ADHD

I was formally diagnosed with ‘severe’ Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder (ADHD) in my seventies! I have coped with the condition without intervention my entire life and career. It has had a price. The clinician remarked that being a comedian and performing I was in an ideal career for managing and coping without formal treatment. I finally started using the recommended medication Adderall for the past year. It has made a difference. I am grateful for what I have achieved and am a happy person. Being so ‘externally’ motivated to cope I have amassed a lot of cool experiences. I spent more than fifteen of my adult years in graduate school not realizing that this was just the ‘external motivation’ I needed to move ahead. I loved graduate school! I loved my time in the army as well. I was directed and led and I obeyed and complied. So all is well for me. Now that I am using the medication it surely makes me wonder what would have changed if I had started treatment earlier in my life and career. Opportunities were started and lost. Many near successes were approached and then missed. And I am sad for those lost possibilities. Here I am happy and still active doing what I most love: learning and then sharing what I learn. I see no reason to stop. The medication is helping immensely. I am grateful and humbled for the blessings in my life. I am devoted to learning and sharing knowledge about mental health, my own and others. When I finally keel over I will transition to the next life. And as I often say: ‘after all this lunacy there damn well better be a heaven!!’