Life vs. ADD Symptoms

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Lately I’ve been writing a lot about balance, and making your life easier, and also telling you how mine has sort of been out of control lately.

My ADD symptoms have really made themselves known in the past week or so. For instance, it’s almost midnight and I just remembered I was supposed to go to the bank today to get money for my husband. Oops.

Taking a look at what my life’s been like recently, I can see that there could be several reasons why things have gone off track:

    My stress level has been higher than usual
    I’m not exercising, doing yoga, or meditating regularly
    I’m not drinking enough water
    I’m spending more time indoors

I have control over some of these things, and no control over others, like stress. I can control, however, how I react to stress, and that would help.

Attention Deficit Disorder doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it affects every part of our life and every part of our life affects it.

If you don’t sleep well or enough, your ADD symptoms will be worse.

If you eat junk food instead of the food your body and brain need, your ADD symptoms will be worse.

If you react to stress by worrying and fretting, your ADD symptoms will be worse.

There is a lot you can do to make ADD symptoms better that don’t involve taking a pill. Even if you do take medication for your ADD, making lifestyle changes can still make a difference.

I’m going to take a good hard look at my life tomorrow (after I go to the bank) and make some positive changes. I’m going to make time to give myself the things I need in order to function at my best. I’ll let you know how it goes.

If you would like to know more about how lifestyle affects ADHD, visit Natural ADHD Diet.

Lacy Estelle

Lacy Estelle

Lacy Estelle is the writer of Lacyestelle.com and the Podcast host for An ADD Woman.

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3 Responses

  1. Hi Brenda, I am an ADHD Mom and I have an ADHD child with learning disabilities and I’m now thinking we may be dealing with ODD. He has been so angry at home and at school lately. I feel so bad for him. I’m waiting on a phone call from his doctor now. I just don’t know what to do. Any suggestions?

    Thanks, Maria

  2. Hi Maria –

    ODD is certainly one of the common co-morbidities associated with ADHD. However, since your son’s anger has only recently become an issue, I would doubt that it is ODD.

    People with ADHD eventually experience what I call “hitting the wall”. They can manage their life and their ADD symptoms relatively well up to a point. At some point, things get to be more than they can manage. A lot of kids experience this somewhere between 4th and 10th grade.

    I would suggest talking to him and taking a look at his life lately. Has anything changed? Do you get the impression that he’s overwhelmed or possibly being teased at school?

    Give him some positive outlets for expressing his anger. It could be an organized sport, art, music, journaling, or whatever might appeal to him. Even shooting hoops in the backyard can be helpful if he uses it to vent his anger.

    I would also see if he would be interested in meditation or visualization techniques. A lot of accomplished athletes, including Tiger Woods, use these techniques all the time to help them focus and concentrate. They can also be useful for learning to calm down.

    I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have more questions.