MrPerky has suffered a nervous breakdown caused by a long term decline in mental health, particularly depression and anxiety. Thank you for reading and responding to my articles, but I will no longer be posting. Now it's time to go watch some movies about waterfalls with pretty music. Bye. -- MrPerky

First, let me say that I am a big believer in the voting system(s) in America. You have no basis for complaints about your leadership if you don't care enough to vote. My county in North Carolina (Catawba) has primary elections coming up in July. I am a registered Democrat, though my leanings are distinctly Republican with the exception of big business. I am assisting in the voting process as a judge for one of the local precincts. This is my first time as a judge. Going through tra...

I just bought one of the new C2 Coke's at the local Target in the nifty 8-pack. Further, the vending machine upstairs now carries C2 as well as "straight" Coke. Nutritionally, C2 seems to have it going on. Calories fall from 140 to 70, total carbs from 39g to 18g, sugar from 39g to 18g (guess where the carbs come from...), and sodium from 50mg to 45mg. My informal taste test shows that it tastes _exactly_ the same, with no sweetener aftertaste. So, it looks like a home run for Coke, righ...

ADD is an elusive condition that is hard to identify in children and harder to identify in adults. It is similar in nature to other conditions and has many of its symptoms masked or modified by other (comorbid) ailments. After 30 years or so of active study several reliable methods of identifying ADD in children have been developed. These usually involve a substantial question and answer survey given to the child's parents, teachers, or other involved personnel. Additionally, the American...

On the Adult ADD Forum at ADHD News I was interested to see another use describe some of his computer use. That topic made me think about what mine is like... First, visually, I like the Mac metaphor. If I could use a G4 or G5 at work then I would. I emulate as much of the Mac interface as I can. This is visually disturbing to those who see my computer and expect it to have that Windows XP Bliss look. Task bar at the top, Apple logo in place of Start Menu logo, no quick launch bar. ...

I've just googled for "MrPerky" and much of my blog posting on JoeUser is listed already. Several of my articles are highly listed under the search term "ADHD conspiracy" (it's good to be a counterweight to that awful Dr. Fred A. Baughman, Jr. ), and my Is Adult ADD for Real blog is also top listed. Google really seems to be crawling this site, and frequently! I have been looking around for an easier to use blog site/tool, but I can't beat the results that JoeUser is getting me. So, ...

Do you ever watch the odometer on your car when it switches over to unique numeric sequences? 1000, 10000, 20000, 20202, 25000, 33333, 99999, 100000, etc are all interesting numbers for me to see. I'll even mind the decimal point if it's cool enough looking. My wife thinks I'm crazy but I caught her watching 22222.2 cross the odometer on the new van. My JoeUser.com score just did a similarly neat thing. My score rose above my rank (260/242). Nothing particularly special in the 250's...

It's well established that the ADD child or adult has significant problems in paying attention. Much of the misperceptions of the disorder arise from the fact that nearly all of us at times have problems in paying attention. In contrast, the ADD sufferer has problems in paying attention _all_ the time. A frequent characteristic of the ADD sufferer seems to belie that claim. They seem to be able to pay inordinate amounts of attention to whatever they want, sometimes paying an extraordinary amo...

There's a terrible conspiracy going on. It begins when a kid is restless in school (gasp!). It continues when the teacher suggests that the child may have problems with self-control (horrors!). It progresses when a pediatrician diagnoses ADHD and prescribes Ritalin (zounds!). It ends with a disconnected little child who is drugged up, alienated, and out of touch in the classroom, but is no longer restless (shivers!). This is quite the little myth that is perpetuated by a wide range of ...

Is ADD related to sleeping disorders? Not medication induced sleeping problems, but actually tied to the ADD as either a symptom or a comorbid condition? During the investigative process for my ADD diagnosis, my counselor was worried that my sleep problems might need more immediate attention than my ADD issues. Several professionals have mentioned depression as a possible cause of the sleeplessness. (duh, first question on the depression scale - do you sleep well?) I went on Strattera f...

Strattera is the only FDA approved medication for treating ADD in Adults. There are several methods for treating ADD affecting either dopamine, seratonin, or norepinephrinelevels. Strattera affects norepinephrine levels and, in general, drugs like Ritalin affect dopamine and/or norepinephrine levels. When a neuron releases norepinephrine, it immediately tries to retrieve (reuptake) the neurotransmitter to prevent overstimulation of the receiving neuron. In the case of Adult ADD (and a...

The nurse practitioner at work flagged me down yesterday to tell me of the recent article in the US News And World Report about ADD in Adults. I haven't seen the print version yet, and I presume (perhaps incorrectly) that the web version is verbatim the same. The article can be read online here . My prior memories of the USNAWR magazine were from High School and College, where I used it to research information for debates, research papers, and the like. I am unaware of what academic st...

A Journey Into ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER -- This is a somewhat dated website (from the late 90's) that does have some excellent background material on the disorder, as well as some (at times) heartbreaking stories of family and individuals who are struggling with ADD. ADHD News' Adult ADD Forum -- This site has some very informed opinions and the occasional poster with many serious problems in addition to ADD. You can learn about medication(s) and alternative treatments, talk to othe...

Thanks for staying with me here I had been recognizing the symptoms of ADD in myself and began wondering what positive effects medication would have on me. Would I also have as positive an experience as my son, Alex, has? We have Alex working with a local Christian counseling group that has much experience with ADD on both the personal and professional level. After a session with our counselor, I casually asked if the counseling group worked with Adults who had ADD as well as with...