Helpful Ways to Deal with ADD and ADHD ...

This is one of the most important ways to deal with ADD and ADHD. You should get a diagnosis regardless of what you are going through and should always talk with a doctor for medical issues and a therapist for mental issues. Now unlike the medical side, the mental side is unfairly stigmatized and pushed aside as not as important. This is so untrue. Your mental health is just as or even more important, because our mental and emotional health can affect us physically. So I repeat, get a diagnosis.

Educating yourself once you have been diagnosed is a no-brainer. Learn, learn, and learn. You cannot deal with it if you don’t understand it. There are multiple books, websites, and doctors out there at your disposal. You need to educate yourself as much as you can because understanding ADD/ADHD is the first step in living with it.

Finding what works for you after learning what you can is not easy but has big rewards in the end. And remember new things emerge so keeping up with new health information is good. You can start picking out and trying the different tips and processes that can help you. Everyone is different so it may take a few different tries, with different ideas. Just don’t give up and keep an open mind.

Do you want or need medication? There are medications out there to help; talk with your doctor to see if you may be a candidate for them. If you are comfortable with medication then do it, if you are not then don’t. Don’t let other people’s ideas and biases sway you away from whatever you want to do.

Is therapy right for you? It’s not for everyone, but I always say “Don’t knock it before you try it.” Talk with your doctor or even close friends. It may take a couple of tries but you might find talking with someone just once a month can really give you a sense of relief. Just knowing you have a vent day is wonderful.

Start by writing things down. I mean everything if you have to. Whether to remember medications, making appointments, making it to appointments or picking up the damn milk. Seems obvious and tedious at first, but once you get a process down it becomes easier and easier. A large write on calendar is a great idea. Also sticky notes, notepads, magnetic notepads and setting up reminders on your phone. After a while, you will notice that you are not forgetting things as often and you may become the person on time instead of always being late.

Putting your tasks in order gives direction for a person with ADD/ADHD. Our minds can run off on to other ideas and projects and having a list keeps us moving in the right direction. Without the list of what you need to do next you will float from task to task not necessarily finishing any of them. With the list, you can at least remind yourself that you are not supposed to start the next task until the other is done. You should put your tasks in order of importance or you will find yourself skipping around on your list.

Don’t give up! It can get highly frustrating and sometimes you'll feel like you can’t accomplish the simplest task in a timely manner. Just breathe. You are not alone. Take stock of what you've got going on and try again. We only learn from failure anyway so don’t sweat it. It’s all a work in progress.