The World is ADD

Several unrelated threads occurring in my mind over the past few months have finally formed a theme.

1. Being present (A New Earth)
2. Being more productive (Getting Things Done, The Four Hour Workweek)
   
3. The topics of simplifying and organizing (Zen to Done)
   
4. Taking control of the increase of incoming information and data (Inbox: Zero)
   
5. Addressing psychological or disability barriers to organizing and processing. (ADD, Depression, Anxiety Disorder, Dyslexia)
   

This all started with separate interests in:

1. My son's high intelligence but inability to perform to his ability due to ever-changing diagnoses and my diagnosis as an adult with ADD, Anxiety Disorder, Dyslexia (all, none or some). This is my personal mission to get to the solution my son needs to perform to his potential while I keep my sanity in dealing daily with schools, doctors, pharmacies and health insurance.
   
2. Research on current training and resources available for knowledge workers to work more productively even though they are always "on" with digital connections, and my search for simple tools to help them. I've termed this my Total Personal Productivity System.
   
3. Daily struggles to filter the information available to me and coming at me from many sources. How can I organize information that I will need to refer to later? I've termed this my Personal Knowledge Base project, hopefully to be part of the Total Personal Productivity System.
   

The connection?

The world around me is ADD, chaotic, disorderly and distracting. For my son it is scary, rigid, and disorienting. We all are suffering from information fatigue, media fatigue and anxiety from keeping pace. It's not us, its what is expected of us- the societal and corporate norms that have developed and, with our permission, have been bestowed upon us.

I wonder how many people in the US are diagnosed with Anxiety. How many are diagnosed with ADD or ADHD. How many have not or were not recognized as having dyslexia?




Dyslexia is a misunderstood condition whereby a person retains and computes information in their brain visually as opposed to verbally. It's not a disease nor a learning disability, just a way of recognizing ideas and concepts in 3d pictures rather than how most people who can see a letter that represents a sound. Dyslexic people learn to cope by using compulsive and anxiety inducing compensations. They are easily disoriented in time and space and can feel physically lost and ill if they encounter a word or letter that does not have a mental picture associated with it.

The result can be a child with low self esteem, anxiety and depression. The worst result is that they will never learn to really read and understand what they read and will have survived decades of disappointments and even anger from teachers, parents and themselves. How traumatic.

For 2 years I tried to get my son's school to test him to explain poor academic performance without success. I had him independently tested last year; the results showed high intelligence, a child with a mind at the level of grade 10 or 11 (he's in 7), but they could only explain his poor performance in school with emotional,behavioral or psychological problems. I finally pulled him out of school and have him on a virtual homeschool curriculum.

Depression ADD and anxiety: the first diagnosis. For years I could not get him out of bed to go to school, he lacked interest in school, performed poorly, and was vomiting daily if not before school, at school. He would have periods of something like a panic attack.

Stronger Anxiety Disorder with OCD: the next step. This was hard to take. I knew he was not depressed and did not agree with the diagnosis. The panic attacks and physical illness became frequent and would occur when he had to perform tasks at home or school that required organized thought/sequences or reading and homework.

When treatment and removal from school did not stop his symptoms, the doctors diagnosed him with dyslexia and recommended some books for me. What I learned is that all of his symptoms are considered symptoms of or can be caused by the trauma of a person who has developed coping mechanisms for dyslexia.

Now it makes sense as I remember spending hours upon hours late into the evening with my son trying to get him to write the answers to homework correctly only having him break down into tears, well after he has proven to recite the answers to me. He is unable to write down his homework assignments, unable to be organized and unable to remember what he is to do next. He has not been able to learn his multiplication tables but can give an answer to an algebra problem without working it out on paper. When he is forced to write out the steps he can't and therefore teachers would not give him credit for it. He was always in trouble and getting yelled at in class for not remembering his supplies, homework or what is written on the board. Mom is guilty also, he can not remember what I tell him to do unless I tell him step by step while he does it.

So, here I am with a son displaying symptoms that appear for multiple psychiatric and emotional disorders; realizing that perhaps his root problem (gift) is just in the way he processes information (same as Einstein and many famous and bright people).

• Could the ADD/Anxiety/Depression/OCD have been avoided by early intervention for dyslexia?
• Does he really have those?
  
• Teachers, parents, doctors and seemingly everyone is OK with a quick ADD diagnosis. They want to get it treated asap. How many children and adults are misdiagnosed?

In going through screening for dyslexia with my son and learning of its effects on later life, I remember my experience in school and look at myself today. I don't know how I learned to get by, however I had most of the same symptoms or habits that he has.

1. I can't remember much without making digital lists and outlines, a calendar entry, or setting a timed reminder.
   
2. I can't remember a number a moment after you tell me.
   
3. I never learned the multiplication tables but can solve math equations easily. I completed graduate level calculus and statistics.
   
4. I have to make diagrams and flow charts for people I work with to explain concepts I have in my mind but can't verbalize.
5. I get momentarily lost and disoriented. I keep a compass and have GPS with some improvement in getting where I need to be.
   

I wonder if I can go through the "unlearning" of the compulsive coping habits at my age, and perhaps rid myself of some of my anxiety and ADD diagnosis?

Possible. Depending on:

1. Completion of the development and implementation of my Total Personal Productivity System; and
   
2. Accepting that the world can be as ADD as it gets as long as I choose not.