ADHD Center for Success

The use of drugs for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was not associated with an increased risk of serious cardiovascular events like heart attack and stroke in young and middle-age adults, researchers found.

In fact, the rate of heart attack, sudden cardiac death or stroke was significantly lower in current users of the drugs compared with nonusers, according to Laurel Habel of Kaiser Permanente Northern California in Oakland and colleagues.

But that finding, reported online in the Journal of the American Medical Association, was likely the

result of a healthy-user bias stemming from an overrepresentation of white, college-educated individuals among current users, the authors noted.

Read this story: ADHD Drugs and Adult Hearts

As if the ADHD adult doesn’t have enough stress to contend with, consider the potential added stresses of the holiday season. For some, the holiday season is both joyous and stimulating. Yet others of us may already be struggling to manage our current pre-holiday “To Do” list.

So consider the potential additional challenges for the ADHD adult faced with tending to the seasonal tasks of holiday shopping and contending with the hoards of ‘friendly” shoppers. But wait! There’s more: Don’t forget the gift wrapping and possible looming deadlines for shipping. Do I hear the sounds of stress and rising blood pressure?  

Here are some hints to support you:  

Plan:  There is a well know adage that say’s, “Those who fail to plan, plan to fail”. 

1. Take time to put your “To DO” list on paper. Get it out of your head!
2. Create a time line using a calendar. What’s due by when?
3. Prioritize your list. What’s most important and most urgent?
4.  At the end of each day – review your ‘TO DO’ List and cross out all those tasks that you managed to complete for the day.
5. Next, add those additional tasks that you completed that were not on the original TO DO list and cross those off as well.
6. I know it sounds redundant but be sure to make a new ‘TO Do” list every day.

Be Gentle to Yourself. I recently heard someone say, “It’s hard to move forward while you’re kicking yourself in the butt”. Be gentle with yourself. Do the best you can and be aware to not judge yourself if you didn’t complete as much as you had intended.

Take time to enjoy the holiday season.

1. Spend quality time with friends
2. Take time to exercise regularly. It’s good for your body and reduces stress.
3. Eat healthy and mindfully …slow down.
4. Speaking of slowing down, try meditation, yoga, deep and gently breathing and relaxation.

Celebrate your successes and your holiday season.

 ~ May your holiday season be filled with joy, happiness and gentleness.  

Thanksgiving Greetings

ADHD is Real: ADHD Awareness Program

ADHD can have a significant impact on adult relationships, work and careers, finances and more. Coach Rudy will offer a lively and informative presentation at Malaprop’s Bookstore about understanding Adult ADHD. There will be a Q&A following the program.

When: Wednesday, October 26, 2011, 7 – 8:30pm

Where: Malaprops Bookstore, 55 Haywood Street, Asheville, NC 28801

Cost: Free

Details: www.ADHDasheville.com

Many of you have heard me rave about the ADHD based documentary – “ADHD & Loving It”.

Attend a special showing of the Award Winning Documentary

“ADHD & Loving It” 

WHEN: Wednesday, Oct 19  [7-8:30pm]

WHERE: Carolina Cinemas, mezzanine level (1640 Hendersonville Rd, Asheville)

**The program is free but seating is limited**

Description: This acclaimed film chronicles the life and diagnosis of Comedian Patrick McKenna as he learns the facts about ADD from experts including medical researchers, psychiatrists, psychologists, professors, and award-winning authors. Along the way Patrick reveals how his life as a husband and father are affected by ADD. A ground-breaking film that blends humor, hope, and science to dispels the myths about a controversial disorder. Seating is limited to 60 people. Call to reserve seating 828-681-7100.

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“ADHD & Loving It” was SO popularly successful that the creators built a NEW interactive website based on the video documentary. The new site contains more extensive information and new video content.

It may be helpful to read this before jumping onto the site. Upon arriving at the site you will be greeted by a video introduction by  comedian and actor Patrick McKenna.

