Attention Deficit Disorder can make school and social life difficult for any student, especially during finals.
ADD is characterized by poor concentration, impulsivity, hyperactivity and can cause difficulties with peers in multiple settings, according to the American Psychological Association.
Bill Conant, former UH student, knows how to deal with the disorder.
‘Most people use homework to make up for the finals. I used finals to make up for the homework,’ Conant said.
Conant was diagnosed with ADD in sixth grade. He said the child psychologist thought he had an attention deficit well beyond what a normal sixth grader would have.
He thought he could cope with the disorder without medication, but had to start taking it again after several years without it.
‘ADD is a chemical imbalance in the brain. Sometimes you grow out of it; sometimes you don’t,’ Conant said.
Conant said ADD affected his performance in college.
‘I wasn’t on my meds in college until this semester. (My grades) suffered a lot,’ Conant said.’ ‘The classes I enjoyed, like psychology or printing or economics or any of those, I could follow along just fine. If it was something I didn’t enjoy doing, I couldn’t force myself to do it.’
Even then, Conant would routinely forget homework and online assignments for courses.
‘I started setting alarms for myself and putting it on my calendar and scheduling and all that mess,’ Conant said.
Conant has begun taking Adderall and found the change helps him focus on new tasks.
‘Instead of thinking, ‘I should deal with that’ and forgetting about it, it makes me think, ‘I should deal with that, but I should deal with that now so I don’t forget,’ and I do,’ Conant said.
The APA said the successful treatment of ADD is through an intergraded collaboration of psychologists and physicians.
‘Medication should be apart of the treatment and not the only treatment,’ the APA Web site stated.
The APA recognizes that ADD is possibly over-diagnosed and physicians should look for other disorders, such as depression and anxiety disorders that could manifest into similar symptoms.’
People who think they have ADD symptoms should be tested by a psychologist for a diagnosis.
‘Don’t assume that you have ADD, but don’t assume that you don’t have ADD,’ Conant said.
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