Merry Christmas Brain! I got a drug just for you!

One tragic thing that results from lack of knowledge
( in any field)
is alienation of people of differing opinions.

I am beginning ( in a light hearted way) to explain some of the symptoms and internal workings of the mind with ADD ( mine) to my children, whenever I can. I want them to will know just why I seemed to "fall down on the job" when I did during so many dark winters. Why I was unavailable at times, and depressed at others. I also want them to know I am fighting those symptoms for the good of all of us.

Well as I am sharing some of these things, my x wife chimes in with her (popular) theory that ADD is not really a real condition and that most of the times it is a misdiagnosis. THIS bugs the crap out of me on two levels.
ONE: the syptoms are dramatically on display right in front of her ( me).
TWO: I don't recall her having any advanced degrees in human behavior, Psychology, or even reading very much about it in the last fifteen years. From her I hear ( only once, thank God) that ADD is not real, is NOT my problem and certainly is NO excuse for my absent mindedness and tendency to clutter up my life with trinkets and old cars.

More on this later - - - For now, I need to play "blitzen in the family Christmas musical. J/K!

Note to self:

must check with MTR that he is alright,
as this is a tricky season for those of us with ADD or ADHD
or ABCDEFG... ( laugh for pete's sake!)

Bummer
I am out of medication for the next two days
( unless I borrow some)
I went to the pharmacy but decided to use my 'discount card'
but it was not activated yet.

So I have to wait til tuesday.

Well my spirits are very high and my focus has
been reasonably keen ( for me)

Christmas is here - the trees are in place and my family is gathering around.
I am sure I can stay ON my game.

this blog is open

we are open to other contributions
so if you have something, make a comment,
I will contact you, or you can email me your submission:
Personal experience
Books to read
prayer requests
all these are encouraged

medications

I am quick to listen when people say that Presrciption drugs ( meds) are not the solution to the problems presented by ADD or depression. While I have found a great deal of help from the current batch of Wellbutrin, there have been times when the use of meds let me down.
Nutrition and vitamins are part of the treatment plan as are excercise and counseling.

I had a friend who suffered from mild to severe depression and had been on meds for quite a while to treat that, with some success.
I was in a counseling relationship that was beneficial. My counselor and I were dealing with my lack of productivity and spells of depression which we believed were related and exacerbated by the onset of winter's short days and the Holidays.
I can not recall who suggested first that I try Prozac. I wanted help to get to a better place mentally. I engaged in a lot of very negative self talk that ran like an audio track in the background much of my day. I had a lot of 'excuses' that I relied upon to make myself feel better about "doing nothing". There was a long season of losses, where as I recall it now, I lost everything but my mind. Come to think of it the latter was a close call.
I lost my sailboat to a freak accident, I lost my home, and I lost my dog. I though of myself as crazy. I toyed with what it would be like to not exist in my body anymore, but to go directly to heaven. This was what got me in to see a mental health expert.
I met with a psychiatrist through a county program, and was givien Prozac, no charge. It helped. Some. It took the deep part out of my depressions, making them shorter, and less severe. It gave me more days that I could "handle my life". With that tool in our toolbox my counselor and I started working on my lack of organization.

Side note to counselor: Chris, if you ever read this know that I really appreciated what you did for me and my children. You are one of the good ones, you cared and you worked hard for me.

I was not organized then and I am not organized now. I just don't seem to have that gene. When I want something straightened, I hire it to be done, and keep myself on tasks where I can have success and make money. Building, creating, fixing.
Prozac did not make me more organized but it gave me more energy for the daily battle for my self worth and sanity. I have much more of both today, and I did manage to repair some of the damage to relationships wealened by my lack of caring ( for myself).

More on meds later, including my try at Zoloft, and clever ways of getting around needing the 'shrink' to write the prescription. Maybe a word or two about side effects.
God bless you all as you work through these things and support those you love in their recovery.

Physical Health, Part 1

About 3 years ago I went to see a counselor at my church. I was feeling a little manic... Depressed... Compulsive... You name it.

I didn't know why. Things in my life were going pretty well. I had a new baby at home, my wife and I were enjoying being new parents and I was making good money at my job.

Why was I depressed? (This is before I ever knew that I had ADHD. I only knew that I, like many in my family, was a little 'quirky' at times.)

A few things were happening in my life:

1. I was becoming increasingly compulsive. I had always been, but it was getting worse. I would check the stove to make sure it was off... 10 times in a row. I would check my alarm clock over and over to make sure it was really set... I obsessed over it, to the point that I lost sleep. I would pull over along the side of the road to make sure I really put the gas cap back on after filling up.

2. I was upset... About what, I don't know. A girl at work confided in me that she was pregant and going to get an abortion. It made me a wreck. I cried about it... A lot. I didn't know what to do, and, when she went through with it I felt like I, the only Christian in her life, let God down.

3. I grew manic. I was mostly depressed, with moments of incredibly manic highs.

You're reading this and saying, "Aren't you ADHD? Now you're saying you have depression?"

It's all related, but this moment in my life echoed some characteristics that had been manifested at other times, and now that I was a parent with a family depending on me, I found it to be a little frightening.

I went to a counselor (this in and of itself was a big step for me).

At the time I weight 210-215 pounds, about 45 pounds overweight. Note this. It's important.

Fish Oil and Mental Health

There is yet another study of the beneficial impact of Fish Oil on kids with ADHD:

Twenty-eight students, ages 10 to 16 years, completed the six-month open plan study during which they were given a daily balanced diet along with the eye q product. All participants had been diagnosed with various disorders including Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), autism, dyslexia, Aspergers syndrome and pervasive development disorder. Staff monitored the pupils' progress and behavior systemically in a daily record as was done prior to the study; pupils also kept individual diaries.

It seems Omega-3 and Omega-6 supplementation (through fish oil and flax oil), while physically healthy, is good for one's mental well being too. I was told this by a psychiatrist nearly 2 years ago.

Do a Google search for "fish oil, depression" and "fish oil, ADHD." There is some nonsense, sure, but you may be surprised at the amount of reputable information available on this.

Here's the thing: I realize (believe me) that many of us need much strong means of treatment, but the Omegas are in fact very good for your heart (I have been taking them for 2 years now, and my bad cholesterol is incredibly low, my good cholesterol is very high, and my blood pressure is very, very good.)

So heck, you might as well take them! They're cheap (you can get over 2 months of fish oil tablets for about 10 bucks) and doctors agree that they are good for you (my family doctor recommends them as well as my psychiatrist).

And, yes, I have observed a positive impact in both my mental and physical state since supplementing fish oil in my diet.

[WebMD: Fish Oil eases Depression]
[Google Scholar: Fish Oil, ADHD]
[Google Scholar: Fish Oil, Depression]