How Attention Deficit Disorder Treatments Helped - A Personal Story

This story is provided by a person who has benefited from being accurately diagnosed then treated for ADD. Here's his story...

I have had Attention Deficit Disorder since a very young age. My parents and I tried all of the usual Attention Deficit treatments, followed the accepted treatment guidelines and explored all options but to no avail.

I just couldn't seem to get the A.D.D symptoms under control. Despite now being 27, and completed college, the symptoms still haunt me.
Symptoms like:
I can't sit still for any long period of time
I'm disorganized in both thoughts and in the physical world.
Nothing seems to be able to get done on time

To make matters worse, none of the Attention Deficit Disorder treatments I've attempted alone or with the guidance of my parents and therapist have truly worked.

As I said, I did well in school though I think it was more due to my parents involvement with me and the classes I was in.

When I was 12, the school thought I had behavior problems, but they didn't even consider that Attention Deficit Disorder treatments might help at the time. This was when ADD and ADHD were just being recognized by schools and other organizations that work with kids.

It was actually my friends who diagnosed me with having Attention Deficit Disorder. You see, they had ADD and Attention Deficit Disorder themselves and as teenagers, they could easily spot another person with the problem I went to the doctor, and he put me on Ritalin, as was popular at the time. I hated the Ritalin, as I would come to hate all of my Attention Deficit Disorder treatments. I do thank the other attention deficit disorder teenagers for their caring concern for my welfare however.

The problem with Ritalin is that it turns you in to a zombie. This is the most common complaint of all ages using this medication as a control for Attention Deficit Disorder. The medical and drug treatments though they work have some serious side effects that I absolutely hated.

You feel out of it all the time, almost like a hangover from being drunk. It's not a happy way to live. It's hard to interact with other people, or to do anything besides what is in front of you. When I stopped taking the Ritalin, which is nothing more than speed or methamphetamines, my parents and I explored alternate therapies.

We really tried everything, and although some of it did make things a bit better, none of it really completely controlled the problem. While these ADD treatment alternatives were ok, they weren't enough to make me function at what I considered a normal level.

We even tried a special nutritional or diet therapy as an Attention Deficit Disorder treatment. Here, I avoided all processed foods and caffeine, and I guessed that helped a little, but the Attention Deficit Disorder never really went away.

In the end, nothing worked and I'm still working to keep the problem under control. Like many people suffering with mental disorders, each day is a challenge to be normal and fit in.