This morning, I was logging into one of my Hotmail accounts and noticed on MSN's homepage a headline that read "Can ADHD be cured naturally?", so, naturally, I decided to click the link and check it out. Being that I have ADHD, I found the article to be very condescending, at best. I realize the article states that "if your symptoms aren't severe, you may want to consider the alternatives [listed in the article]", but, let's be clear, after that statement, they are no longer referring to an actual ADHD diagnosis. Perhaps the article should be titled "How to treat BOREDOM naturally".
Let me break it down for you...
1. "Give yourself a carrot." - The idea is to reward yourself to get through a tedious project. Um... yeah... that's a swell idea if you just dislike what you're working on. But, if you really have ADHD, there's not a latte - or any 'carrot' - in this world that could keep out the millions of other thoughts swarming my mind while I try to 'wrap up a project'.
2. "Nix sneaky triggers." - Oh, you don't have ADHD... it's just allergies. Huh, what now? Come again? Elaboration and/or commentary unneeded.
3. "Tune in." - To paraphrase - If, while reading the newspaper, you find yourself ruminating over a fight with your sister... just tell yourself to stop and eventually you won't do it anymore. Not only is this the ultimate simplification of what someone believes to be an example of actual Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder... it's not really an example of ADHD - it's an example of an implausible scenario. I don't care what newspaper you're reading... unless it's an article defending your point in the argument, chances are that a fight - with someone as close as a sister - would overrule whatever crappy article you're reading. So, even if they used a better example here, it's still likely that "tuning in" is a good tool for the occasional wandering-mind, but probably not for someone like me...
Ooooh! Shiny object!
