I think they did. I got another email today because of our communications.
Thanks for the acknowledgement. And I am glad that your therapist pointed
you towards experienced physicians also.

I will violate your therapists wishes though. That Hallowell book, Delivered
from Distraction is a good one. It has an exceptional couple of chapters on
relationships. I have to give it to my nephew. He is acting the part out
just like the book says. Actually I should probably copy the chapters to my
hard drive. A lot of people that I know with ADD seem to have the problems
that the chapters address. More specifically, I should give that chapter to
my nephew's girlfriend. She is frustrated, and loves him, (AND IS STUDYING
PSYCHOLOGY), but she does not have a clue as to why the relationship goes up
and down.

I think Go Put Your Strengths to Work is a good book and a good perspective.
I am around p 127 and CDs 3 and 4. It appears to be the meat of the process.
How to identify your strengths. Clarify, a really good point. "I like
working with people." Too vague. "I like working with people that are trying
to better themselves, are positive, need my unique perspective, and wish to
make a difference with what they learn." Not vague.

We do the same thing with Doctors when we tell them things. If they can not
understand us when we are specific, that should set off an alarm flag that
they do not have the experience that we need for what we want. What we need
and what we want, should also be very detailed in our mind. And maybe
written down before the interview with the doc so we can reference it when
we talk to them. But, even without ADD people that need really effective
communications, write down scripts and ideas before they call on someone.


Again, Good Luck, and Good Journeys,


Things are continuing to get better, you are in a better place now than you
were before,

Tom P

P.S. A good way to get out of a dark thought run. List out your Gratitudes.
Try to do that every day, but at first, just use thinking about Gratitudes
to counteract dark thoughts and negative self talk. (A trick I picked up
from The Secret, the DVD. I watched the DVD because I knew in 1 hour I would
have finished the DVD. And reading the book, I probably would still be
reading it. Feeling shame and guilt for not completing yet another good
book.)


P.S. P.S. And remember, since you have read most of the Go Put Your
Strengths to Work, book, Marcus Buckingham discussed how it is a norm to
talk and frame things in weaknesses rather than strengths. That is not just
with ADD, that is in our society. Just a little peace-of-mind reminder.


ok, PSPSPS. I am attaching 4 articles. I will watch the Blog, Board or
whatever we call it. If it does not post I will resend it in the body of the
email.





-----Original Message-----
From: Keith Halverson [mailto:halve31@...]
Sent: Monday, December 17, 2007 1:33 PM
To: Tom Proko
Subject: RE: New member


Wow Tom,

Thanks for the wealth of inforamtion! First, I have to
admit I kept purchasing books and either dont start to
read or almost never finish reading. I have been
confident I can do this with the help of an authority.
I had to laugh when you mentioned the putting your
strengths to work book. I have both the tape and the
book and totally beleive in what you and the author
said. I just couldnt finish either one but I will move
it up a bit on the lkist of 12 books I have going at
one time! ( I have been told to be on a reading diet
right now and only read my daily meditation book or
the Bible) Yes I beleive in playing to my strengths
and not playing to fix my weaknesses!

I met with my therapist today and he was pretty clear
in his recomendation to see a new doctor that
specializes in ADHD for adults. he gave me a good
referal.

Well, again, thanks. I hope you knopw your words have
helped someone and have given them hope and
encouragement.

Regards,

Keith
--- Tom Proko <tjp@...> wrote:

