Positives Of ADHD That ADHD Adults Often Ignore

Topic: It’s not just 99% pathology. The Positives of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder That ADHD Adults Often Ignore. See the other Adult ADHD Issues. And also see more on the positives of ADHD.

Facilitator: Pete Quily

Thanks for Christopher Stanbury, and Jean for taking notes.

December 3rd 2013 Meeting Notes for the Vancouver Adult ADD Support Group

How ADHD helps in your daily life. The positives (and negatives) of ADHD

Structure:

1. The Negatives of ADHD- The more conscious you are of the negatives, the more you are able to counter them and sometimes turn them into positives

2. Positives of ADHD

3. Ways to manage ADHD

4. Ways to flip the negatives of ADHD to positive

1. The Negatives of ADHD

The more conscious you are of the negatives, the more you are able to counter them and sometimes turn them into positives

ADHD come in three subtypes – inattentive, hyperactive and combined.

Anxiety – ADHD rarely travels alone

Bored easily

Careless at work on details (on stuff that doesn’t interest us / we don’t like doing)

Denial

If you have a high IQ and are inattentive you might coast through high school, even college, and then crash and burn when you get your first job.

Less likely to consider how what you say affects others

Low self esteem – question yourself – am I worthy? – fear not worthy

Mood extremes – could indicate bi-polar

Moody possibly

Over estimate our ability

Scattered thoughts & talking – get interested in other things

Under estimate time required

2. Positives of ADHD

Creativity

Do not suffer fools gladly

Empathy

Greater focus re safety

Not boring

Seeing the bigger picture

Thinking outside the box

See the 151 Positives of ADHD 

Also check out my posts on the Strengths of ADHD on my first blog.

3. Ways to manage ADHD

A lot of politicians have ADHD

Be willing to take a calculated risk to achieve more

Calmly question anxiety – May reveal problems

Do not deny anxiety –

Do some (not all) of the things you want to do – don’t be a martyr

Find fuel for motivation

See the positives of ADHD (151)  and the challenges of ADHD (63), and see what creative ways you can identify and develop the former, and other creative ways to identify and learn the different ways of managing the latter.

Look at the bigger picture – maybe delegate details to others

Move on to other things – more interest

Narcissist protection – think of others less self-absorbed

no analysis creates paralysis

NPD sometimes confused with ADHD

People pleasing boosts dopamine

positive stress test – McGonigal

Push boundaries / limits

Rationalize – do not be so repressed

Read “Seth Godwin”

Use your energy wisely – harvest it

Anxiety Disorders come in 4 types:

1. Generalised Anxiety Disorder

2. Social Anxiety Disorder

3. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – EMDR is used to treat PTSD

4. Phobias

4. Ways to flip the negatives of ADHD to positive

Acceptance. You can’t change what you first don’t accept. Acceptance reduces resistence and friction to action

Be conscious of the negatives vs beating yourself up & self shaming over them

Deal with problems now – get into action

Focus on strengths

Get out of denial

Perfectionism can be a problem – take healthy breaks

Plan effectively for you vs your organized friend or family member

Reduce stress – if stress is not the cause, it makes the problem worse

Set up a system – if this – then that

Use a visual calendar if you’re a visual learner

Use alarms

Use it as a catalyst, as fuel

When out of dopamine, it is time to stop working and take a break, or suffer the pains of the purgatory of being in the zombie zone for long periods of time.