Originally Posted by froze
Too many post to read and too little time to read them so this may have been covered.
First off I too have ADD but I do not take any drugs by choice even though the doc says I should.
Second; high energy sports like cycling should BENEFIT people with ADD and docs recommend high energy sports for ADD suffers because it is like a natural ritalin, that's one of the reasons I don't take the drug (the other is because I don't believe in taking a legal speed drug to calm down).
Most ADD people like high risk sports and competitive sports like football, auto racing, hang gliding etc and yes bicycle racing. I find that ADD actually helps me ride because I can tune into many things at the same time and compute it all which has helped keep me relatively safe. This same attribute helped me when I raced cars as well. Also most people with ADD when motoring down the road when they go faster and faster do not suffer from tunnel vision like most (75% of the population) does. This helps us to see things more clearly and be able to react from things occuring off to the side then most.
Unfortunately ADD people represent about 98% of the prison population, and most drug addicts are ADD suffers, as well as most gamblers (whether it be cards or stocks, or starting a new business etc) they like the thrill of making money and then losing it to try to make it again. I know a business man with ADD who has had 5 business's in the last 30 years or so, he has became a millionare 4 times and bankrupt 4 times, he is now working on is 5th million.
There are obvious disavantages to having ADD but there are also advantages. Study all the books you can on the subject and try to follow their advice. And don't forget your appointment book!!!!!!
If your doctor thinks you should take ritalin, then maybe you should. You are mistaken that high energy sports are like a natural ritalin. They are nothing of the kind.
The hypervigilance of some AD/HD sufferers does allow for extreme concentration in some situations, but everything else you are saying about the tunnel vision of "normal" people is outside of any study I know about.
It is true that many AD/HD folks are attracted to high risk sports. They sometimes think that the AD/HD makes them better at them. On the contrary, they are more accident prone, have worse judgement, and are...well, impulsive. Having a diagnosis of AD/HD will immediately get you disqualified from flying fighter jets in the Navy or Air Force. If the disorder helped in some way in fast, dangerous activities, you would think they would seek out such people.
I'm not trying to be a downer here, or to put down AD/HD people. The problem is that some folks talk up the so-called benefits of AD/HD and then use that as an excuse to not take thier meds. The meds that may make a real positive contribution to their lives.
In my research, I have gathered data on the psychological, cognitive, emotional, and life course of over 250 adult AD/HD sufferers. The average score for the AD/HD group on these hundreds of variables I have measured are never STRONGER than the "normal" population, but many are WEAKER. That is the sad reality. The strengths these people show are in spite of the AD/HD, not because of it...