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It’s estimated that between three and ten percent of the population in our country is

correctly diagnosed with attention deficit disorders, which you may know as ADD.

And generally it shows up more often in boys than it does in girls. But there are some

other very important facts about this disorder that you should also know and some of

them may surprise you.

SOMEONE IN THIS CLASSROOM HAS ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER.

A-D-D IMPACTS ATTENTION SPAN, IMPULSE CONTROL AND MOTOR

ACTIVITY. YOU MAY EXPECT THIS STORY TO BE ABOUT A CHILD — BUT IT

ISN’T. THE PERSON WITH A-D-D IS ACTUALLY THE TEACHER, MIKE PHILLIPS.

ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER AND ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY

DISORDER KNOWN AS ADD AND ADHD ARE COMMONLY THOUGHT OF AS

CHILDHOOD CONDITIONS. IN FACT, DOCTORS USED TO BELIEVE THE

SYMPTOMS DISAPPEARED IN ADOLESCENCE. BUT NOW, EVIDENCE SHOWS

TWENTY-FIVE TO SEVENTY PERCENT OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE ADD OR ADHD

WILL CARRY IT INTO ADULTHOOD. IT EFFECTS ALL ASPECTS OF AN ADULT’S

LIFE.

Dr. Charles Scott:

“This might be somebody at work and they look out the window and they see a cloud

and they start looking at the cloud. Then there’s a squirrel on the tree, well isn’t that

nice — suddenly thirty minutes has gone by, their work is untouched and they realize

they are having problems focusing.”

DON’T BE WORRIED IF THIS SOUNDS LIKE YOU. WE ALL EXPERIENCE TIMES

WHERE WE CAN’T FOCUS OR ARE DISTRACTED. BUT DOCTOR CHARLES

SCOTT, A PSYCHIATRIST AT THE UC DAVIS MEDICAL CENTER, SAYS ADULTS

WITH ADD AND ADHD WILL HAVE TROUBLE WITH ATTENTION AND

FOCUSING ON A CONSISTENT AND DAILY BASIS. EVERYDAY TASKS BECOME

VERY DIFFICULT.

Mike:

“I started working different jobs, and I’d work at a job and eventually get fired because

of mistakes or whatever happened. I’d work another job same thing would happen,

this happened about four times in a row and it starts wearing on your self-esteem, I

mean what’s wrong with me? Why does this keep happening?

MIKE HAS ADD, BUT AT THE TIME HE DIDN’T KNOW IT. HIS WIFE AMY READ

ABOUT ADD AND REALIZED MIKE HAD MANY OF THE SYMPTOMS. OTHER

FAMILY MEMBERS ARE USUALLY THE ONES WHO RECOGNIZE ADD IN AN

ADULT.

IN TRUE CASES OF A-D-D OR ADHD AS AN ADULT, YOU WOULD HAVE HAD

SYMPTOMS PRIOR TO THE AGE OF SEVEN. DOCTORS EXAMINE YOUR

CHILDHOOD, YOUR ACADEMIC AND BEHAVIORAL HISTORY. MIKE WAS A SHY

AND WELL-BEHAVED CHILD, SO UNTIL HE WAS THOROUGHLY EVALUATED

HIS CONDITION FELL THRU THE CRACKS.

THIS CAN BE THE MOST DIFFICULT ASPECT OF A-D-D. IT CAN BE IGNORED

FOR YEARS. SO HOW IS IT TO LIVE WITH AN ADULT WITH A-D-D?

Amy :

‘Very hard. There are words that you say that are very difficult to use, but often times

I felt very burdened.”

BURDEN COMES IN THREE CLUSTERS OF SYMPTOMS FOR THOSE WITH AN

ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER. THE FIRST SYMPTOM IS A LACK OF

ATTENTION. A PERSON WILL HAVE PROBLEMS FOCUSING OR WILL BE

INATTENTIVE. THE SECOND SET OF SYMPTOMS INVOLVE HYPERACTIVITY.

NOT ALL ADULTS HAVE THIS SYMPTOM. IN FACT, MIKE DOESN’T, BUT

ADULTS WHO DO BEHAVE IN A SPECIFIC WAY.

Dr. Charles Scott:

“Those who are hyperactive and fidgety, these are the individuals who can’t sit still in

their chairs — they are squirmy — if they are at their desk they are kind of tapping

their pencil, moving around.”

IMPULSIVENESS IS THE THIRD SYMPTOM…

Dr. Charles Scott:

“This may be the person who has difficulty waiting their turn, for example, in a

conversation. They’re blurting out the words, if they’re playing a game they have

difficulty waiting their turn.”

THE CAUSE OF ADD AND ADHD IS COMPLEX AND CONTINUES TO BE

STUDIED. THE CONDITION MAY BE LINKED TO BRAIN CHEMISTRY. IT SEEMS

SPECIFIC CHEMICALS CALLED NEUROTRANSMITTERS COULD BE LACKING IN

PEOPLE WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDERS. PEOPLE WITH THE

DISORDER ARE OFTEN VERY CREATIVE OR INTELLIGENT, BUT

CONCENTRATION, PLANNING AND ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS ARE WEAK.

MIKE AND AMY ARE GETTING READY FOR A FAMILY DAY OUT WITH THEIR

DAUGHTERS. A SIMPLE EVENT LIKE THIS CAN BE VERY DIFFICULT FOR AN

ADULT WITH ADD, AND THE SYMPTOMS AFFECT HOW MIKE INTERACTS

WITH AMY IN MANY WAYS…

Mike:

“It’s getting into a routine, that’s what helps for me.”

AFTER MIKE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH ADD. HE WAS PUT ON MEDICATION —

A STIMULANT THAT HELPS CONTROL HIS SYMPTOMS.

Mike:

"It just helps me focus so much better, I mean I’m feeling more assertive, and I am

able to do what needs to be done."

Amy:

"Maybe it was wishful thinking but I can say I noticed a difference that day-right

away."

MIKE HAS ALSO CREATED A SYSTEM TO KEEP HIM ORGANIZED AND

FOCUSED AT HOME AND AT WORK. AND IN DISCOVERING HIS CONDITION,

HE’S MORE AWARE OF ITS POTENTIAL IN HIS CHILDREN BECAUSE A-D-D CAN

BE GENETIC.

Dr. Scott:

"If your father, for example, and your child has ADHD and you’re male, there’s about

a four to five time chance that you will have ADHD when compared to the population.

Now have we identified an ADHD gene, not that specific."

WHAT THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY HAS IDENTIFIED IS THAT ADD AND ADHD

AREN’T CONDITIONS WE ALWAYS GROW OUT OF. BUT WITH EDUCATION,

MEDICINE AND BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION -THERE IS HELP AVAILABLE.

One more note here. It’s important not to self-diagnose attention deficit disorders. Dr.

Scott reminds us that other conditions can mimic the same symptoms and so a

medical and psychiatric exam is really the first step you should take in determining

whether, in fact, you might have A-D-D.