A relative of mine struggles seems to have all of the symptoms of having ADD.
Anyone here dealt with this condition themselves or have a family member who did? What helped / what didn't? Was professional help necessary?
I'm very interested in getting him to put his life together, but I'm at a loss for what I can do.
I think it is highly possible that I have ADHD. Looking back on my early school years, I exhibited a lot of the symptoms of this disorder. Of course it was not something people knew much about, if anything, that many years ago. I never took meds, I just muddled through with my teachers often complaining that I didn't pay attention. I'd score fairly high on IQ tests, but my grades often sucked. I remember one teacher telling my mom that I was off in a world of my own and that I was basically lazy.
Since ADHD usually continues into adulthood, I think I was lucky to work in fields where this problem had little negative affect. Plus, one learns to cope and adjust if they want to survive. Unfortunately, the first line of defense these days is drugs. While drugs can lessen the problem of ADHD they do nothing to help people who have it, cope with it. The mind is much more powerful than any prescription drug if you learn to use it to control, adjust to and alter, when possible, your behavior.