My father has ADD, should he see a doctor about it?!
Question: My father was diagnosed with "Reading Comprehension" problems and attention problems as a child but before they could help him they ran out of funding and cut the program...
He is 51 now and still has issues being able to concentrate and his mind wandering effects him so much that sometimes it can even interrupt his sleep!
Is he "too old" to have ADD?
Is he "too old" to seek treatment?
Most of his life he has chosen his career path based on what he can concentrate on and the excitement factors that keep him from getting bored. He fully admits that his past substance-abuse behavior was prob because of the ADD. (He was NEVER 'addicted' to anything though.)
Would it even be worth it to have a doctor look him over NOW?
He will be getting health insurance in the next month or so and I want to help him decide if he should even bring it up or not.
Answers: My father was diagnosed with "Reading Comprehension" problems and attention problems as a child but before they could help him they ran out of funding and cut the program...
He is 51 now and still has issues being able to concentrate and his mind wandering effects him so much that sometimes it can even interrupt his sleep!
Is he "too old" to have ADD?
Is he "too old" to seek treatment?
Most of his life he has chosen his career path based on what he can concentrate on and the excitement factors that keep him from getting bored. He fully admits that his past substance-abuse behavior was prob because of the ADD. (He was NEVER 'addicted' to anything though.)
Would it even be worth it to have a doctor look him over NOW?
He will be getting health insurance in the next month or so and I want to help him decide if he should even bring it up or not.
Absolutely!
It's never too late to get treatment. ADD (ADHD) can be very much improved, simply with medication.
The doctor might refer your father to a psychologist (probably will, in fact) to get a definitive diagnosis, but what you describe sure does sound like ADHD to me. Don't believe people who say ADD/ADHD is a myth, it is most certainly a REAL and treatable condition!
The doctor will work with your father to monitor his medication and tweak the dosage, if necessary, to get the proper level of symptom-management, and your dad will also be advised on non-medical strategies for improving his concentration.
I'm really glad you're supporting your dad in this. Believe me, once he's diagnosed and on a good treatment plan, his life will change for the better almost immediately!
I would only advise it if the ADD is having a serious negative impact on his life.
ADD is a myth. Seeing a doctor will not help anyone but the doctor and the pharmaceutical company.
add isnt really that big of a deal. I have it and im fine.
Yes he can have ADD, you're never too old! If he is diagnosed with ADD then he should seek medication, but first he has to see a doctor for a real diagnosis.
If your father is seen earlier enough, he may be able to get the help he really needs.
Yikes, I have it too, it is very important that if it is having any serious negative effects on his life that he should either see a doctor or he should get some other form of help to deal with the situation.
Medicine is a last resort, you cannot solve his problems with it, and if you try to replace his focus with medicine its just going to get worse over time, because after all that stuff is only meant to help, it can't do the job for him.
My advice if you do seek medicine though, is to pay VERY close attention to any side effects.
Last time I checked such medications tended to be rip offs.
If you notice hes eating less, sleeping less, getting any other bad side effects, ask yourself whether that would effect his concentration, because when I took medicine when I was a kid for mine, the side effects were the only actual thing that was supposed to fight it. Yeah, sure, starve me and keep me up all night, that solves the problem.
So be careful with medicine, even doctor proscribed ones can be a bit if-y.
YES
But not all doctors are knowledgeable about adult ADD. He should probably look up "adult ADD" on the internet and look for recommendations about who to see about this.
HOWEVER....wait until after the insurance before going to the doctor, otherwise he might not get good coverage.
I have an adult friend who was doing very badly at work and nearly got fired until she got treated for her adult ADD and then she did GREAT! She kept her job. So it can really help.
I have Adhd. I will be 49 on my next birthday, and was only diagnosed a few years ago with it(believe me, it explained alot). For those who say it doesn't exist, when you show me your degree in Psychology, I will believe you, until then, I will continue to believe in what the team of both medical and psychological doctors have done to help me. I am on medicine. It calms me down and helps me focus. I do know the difference,lol, after I have been off it a few days. For anyone with Add/ Adhd, I suggest working with your doctors, and eventually, they will find the right combination of med for you.
i don't know very much about add but i too have always suffered with concentration problems, i'm not stupid but sometimes my mind just wonders off, i get bored very easily and it has caused me quite a few problems in my life, i'm 31 now and have only just heard about add so i would like to learn more about it. like your dad i too have miss used substances, i took speed and lsd but nothing really bad like heroin or coke. I would say that your dad is still quite young at 51 so it would be worth him getting himself checked out, he'll never know otherwise if he had it or not
no go to a calculator get it
Sorry, there's no such thing as ADD or any other the other hundreds of pyschiatric disorders. It's a psuedo science. Every year they get together and literally "vote" new disorders into existence. Why? To sell drugs. Where have you ever heard of anyone being cured of these things with these drugs?
And they don't mention it much in the media, but do you realize that psychiatric drugs are the common denominator of all these school/mall/freeway shootings and massacres?
Even John Hinkley (Reagan's attempted assassin) was on Psych drugs.
I know this will probably get a lot of attack messages from vested interests, but all those drugs do is SUPPRESS a person which makes him more apathetic and seemingly more docile. You'll never find a truly happy person on drugs. Manic maybe, but not happy, not able, not active and productive. At their worse, they induce violence including suicide. (and the excuse then becomes "they were off their meds). For your father's sake, don't buy into it.
Do an internet search for help that doesn't include psychiatrists. There's a site for Citizens Commission on Human Rights which you can find that probably has a ton of information on this as well as suggested assistance that really helps.