Zoë's office on DAY 1 of a 3-month commitment to self-coaching

Thanks to everyone who sent in a photo of their messy office. All two of you. Thanks to Kelly and Jerry for rising up to the  messy office challenge and sending in their own candid shots of their messy offices!  Let’s call it a tie for first place! CONGRATULATIONS!! Brave souls, both! But what’s the deal? Is it just me (and Kelly and Jerry)?

I know the DSM is undergoing revision, but nobody told me that disorganization was going to be off the symptom list. Or are we just the only ones who don’t know any better than to air our dirty laundry – er – offices? Maybe this whole blogging thing is getting to me. I worry about that. It’s like Madonna pushing the envelope for 40 years, just to stay in the spotlight. Have I lost my sense of decorum? Did I ever have a sense of decorum? Doubtful.

A couple of years ago, I saw this really cool t-shirt online. It was black with a white logo that looked just like the AC/DC logo. Except it said: AD/HD.

I begged my partner (at the time) to buy it for me online. (My own credit card had mysteriously maxed out several years ago). His answer? No dice. He was too suspicious of buying anything online (except from Amazon, which he bought from pretty much everyday, but this is a blog about MY issues, not HIS, so I’ll say no more).

ADHD Psychiatrist, Dr. Timothy S. Bilkey and ADHD Blogger, Zoë Kessler, 2010

In Part I, we discussed the advantages to front-line physicians of using the 10 Patient Profiles as developed by Dr. Timothy Bilkey. I asked Dr. Bilkey, wouldn’t it just be easier to have a symptom checklist?

Dr. Bilkey said:

“The checklist is a mechanistic way that anybody could identify with ADD. Because these symptoms are very non-specific, and they’re cross-sectional, they’re very skeletal. The problem with it is that, anybody could say, “Well, I’m forgetful.” And the checklist of symptoms doesn’t give a context in a context-driven condition.”

ADHD Psychiatrist Dr. Timothy S. Bilkey and ADHD Blogger, Zoë Kessler, 2010

In one of my first ADHD: from A to Zoë blog posts, I tried, unsuccessfully, to find a definitive statement about what ADHD is.

It turns out, we ADHDers are not the only ones who have a difficult time understanding what defines ADHD.

For most of us, our family doctors are the front-line person whom we approach first when we’re looking into a diagnosis. Unfortunately, many family physicians are as in the dark about it as we are.

Chick A-D-D Zoë, Christmas, 1962 (I'm the little drama queen in the front)

Now that I live alone and both my adoptive parents have passed away, I’ve been reflecting on Christmases past, when I was a hyperactive little Chick A-D-D.

My family didn’t know about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder back then (circa 1962). And we sure didn’t know about it for girls. Christmas brought special challenges for me. It’s only now that I can see what those challenges were, how I coped then, and how I’m coping now.

Nancy A. Ratey, ADHD coach and author, The Disorganized Mind

I decided to go all the way.

I ‘fessed up to Nancy.  I figured we’d all like a taste of ADHD coaching in action.  So I bit the bullet, and asked her to read my interim report, ADHD Self-Coaching: Progress Report!

Much to my delight (and dread), she agreed. I asked her to evaluate my progress (or lack thereof), and to offer some pointers on my direction.

Here’s what she said (with much gratitude to Nancy for doing this for all of us! And NO – I didn’t write this myself!! This is right from the Coaching Diva’s mouth!)

Self-love for the ADHDer

Today’s blog post was inspired by a Frank Zappa quote heading up a recent post by Daniel Tomasulo (great post, btw, Daniel!).  The quote was: 

I detest love lyrics. I think one of the causes of bad mental health in the United States is that people have been raised on love lyrics.

This is an opinion I’ve held for decades, except that I’d expand it to refer to the world, since by now, North American culture permeates most of the planet.

Today’s Pet Peeve is about the fact that I’m completely frustrated with myself for not having written a book review.

I’ve had a copy of Dr. Russell A. Barkley’s latest book, Taking Charge of Adult ADHD, published in 2010, for a few months now. I’m such a slow reader! And every time I pick up the book, I’m blown away by how he’s presented the material, and the material that he presents.

Zoë's office on DAY 1 of a 3-month commitment to self-coaching

Okay, right about now I’d be more comfortable if I were a porn star pictorially chronicling my career than an ADHDer posting the photographic evidence of my self-coaching failure. It’s truly obscene.

However, in my self-coaching mission statement, I pledged to, “…completely commit myself to writing as honestly and genuinely as possible…”  so I snapped today’s shot (see photo below) in all  its stark authenticity.

If you haven’t read the previous self-coaching blog posts, I publicly pledged to stick with Nancy Ratey‘s self-coaching suggestions, as outlined in her book The Disorganized Mind, for three months. I set out my goals in my August 20 blog post.

As of today, I’m 2 1/2 months into my self-coaching odyssey. Let’s see where I’m at, shall we?

Photo ©Zoë Kessler, Nov. 2010

One feeling that plagues us as ADHDers, is the feeling of being different. We don’t fit in. We don’t follow the rules. Try as we might, we just don’t get it.

We end up feeling bad about ourselves, our self-confidence plummets.

Today’s post is inspired by a recent walk through a nearby park, following a rugged river trail, across the bridge, and home again along the opposite bank. I was struck by the spectacular beauty of fall’s die-hards, those trees that stand out like jewels amongst their neighbors. It occurred to me that – sometimes – it’s okay to stand out.