> Hi Keith,
>
> The paralysis can be from the medication lack of. Or
> it could just be from
> getting overwhelmed, But the overwhelmed state
> should diminish as you get
> your balance back. I can be at the checkout counter
> and the clerk is talking
> to me and people are talking behind me, and there is
> a baby crying, and I
> keep asking the clerk what she said. After the 3rd
> time, I stop, rethink,
> and realize that my meds just wore off and I am
> getting overwhelmed because
> I have lost my filters. The filters reside in the
> Amygdala and they are
> activated my ADD medication. Once active, they quiet
> things down because the
> meds are bringing you filters on line, so to speak.
> The short acting stuff
> last 3 to 5 hours, depending on you. It last 3 hours
> for me and a lot of
> people I know. The longer acting ones 6 - 8 hours
> Adderall or Ritalin LA for
> example.
>
> Drugs that do not work, but, inexperienced
> physicians will try them be cause
> they are easier to prescribe, Strattera and
> Wellbutrin. The ADD meds are an
> administrative hassle for the physician because they
> can only write on 30
> day supply, hard copy, per month. There are no
> refills. This has to do with
> our society abusing this area of medication. I do
> not wish to create
> nightmares for you, but you should have a heads up
> on what is affecting some
> of the recommendations.
>
> I got overwhelmed working this last weekend because
> the TV was on, people
> were talking and all of a sudden my meds ran out. I
> either had to stop what
> I was doing, because I could not figure anything out
> at that point, or I
> would take a short acting med (3hours). I chose to
> take the 3 hour med. I
> sleep quite well if I take my meds. It does not give
> me a boost at all. Many
> I talk to sometimes have to take an occasional med
> to sleep, because their
> mind is going 2,000 miles and hour and it shuts up
> their brain if they take
> a med.
>
> Sleep problems are routine with ADD. Whether
> medicated or not. Be careful to
> be clear to your Dr which is causing it. There is a
> good book out there,
> Delivered from Distraction, by Dr Hallowell, where
> he describes the ADD
> brain as many times faster than a normal brain. The
> only problem is, the
> thoughts are too quick and too many to be able to
> use them some of the time.
> "Maserati brain with Chevrolet brakes". I would
> highly recommend the book.
>
> Hallowell also recommends to quit trying to shore up
> your weaknesses and
> concentrate on your strengths and/or what you truly
> want. This is a tough
> one because our society indoctrinates people into
> focusing on their
> weaknesses and correcting them. If you fix, or
> slightly alter your
> weaknesses, so what! Now what? If you play to your
> strengths and look for
> opportunities to do so, you catapult to your
> strengths and what you want. A
> good book on this one is "Go put your strengths to
> work", by Marcus
> Buckingham.
>
> That is it, 2 books. And get the matching CDs for
> both.
>
> Hallowell will point out that ADDers have a hard
> time finishing books. I do.
> And he recommends the books on tape to help with
> that. I own both these
> books on tape and on CD. I use both. And it has
> helped me move forward and
> get through the material more quickly.
>
> Final word, ADD, don't ask, don't tell. The
> misconceptions on what ADD is,
> out there, is infinite. You do not have the time to
> educate the world on
> what it is. But, if you tell someone that you are
> dependent on for a job or
> for networking, you will never know when you have
> just shot yourself in your
> foot. ADD is actually a gift of creative free
> thinking. But, we live in a
> linear world. School are based on linear models.
> Bosses are usually linear.
> If you get reviewed, what gets the most time, your
> accomplishments or your
> deficits? What did your parents and school focus on,
> you As or your Fs.
>
>
> Ok this is too much for one email. I hope it helps.
> Strive to be happy.
> Screw people that want you to be down or who want to
> tear you down because
> any part of your character. Everyone is different.
>
> Good Luck,
>
>
> Tom P
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Keith Halverson [mailto:halve31@...]
> Sent: Monday, December 17, 2007 9:03 AM
> To: tjp@...
> Subject: Re:New memeber
>
>
> Hey Tom,
> Thanks for your advice and all your help. Yes , I am
> already in the process of medication evaluation and
> therapy. It will take time to get it all right
> however. I admit everything has started to come to
> me
> as to how ADD has affected me thoughout my life! I
> have also started to look at and blame evrything on
> ADD and I can see what you mean.
>
> Question, How do you deal with times where you are
> paralyzed with all the task at work and therefore
> get
> nothing done or do something totally unrelated? I am
> sure the meds will help me through this.
>
> Thanks again!
>
> Keith
>
>