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- [00:02]
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Every day you are making your brain better or you are making it worse. Stay with us to learn how you can change your brain for the better every day.
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So how do you know if you or a loved one has add? Answer these five do you have a short attention span? Unless you are really interested, are you easily distracted? Do you struggle with organization? Do you tend to procrastinate? And do you get yourself into hot water by saying or doing stupid things? If you answered yes to three or more and these symptoms interfere with your life, you may have add.
- [00:48]
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Let's talk about each of these symptoms in more detail. A short attention span is the hallmark symptom of addiction, but it is not short attention span for everything. People with ADD typically have trouble with regular routine everyday attention such as for homework, paperwork or chores. A great question to help diagnose ADD is how long does it take to do a half an hour of homework or a typical chore? If it's longer than an hour, think add. But what confuses most people is that people with ADD can usually pay attention just fine for things that are new, novel, highly interesting, stimulating, or frightening. Researchers have found that people who have ADD have low levels of the stress hormone adrenaline. We often think of ADD as adrenaline deficit disorder because people with ADD can focus really well with stress or excitement, but not that well without it. What medications do doctors typically prescribe for ADD stimulants? Without proper treatment, people with ADD find ways to stimulate themselves. That's one of the reasons they're often thrill seekers. What rational person would do that and love scary movies? Have you ever asked yourself why we needed both the dawn and the Night of the Living Dead? Many people with ADD also love driving fast and a good argument.
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We've actually seen ADD kids get addicted to their parents anger. It stimulates them on an unconscious level. You'll see many of them will pick on the most irritable parent in their family and then work on them over and over until they explode. It's very important not to yell at ADD kids. If you do, the child will figure out how to make you do it again. In fact, when we get parents to stop yelling, some kids actually get worse for a few days. It's like they're going through drama withdrawal.
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Conflict seeking also applies to ADD adults. I once saw a couple where the husband used to hide around corners and wait for his wife to come down the hallway and then he would jump out in front just to scare her for fun. She brought him to see me after she was diagnosed with a heart arrhythmia Treating him helped to save her life.
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Distractibility is another major symptom. This is where people see too much, feel too much, and hear too much. Our brain has an amazing ability to block out distractions, but people with ADD tend to notice everything around them. Plus they're always uncomfortable in their own clothes. They cut the tags out of shirts, are always adjusting their seams, and as little ones, they take their clothes off a lot. Also, because of being sensitive, many people with ADD have to wear masks at night or run a fan so they don't hear every noise in the house.
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Our society is clearly making us all more distracted with cell phones, email, tablets and video games. And people with ADD are even more vulnerable.
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Disorganization is another common trait in those with add, especially for their space and being on time. From early in life, their personal space tends to be a mess, especially if you look in their rooms, closets, purses and book bags.
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Bosses and spouses often complain about it, and I've received many letters from wives writing about their ADD husbands. He'll tell you he's organized, but I'm enclosing a picture of his office. What do you think? People with ADD also tend to be late, which can drive others crazy. In fact, many people with ADD do not start getting ready until they are late. They need the oh my God, I'm late adrenaline rush to get moving. People with ADD often have poor follow through and really struggle with procrastination. They will do something only as long as there is intense interest, then drop it. Even though they've known about term papers or projects for months, they often won't start until the last minute. It's almost like they need a deadline or someone to be mad at them before they can get started. Unfortunately, this puts them and those that rely on them under chronic stress.
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Many people with ADD also struggle with impulse control. They often do things without thinking of the consequences, such as spending money they don't have, gorging on too much food, flirting with people they shouldn't flirt with, or saying stupid things, and then they hate themselves later.
- [05:50]
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Let me show you something. This is the prefrontal cortex. It is called the brain supervisor or CEO because it's involved with forethought, judgment, planning and impulse control. When this part of the brain is low in activity, which is the most common research finding in add, people don't supervise themselves very well, which can get them into a lot of hot water.
- [06:17]
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In the same way, many people with ADD take what we call a crisis management approach to their lives. Drama and conflict tends to follow them, and it seems that they almost unconsciously set it up. Relationship patterns are a tip off if you know someone who falls in love a lot but then fights and breaks up over and over, think add. One important reason to treat ADD is that the chronic stress can wear out your immune system. People who have it go to the doctor three times more than others for being sick. I was always sick growing up. My best friend described my house by saying, oh my God, there's always a fire to put out. She was describing the chronic drama.
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The steps to healing ADD Knowing if you or a loved one has it knowing your type, targeted supplements or medications for your type, getting your diet optimized, which is just critical the right behavioral strategies and getting your family involved.