Posted by IsoM on March 10, 2002, at 13:56:24
In reply to ADD experience w/bipolar w/o, posted by JohnX2 on March 10, 2002, at 3:16:49
I agree with a lot Mitch said. I got good grades in school but only when a subject really interested me would I get top grades. Ancient history was fascinating for me; A's right through & 100% on all my exams. Even though I loved math & sciences just as much, I couldn't ace them like history. People with ADD have smaller working memory RAM & my mind would drop extra bits while I was working on problems. (Like having tiny hands trying to hold the same amount in them as someone with big hands - don't know if that makes sense to you.)
I have ease of comprehension & seeing how to solve problems/situations etc but can't juggle & manipulate too many ideas in my head at the same time. I really believe people with ADD do far better with understanding & comprehending concepts, linking ideas & solutions together, and not nearly so well with tasks that require one to remember & manipulate a lot of detail together at the same time.
As for your question "Can someone who is bipolar and "stabilized"
be ADD, take a stimulant, get the ADD cured, but
be driven (hypo)manic and in the process trigger hyperactive
behaviour thus utterly confusing the whole diagonsis?"
I sadly can't say. Paradoxically, Dexedrine can calm me down & I can even fall asleep on it, but at other times, it seems to set off my hyperactivity even more. I can't figure that. I KNOW (a gut feeling really) that I'm not bipolar when I feel hypromanic but am just very active & feeling good. I never feel even slightly grandiose, though I may joke about it. The differences to me are very clear.
poster:IsoM
thread:97292
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020307/msgs/97352.html