Wasn't there a thread on ADD?

[Michael Tree]

Interestingly, from a strictly "Behavioristic" point of view, they would classify the action described above as merely "lying in bed" and make no record whatsover of all the imagination stuff going on. Why? Because "thinking" doesn't qualify as a behavior, according to these genius people!

And I'm in the right to criticize them as I've actually held the title of "Behavior Therapist" while working with autistic children. I hold a BA in Psychology & acted as a course-coordinator for my university's class on Behavior Modification. I'll be the first to say that the technique is DEFINATELY NOT appropriate for all situations, though Behaviorists will say otherwise.

When laymen and psychotherapists talk about behavior therapy, they're most often talking about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). CBT focuses a great deal on thoughts and emotions, and places a lot of weight on their influence. Purely behavioral interventions like you're talking about are rarely if ever used for anything aside from autism or extreme psychosis.

As for non-pharmaceutical things that help ADD, I have two recommendations. First, diet. Cutting the sugary pop, sugary juices, candy, and white bread can have a big influence on kids with ADD symptoms.

Second, mindfulness techniques can also be helpful for focus, staying in the here and now, and reducing stress and anxiety.

 

[Ferret]

And I get EXTREMELY frustrated if someone tries to talk to me while I'm on the phone. I cannot drown one person out and hear the other. If two people are trying to talk to me, I hear neither of them. Most people are considerate enough to apologize and walk away when they notice I'm on the phone, or to stop talking and write me a note, but a few months ago I snapped at a coworker for refusing to stop talking to me, even when I made it clear to her that I was on the phone and waved her away a few times. I had to interrupt the customer who was talking to me, ask him to hold, and snapped at the woman, "What?!? I'm on the phone!?!" It turns out she had a simple question that could've been easily answered if she had written it down, allowed me a moment to read it when I felt able, and then wrote her a note back. I felt bad for snapping at her, but at the same time I felt like she was being extremely rude by refusing to stop speaking, even when I made it painfully clear that I was on the phone and unable to pay her the attention she needed.

I couldn't have put it better my self. Thats exactly how I am.

 

[BOZ]

yeah, but how many people actually like to have more than one conversation going on at once? i figure most people don't have the capacity to follow two conversations at the same time.

 

[ssampier]

I don't know what I am but my mind is definately a one-stop freight train - it can do only one thing at a time. If I do more than one, I get confused and may get side-tracked. Ironically enough somtimes I do like the TV or radio on for white-noise.

 

[ssampier]

...It turns out she had a simple question that could've been easily answered if she had written it down, allowed me a moment to read it when I felt able, and then wrote her a note back. I felt bad for snapping at her, but at the same time I felt like she was being extremely rude by refusing to stop speaking, even when I made it painfully clear that I was on the phone and unable to pay her the attention she needed.

Even if you don't have ADD, it's very hard to have a conversation with two people at once when neither person you are speaking to can hear the other.

I know the feeling... I get annoyed when customers visit me in person anyway, if I am on the phone or not. I usually know the answer, but trying to explain how to change settings or fix their problem is an exercise in futility. It is easier to tell them to call.

 

[Nellisir]

yeah, but how many people actually like to have more than one conversation going on at once? i figure most people don't have the capacity to follow two conversations at the same time.

True, but my wife has no problem talking on the phone and watching tv, with the volume up, at the same time. It drives me insane, though (which, now that I think about it, might be why she does it... ).

 

[Merkuri]

I get annoyed when customers visit me in person anyway, if I am on the phone or not.

It was actually a coworker. She was trying to test a bug I'd reported in the software and needed to ask a question. She'd been told it was a very important bug... apparently "important" means she can sit there and try to talk to me repeatedly while I was obviously helping a customer on the phone. I think my answer to her question was, "I wrote that in the bug report!" which frustrated me even more. I honestly don't remember what the question was, but I knew she had all the pieces of the answer she needed, she just hadn't burned enough brain cells to put them together.

I remember reading that people who multitask usually get less done because of a thing called "context switching". It takes your brain a while to switch to a different project. This isn't something unique to ADD sufferers, though they may be hit harder by it.

Imagine that your brain is an office. What you're working on at the moment is represented by a bunch of papers lying on your desk. Other things in your memory are stashed away in filing cabinets. When you switch from one project to another, you gather up all of the papers on your desk, file them away, and search through the filing cabinets for the new project, which you then put on your desk. To switch back to the first project, you have to do the same thing again. The act of clearing off your desk and searching through the files is called "context switching". This can take a while to do, and if you context switch often enough you can lose serious time working compared to if you had worked on one project to completion, then pulled out another one.

And some people don't have a problem talking on the phone while someone is speaking to them. They probably will not be able to have two conversations at once, but they will be able to drown out one person and concentrate on the other. I find it hard to speak when the TV is on. No matter how hard I try, sometimes I find my attention slipping away from the conversation to the TV. This is something that very well may be ADD-related. If you are too easily distracted you won't be able to follow any of the conversations going on around you, where most people would be able to ignore all but one of them.

 

[BOZ]

True, but my wife has no problem talking on the phone and watching tv, with the volume up, at the same time. It drives me insane, though (which, now that I think about it, might be why she does it... ).

that might also be a female thing.

 

[MavrickWeirdo]

True, but my wife has no problem talking on the phone and watching tv, with the volume up, at the same time. It drives me insane, though (which, now that I think about it, might be why she does it... ).

Depends, how much insurance do you have?

 

[Merkuri]

that might also be a female thing.

*rolls eyes*

For the record, I'm female.