Recently, an ADHD from A to Zoë reader made the following request:

“I’m wishing you’d continue with your series about looking for help in all the wrong places. I’d really like to know what happened. How did you get a support group happening? I hate being left hanging like that.”

~ from bobcat665

Bobcat665 is referring to Zoë’s Pet Peeves: Adult ADHD – Looking for Help in All the Wrong Places, Parts I and II.

I thought about it, and it’s a really good question.

So, to put BC665 out of his misery, and to update everyone, I’ve re-read these Pet Peeves, and come up with an answer.

Here’s what I’ve done personally for support and growth, since I first wrote about the lack of support resources for adult ADHDers. I hope you find some or all of it helpful for you, too.

Most of us are familiar with the classic ADHD “subtypes”:

- inattentive
- hyperactive-impulsive
- combined subtype

ADHD is a syndrome

Some feel that these subtypes are not always helpful in describing adult ADHD. Current researchers, such as Dr. Margaret Weiss, see ADHD as a syndrome, or collection of symptoms. Each of us lucky ADHDers has our own, special, combination of symptoms, and the severity of each of these symptoms varies.

©Zoë Kessler, 2000

I’ve been thinking a lot about my blog post, Work, Work, Work! An ADHDer’s Jagged Path to Success. I found it kind of embarrassing to admit how many jobs I’ve held over the years, and secretly harbor a bloodcurdling fear that my next prospective employer will stumble across that post, and rip up my resume in frenzied recognition of someone highly unemployable. If that post were a cartoon, the caption would read: “Run away! Run away!”

Inspired by a great weekend full of new adventures, including geocaching for the first time, with a new friend full of new ideas, in a new and magical woodland, I realized – hey! There’s a positive side to my insatiable need for newness.

So here’s a fresh look at the pros and cons of the restless ADHD soul.

In his blog post yesterday, Storm Chaser or Storm Creator,  blogger/comedian/writer Rick Green talks about his inability to enjoy the peace and calm that follows accomplishment. He describes a typical hyperactive ADHDer’s dilemma of always being driven, of chasing after the next big thing, or waiting anxiously for the next disaster. He’s not alone, but I found myself wondering about his conclusion:

“It’s like those people who get addicted to chasing down tornadoes and recording them on video. Storm chasers. If spend most of your life standing in the whirlwind for too long, it’s hard to appreciate any other way of living.

And that’s a shame.”

Is it?

Missed PART I? Click HERE.

PART II

On Monday, we ended on a cliff-hanger when Jeff asked how much time is enough time for ADHDers to rectify, or overcome,  certain symptoms that cause them to say, time and time again, “I’m sorry.”

11:00am Jeff But seriously…how much time is enough time to rectify a problem? Maybe that’s not really answerable.

We pick up today’s blog post with Zoë’s answer:

11:03am  Zoë  Of course it’s answerable! As much time as you need. I’m not kidding. If I’ve been undiagnosed for 47 years, and have had ADHD since birth…it’s obviously going to take a lot longer than a few weeks or even months to re-train my brain, get strategies in place, build my self-confidence, self-esteem and sense of self-worth, etc., etc.

If love means never having to say, “I’m sorry,” does ADHD mean ALWAYS having to say “I’m sorry”? Jeff and Zoë explore this question in this week’s He Said / She said series.

Without apology, we present, Part I:

10:38am  Jeff  Does having ADHD mean that you’ll always be saying you are sorry?

I mean…is there always something we screw up that puts us in the “I’m sorry” position?

For example, sometimes we’re extraordinarily late in finishing up a project and you find that you have to say…”I’m sorry.”

10:42am Zoë  I’m a Canadian; I ALREADY have to say I’m sorry all the time! Hee hee hee…sorry…  It’s like having to tease out symptoms in comorbid conditions.

Bummer. Our week in the spotlight is over.

Hope all of you had a week full of discovery & sharing, and that you did at least ONE exceptionally wonderful thing for yourself this week.

I ended my week on a stellar note: I attended a lecture given by Dr. Timothy Bilkey, a Canadian mover and shaker in the adult ADHD world. In addition to running a clinic for adolescent and adult ADHDers (is there a difference? Just kidding…) Dr. Bilkey has lectured internationally, including such far-flung places as Southeast Asia, Mexico, Greece, Lebanon, and Peru, to name a few.

The highlight for me was hearing him say that ADHD and glue guns don’t mix. I laughed so hard, I was still laughing in the car on the way home.

Zoë's famous Pomegranate Fiasco recipe - an ADHDer's favorite!

I promised I’d share some new information with you during ADHD Awareness Week. Given that this is a blog directed primarily at adults with ADHD, and given that this is a time for us to celebrate our “specialness,” I thought it appropriate to follow up on an earlier post, Cooking with ADHD  – spicy. And…dangerous!, where I described my struggles in the kitchen.

Many of you have written in or sent postcards asking for my Pomegranate Fiasco recipe. (Ok, that’s a patent lie, but it sounded good, didn’t it? I can’t lie, never could. The truth is, ONE of my ADHD friends keeps bugging me for the recipe. So I thought I’d share it with all of you.)  Enjoy!

ADHD Awareness Week: Fe-line Groovy! ©Zoë Kessler, 2007

I feel like being random today. I’m inspired by the fact that it’s ADHD Awareness Week. Somehow, that makes me want to be kinder to myself. Easier. More laid back and free-flowing.

So, I thought I’d share some random ADHD-related thoughts that meandered through my mind today, with your indulgence.

AND – I was kinda hoping you’d send in some of yours. Feel free.  I mean it: feel FREE!

Darn! I didn’t find out about ADHD Awareness Week until this morning.  Typical.

On the other hand, I’m AMPLY aware of my ADHD EVERY week.

Make that, every day.

Ok, every minute. *sigh*