Following the introduction you can CLICK on the next tab – “What is ADD”. Here’s you’ll be greeted by another brief video introduction. BEFORE moving to the next tab – be sure to click on the various options below the tab – i.e. “The History of ADD”.

OR…  you can proceed to the next tab = “Diagnosis” and so on…

The new site is: TotallyADD.com

I think you’ll enjoy the new site once you become comfortable with it. The content is very good and fresh.

Enjoy…

~CoachRudy – Asheville, NC

The Asheville Area Adult ADHD Meetup

Monday, Oct 17, at 7pm

This is a free group for adults with ADHD.

http://www.meetup.com/Asheville-Adult-ADHD-Meetup-Group/

The Adult ADHD Meetup is an opportunity

to meet other local adults dealing with ADD or ADHD.

A safe place to share your experiences and learn

from other adults with ADHD.

~CoachRudy, Asheville, NC

by Lynn Schnurnberger, September 26, 2010

Tara Kennedy-Kline’s husband, Chris, loved her free spirit when they were high school sweethearts. But nearly 20 years later, he found her behavior alarming. The mother of two from Shoemakersville, Pa., was still careening from career to career and disappearing for hours without bothering to call. She took out a $7000 loan to start yet another new business—and blew all the money shopping. By the time a therapist diagnosed Kennedy–Kline with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) four years ago, the couple were on the brink of divorce. Like millions of Americans, they’d learned that ADHD, often thought of as a childhood disorder, can have devastating consequences for adults.

A Brain Like a Multiplex
“My mind is always jumping all over the place,” says Dr. Louis DeLuca, 45, a plastic surgeon and ADHD sufferer in Boca Raton, Fla. “It’s like having 16 movies going on in your head, all at the same time.” In addition to a lack of focus, symptoms including disorganization, impulsiveness, bursts of anger, and difficulty finishing tasks are so severe that they impair performance at home, work, or in social settings.

A New Take on ADHD

“ADHD is a developmental nerve disorder affecting the part of the brain associated with planning, organization, and impulse control,” explains Dr. Lenard Adler, director of the Adult ADHD program at the NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. Symptoms begin early in life, and while many children outgrow them, up to 50% don’t. Though ADHD is the most common psychological problem after depression, 75% of the estimated 8.8 million adult sufferers in the U.S. go their entire lives without being diagnosed.

Lost Jobs? Failing Marriages?
Left untreated, adult ADHD can wreak havoc. People with the disorder are eight times as likely as the general population to take dangerous risks  and twice as likely to get into traffic wrecks; they are also more prone to drug and alcohol abuse. Adults with ADHD are 50% more likely to be unemployed, and those who do have jobs earn about $15,000 a year less than others who are equally educated, according to a recent Harvard study.

Read More

Every year we celebrate ADHD Awareness Week as a way of bringing attention and awareness to a medical condition that effects many children, college students and adults worldwide.

The 2011 National ADHD Awareness Week is October 16 – 22.

**Check out ADHD Asheville calendar of events. Stay tuned for updates!

Here are some sights to explore:

*National ADHD Coaches Awareness Campaign: Looking for an ADHD Coach?  http://www.adhdcoaches.org/looking-for-coach/

*ADHD Awareness Facebook Page:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/ADHD-Awareness/116860058363743#!/pages/ADHD-Awareness/116860058363743?sk=wall

ADHD Awareness Week is officially October 16-22, 2011

2011 marks the collaboration between:

• (ACO) ADHD Coaches Organization,
• (ADDA) Attention Deficit Disorder Association,
• ADDitude Magazine (www.additudemag.com)
• (CHADD) Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

The official ADHD Awareness website is: ADHDAwarenessweek.org

There are two resources for download:

“7 Facts about ADHD” 

2011 ADHD Awareness Poster 

ADHD Awareness 2011 has gone viral as several ADHD organizations and associations throughout the United States, Canada and Europe have joined the movement.

See ADHD Asheville for a listing of Asheville based ADHD Awareness activities.