Tuesday, January 11, 2011

What do people say about attention difficulties?

A recent Dutch survey investigated the effects of attention difficulties in the general population. 1500 people with no diagnosis of ADHD completed checklists to ascertain their level of attention difficulties, and what impact these difficulties were having on their Quality of Life (QoL). The results will come as no surprise to people with ADHD, who have been dealing with this issue for all of their lives.

Results of the survey analysis found that attention problems are common in the general population, and that they are related to depressed mood, anxiety and sleep problems. Their effects on individuals' Quality of Life include problems with social functioning, emotional problems, and lack of vitality. These problems occurred in a third of the people surveyed. No reasons for these attention difficulties were explored, and it is possible that the participants, who were described as 'healthy' had some undiagnosed conditions causing their attentional difficulties. We know, for example, that ADHD is under-diagnosed. In addition, a group of participants were classified as 'elderly', which could account for their particular attention problems.

Another possibility exists - that participants could have symptoms at a sub-clinical level. In other words, they could have some attentional difficulties, but not enough to warrant any clinical diagnosis. Clearly, their symptoms were still troublesome. Dr John Ratey wrote a wonderful book some years ago, entitled Shadow Syndromes. It provided a compelling account of the impairments experienced by people who had mild versions of serious disorders.

The message is clear - people with attention difficulties, with or without a diagnosis - have symptoms interfering with their quality of life. They need to learn more about how those symptoms are affecting them, and devise strategies to deal with them.

Scholtissen-In de Braek et al, (2011)The identification of attention complaints in the general population and their effect on quality of life. Journal of Attention Disorders, 15 (1).

Sunday, January 2, 2011

i-Phone Malfunction more serious if you have ADHD

As soon as I awoke this morning I knew that something was wrong. You see, each weekday I go for a walk at 5am with my friend Lorraine. Often, I don't fel like going, but the knowledge that she will be standing at my gate waiting for me to appear is enough to get me moving. And I always feel SO good afterwards. But this morning, as soon as I opened my eyes, I realised that it didn't feel like 5am - too light and too hot. My trusty i-phone alarm had failed. 'How could this happen?', I asked my husband, and saw immediately by the look on his face that he didn't believe me. He patted my hand kindly and got me the paper from the porch. Shortly thereafter, our daughter, who was scheduled to go kayaking in the ocean with her Dad, had to be woken - most unusual for our disciplined dancer. She too was protesting that her i-phone had let her down. How curious? And then I spotted the article on pg 5 of the newspaper. It seems that a software glitch prevented the i-phone alarm function from working after January 1st. Pretty much nobody noticed until this morning.

My first thought when I awoke had been one of embarrassment and disappointment, because I had let my friend down. But I knew that she would understand, because I am (normally) always so reliable. Then I started to worry about all of my clients and friends with ADHD who rely so much on technology like the i-phone. It struck me that an incident such as this has farther-reaching consequences for those whose brains function in a different manner.

People with ADHD are often thought of as being unreliable. This is because time management skills do not come naturally to these lateral-thinking, big picture people who love to live in the moment. Society can be very judgemental of such wondrous beings, and so I spared a thought for those who would be accused of 'not caring', enough to be on time this morning. How would they explain their way out of this situation, knowing full well that many people have heard many excuses from them in the past? And what would it do for their confidence? Having found a reminder system that works for them, would this software glitch make them feel despondent about 'ever getting it right'?

Well here's what I think: people with ADHD should take comfort from the fact that Apple Software got it wrong. Everybody should give themself permission to get it wrong sometimes. It's what makes it so wonderful when we get it right. The i-phone is a great invention. It has changed the way we communicate, and has made the world a lot more accessible to people with disabilities. Such big-picture, lateral thinking can come at a price. Ask anyone with ADHD. Sometimes the mundane details are overlooked. And that's not the end of the world.

Fortunately, today is a public holiday in Australia. Although I'm aware that many people do indeed go to work today, I take comfort that the number of people (with or without ADHD) who might have been late for work was reduced considerably. I'm confident that any dates, who thought they had been stood up, will understand when they hear about the Apple software bug, so the disruption in people's lives should be kept to a minimum.

One last thing - I can't help wondering how many chance encounters will occur today, as a result of the i-phone glitch. How many people will meet their life partner as they take the later train, change their route to save time, or change their plans totally? Something to think about as you mutter under your breath about your "@$/%! i-phone. Don't forget to pay attention to the possibilities this situation might present. In the words of Charles Darwin:

It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.