Posted by 10derheart on March 8, 2012, at 16:27:57
In reply to Pdoc Said Unless Add As Child Not As An Adult + De, posted by Phillipa on March 8, 2012, at 15:31:14
I would say he is both wrong and right, but *more* wrong than right.
I have been dealing with ADD since about 2000....meaning a cluster of symptoms I recognized as ADD...so about 12 years now. I have read most of the books on the market by professionals who have studied this condition, up until the last 2-3 years when I have not have the time or inclination any more since other things were more pressing than my particular symptoms. Over the years I have also belonged to several of the big organizations out there (CHADD, ADDA) and participated in message boards and so forth.
This PDOCs POV is not uncommon and is based in science...sorta. ADD/ADHD is pretty universally accepted (well,except by those who yet refuse to recognize its existence **at all**) as an organic, biological brain disorder...or difference as I prefer to see it. This shows up on PET scans. This has been confirmed in post mortem exams of brains, I believe. My brain, particularly the pre-frontal cortex, is not the same as the brains of those who do not suffer from the commonly known symptoms of attention deficit of hyperactivity.
So, due to the concrete physiological differences, the pdoc's assertion makes sense. If my brain differs, I was born with this brain. So, then does it follow that I *had* this condition from childhood? Well, I say yes and no. Do you *have* a condition when the potential is there but you either have no symptoms or they are so minor you easily adapt and others notice little? Hmmm...I guess it depends. Technically, I had ADD all my life, not just over the past 12 years from when I read books and it hit be like a bombshell that I was being precisely described, over and over and over again in books about adult ADD. But in a way, I didn't have it until it interfered with my life.
What I am trying to say is that there are two things that make your pdoc quite mistaken, IMO. First, years ago before science recognized a cluster as appearing in the same ways, repeatedly, and then beginning to study the brain to figure it out, ADD was not diagnosed. How can medicine diagnose something they are unaware of? Henry VIII, when king of England in the 6th century, most certainly had diabetes, gout, and other disorders any average doc could recognize and treat today. But he died of those since *doctors* in that time just knew next to nothing. Does that mean he didn't have the conditions, just the same as someone today has them? I think not.
The second thing that so many people, doctors and others, fail to grasp in that sometimes the way ADD manifests itself just does not become a problem until certain things happen. This is a complex situation where personality, support systems, other medical conditions, access to healthcare, type of work/school - all these come into play. For me, I had lived with disorganization, unusual anxiety, inability to prioritize like other adults, lack of sustained concentration, etc., all my adult (and child) life....and this is key...*** without having a clue that everyone wasn't like this**** And also, until my career reached a certain point and my daughter grew up and wasn't around to sort of parent me, the symptoms were manageable enough to have a relatively decent life where I wasn't a total mess - maybe just a little mess, which seemed funny and *just the way 10der is.*
But once just the right things changed, I began to lose it completely. From not being able to find the right items to dress myself for work each day, to losing my car keys constantly, to having a disaster for a home as I couldn't sort out *how* to clean (what order do you do the steps? what if you get distracted? what if it's boring?....) to getting in trouble for being late to work all the time and being unable to be a supervisor because I was utterly overwhelmed by new responsibilities, my ADD reared it's *different* head and just about destroyed everything.
So, the short version would have been he's wrong because it went undiagnosed in kids until the last couple of decades, particularly very bright, resourceful kids with supportive families who found their own coping mechanisms. And that just because it doesn't come out into the open and cause havoc until you're grown, does NOT mean an adult "doesn't have it."
So there!! Gee...this isn't something I feel strongly about, is it? (sorry...)
MDD (presently in complete remission); ADD-Inattentive type; mild anxiety (not fomally dx'd)
Meds: Strattera 80 mg q day
poster:10derheart
thread:1012596
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120302/msgs/1012600.html