About MrPerky

Part I

Published on April 26, 2004 By mrperky In Health & Medicine

Before we begin seriously our in depth look at Adult ADD, please let me tell a little bit about myself:

I am a 38 year-old male who was diagnosed with Adult ADD in March of 2004. I live in North Carolina in the United States and work for the local government as a computer programmer. I am married to a wonderful woman and we will celebrate 16 years of marriage this July. We have two sons, ages 5 and 8. Alex is my older son and he has been diagnosed with ADHD and Jarrett is my younger son. I am a strong Christian and this viewpoint will show in my writings. I'll try not to be confrontational though

I have used the pseudonym MrPerky on the internet for the last 5 years or so. While it is currently severly underdeveloped, I also own the domain MrPerky.com. Sometime I may link that domain name to this blog if everything pans out.

I have had ADD all of my life. This is critical to being diagnosed with Adult ADD. If your symptoms have started recently, indeed, if you can remember them starting at all, then you most likely are suffering from a different illness or disorder than ADD. I was not diagnosed as ADD or ADHD as a child for lack of testing and lack of understanding in the medical profession. During this time I really could have benefitted from that diagnosis. I did not receive counseling or treatment for this condition as a child or young adult.

It wasn't until we began learning about the ADHD symptoms that my son Alex has that I began to look at myself. This is common for us adults with ADD. Frequently the condition is unmasked as we recognize in ourselves the symptoms that our children have. Still, I did nothing. I thought that Adults with ADD just had to deal with it. We have learned some coping strategies as adults, and some have even gone the extra step of self-medicating with alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, or worse drugs. I've never been a substance abuser and currently don't even drink because of my Christian convictions.

After treating my son's ADHD with a variety of medications, we have arrived at a happy configuration. He is taking Concerta and it has made all the difference. While not taking away his personality, curiousity, good nature, or good mood, it has allowed him to concentrate, to perform better academically, and to have good self-esteem.

It was easy to look at Alex's improvements and wonder... What would my life be like if I were on medication. If Alex was at "A" performance level before medication, and at the substantially higher "B" level after medication, then where is my "A" level and where would my "B" level be if I were on medication? This thought started me on the path to getting diagnosed with ADD and to begin treatment if I was diagnosed.

Comments

No one has commented on this article. Be the first!

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!