My doctor told me his theory on there being a connection between types of sunlight and Adult ADHD last year. Blue light is what is often used in those natural sunlight lamps that a lot of people use for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). The lamps are supposedly able to give you more energy and keep you less sad during seasons where you don't have as much access to natural sunlight. When summer comes around, those of us who are already hyped up, imagine what extra natural blue light can do for us ...

Adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) - it's what I have and it's what you either have or think you have, or what your loved one has or you think your loved one has. And, guess what? It can't be cured. And guess what else? That's okay. Also, you might ask, "Why can't it be fixed? And, if it can't be fixed, what the heck can you do about it?" The following is my argument for how best to approach the treatment and post-diagnosis-life of adult ADHD.

I talked about one of my professors a few weeks back in a post about ADHD and beneficial impulsivity and I'm here to talk about his wisdom again. We have this thing in physical therapy called a "physical therapy diagnosis" and my professor has some issues with the term - I'll explain. When you go your primary care physician, say, because you have a sore throat, they will give you a "medical diagnosis," like strep throat. When you go to a physical therapist with neck pain and we find that you have some postural issues, we'll "diagnose" you with: Impaired Posture. Or, if your physician says you have arthritis, we'll say you have "Impaired Joint Mobility." Seems like semantics at times, but what the heck is the point of a diagnosis anyway?

I am about to take a vacation. In t-minus 1 hour-ish, I will be leaving for the great state (I assume) of  North Carolina. Does having Adult ADHD impact how we have vacations? I think so - and I definitely think it impacts how we are able to get on the road. Planning, organizing and waiting are all things that can be tough.

I had a really fun lecture recently about evidence-based practices and spinal dysfunctions and it led me to believe that having impulsive thoughts aren't always necessarily bad. Sometimes impulsive thoughts can be  beneficial - such is true of medial diagnoses. You may say, "Yeah, yeah, Liz. Sure, saying that impulsive comment to my wife last night was 'beneficial' for me." What would I say back? I think the trick is to target impulsivity - to know when to give into it and when to lose it.

I know you have all been wating with bated breath for this follow-up post to last week's discussion about relaxing and Adult ADHD. Let's have a quick refresher of the definition of "relax" we are using: make or become less tense or anxious; rest or engage in an enjoyable activity so as to become less tired or anxious; cause (a limb or muscle) to become less rigid; and, straighten or partially uncurl (hair) using a chemical product We agreed (at least in my head) not to tackle the fourth, so let's go ahead and dive into numbers two and three!

I have a three day weekend and I think it's time to talk about the interaction I've experienced between having Adult ADHD and being able to relax. Let me start off by defining the word "relax." This is the definition I found during my quick internet search: make or become less tense or anxious; rest or engage in an enjoyable activity so as to become less tired or anxious; cause (a limb or muscle) to become less rigid; and, straighten or partially uncurl (hair) using a chemical product. I'm going to address the first one today and the next two next week. As someone with insanely curly hair (when long) I've tried the fourth and felt no less anxious after, [insert smiley face here] so it will not be discussed.

As adults with ADHD, we may have a tendency to fidget. Fidgeting isn't something that's often seen as adult-like behavior. I was told a few months ago that when one goes to a job interview you should never fidget and pretty much you should never fidget at work. See, I asked if it was okay to start fidgeting after you got the job, but the question wasn't received all that well and it was basically a "no." So, what the heck are we supposed to do to control mostly unconscious behaviors?

Saturdays have long been the hardest day of the week for me. There is so much unscheduled free time and my Adult ADHD feeds off of it. I've gotten really adept at remember to make task lists and having that be what leads my day, but even that hasn't been allowing me to feel relaxed and easy going on a Saturday. My wife had a heck of an idea the other weekend that I found really worked: make more than one list for free time.

When I say "being on time," I also mean "not missing appointments." Not to brag, but I'm superb at being on time. In fact, I'm just about always early for appointments that I keep. Please notice the last few words to that sentence: that I keep. I am not good at using that calendar I talked about last week. Sometimes I'll write down when an appointment is going to happen, but I do not do a good job of referring back to my calendar to see what events are upcoming. This is why New Year's Resolutions exist, I suppose.