amazon.com: The Gift of Adult ADD: How to Transform Your Challenges & Build on Your Strengths (9781572245655): Lara Honos-Webb: Books

---------- Post added at 03:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:47 PM ----------

But again, to your point:

Does ADHD Have Any Positive Qualities?

...Some people will claim that having ADHD makes a person more successful at certain careers, such as entrepreneurship, sales, military service, computers, or hands-on jobs. Rather, I would say it isn't that they are extra talented in these areas, so much as it is their weaknesses are less problematic or better tolerated in those areas.

Integrative Treatment for Adult ADHD: A Practical, Easy-To-Use Guide for Clinicians

 

[Daniel E.]

More anti-gift points:

 

[Daniel E.]