A Splintered Mind

Do you feel dim witted and mentally sluggish? Do you have a hard time remembering things because of your age? If you are like most of us with AD/HD you struggle remembering things from moment to moment like grocery lists and the name of that guy you met just last week who your boss introduced to you. But have you noticed the problem seems to get worse as you age? Like problems with heat I pointed out in my last column, people with neurological disorders seem to encounter these problems sooner than the average. I know that I have excellent kinesthetic memory, especially when writing or typing information. I have fairly excellent visual memory. And I have the worst auditory memory on this side of the planet. But over time I've felt all my mental skills diminish and grow dull and dingy. That's why I'm always on the look out for activities that perk up my mind and sharpen my senses. I'll take a break from geocamming today to share just such and activity with you: Sudoku . ...

You may be having a hard time this summer because of the heat, but is it making your mental condition worse? Are you taking the necessary steps to prevent your noodle from getting fried? There is a very good reason I haven't been productive this week: My brain has melted. I'm certain of it. After two weeks of scorching 100°F plus weather my brain reached a liquid state and leaked out while I slept. That may have happened earlier this week, but without a brain I wasn't able to notice. I realize we have a swamp cooler to make short work of summer temperatures, but with this heat wave my swamp cooler is more like a swamp warmer - all the odor without that messy cold air stuff. Of course, Utah hasn't cornered the market on heat waves this Summer. It's only a toasty 95°F outside my doorstep today. I hear Phoenix hit 114°F . That made me wonder what other people with neurological problems were experiencing. Do people with ADHD, for example, function worse in the heat? To ...

Monday got you down? Getting stressed? Then take some time to enjoy somebody else's aquarium from the comfort of your office chair. It's a simple distraction, there is no tank to clean, no fishy odor, and it won't eat up time like a model in a donut shop fresh off the Atkins diet. Just in case you are new to my new Monday feature, I've decided to provide some constructive distractions over the summer. People with AD/HD are prone to distraction, but more importantly, we need distraction. Instead of finding ourselves aimlessly being browsey for hours, perhaps instead we should have a list of officially sanctioned distractions that won't get us fired or in debt. Fish cams are great because they interest us visually, break the monotony, but bore us quickly before we get lost in them. Remember, the trick is to not just mindlessly load up a fishcam but to begin with the end in mind. Allow yourself a limited amount of time to escape from whatever you're supposed to be...

I've recently been accused on another blog of being arrogant. This came as a surprise to me so I asked the blogger what she felt about me was arrogant. We had a very civil discourse and then she surprised me again. She edited her original post. For all intents and purposes, I was therefore no longer arrogant. Or was I? I won't quote her or identify her because she has a gentle heart and was really troubled by what she had first written. However, she did touch upon something that others have expressed here from time to time and I feel it needs to be explored. I haven't been called arrogant before, but I have been called delusional, ignorant, an idiot, and a loser. All par for the course when posting one's thoughts out into the public arena. Not everybody is going to like what you write. So whence the trouble? Well, it is my opinion that most neurological problems are no more complicated than physical ones, meaning they can be overcome. But our society has cultivat...

Timesaving tips and exercises to make the most of your painting sessions. Don’t think you have enough time to paint, but you spend hours on the web being browsey or watching the boob tube? Then you have time to paint. The problem is you think you need hours available in order to begin. Patrick Seslar shows you how to break projects into tiny steps using his and other watercolorist’s portfolios. He’ll show you how to start with one-hour paintings then apply those techniques to much larger projects by breaking them down into one hour steps. Why you should read this book: This book is an AD/HDer’s or procrastinator’s dream with its small chapters and non-linear progression. Do you waste time doing absolutely nothing instead of drawing or painting? Then get this book. It has various art styles and twelve different demonstrations to teach you how to organize your art time into manageable steps. I found some of the advice transformative because it embodies the adage “Begin with the end in m...

As a new feature for every Monday I plan on helping extend your weekend attitude a bit. I had planned on posting this first thing Monday morning, but that seemed in poor taste considering my previous column . I know. You come here for tips on how NOT to get distracted. Fair enough. But despite my best intentions I find myself sucked into something new every week - usually involving my browser while I’m half-in-the-bag on one end or the other of my bedtime. In fact, I’ve caught myself being distracted by the world wide web so much that I’ve coined a term for it. I call it being “browsey.” Maybe you find the same thing happening to you? Well, one of the points of this blog is to poke fun at ourselves - to not get worked up over our shortcomings. Considering how harsh I was on myself yesterday I could use a good dose of silliness. Of course, I don’t recommend unabashedly standing up in your cubicle and announcing to your peers “I’m easily distracted and PROUD of it!”, but since we get...

I'm in a reflective mood today. I received a phone call this afternoon from the sister of my old neighbor, who I will call Alice. She had passed away this morning. Alice had been fighting terminal colon cancer since March and after harsh chemo therapy and a bout with pneumonia that landed her in the ICU, she decided that enough was enough. She stopped treatment just around the July 4th weekend. I'm not too exact on the details, but suffice it to say that she failed quickly after that and passed away in her sleep this morning surrounded by family and friends. She was only 52. As I struggle with Depression, AD/HD, tic disorders, sleep apnea, insomnia, food allergies, pollen allergies, and a weak immunity system I sometimes feel that life is unfair. I used to say that the Universe was out to get me - that God's having his little joke with me. I suppose it's only natural to feel that way. It's a full plate and I'm not too hungry for what's on the menu. Then I...