ADD and ADHD: Behavior and Understanding
A typical ADD and ADHD miscommunication conversation:
“What’s wrong with you? Why are you so grumpy?”
“It’s Saturday, and I have things I want to do and now you’re telling me I can’t because you have made all these plans.”
“Oh, no, don’t blame me! We made these plans last week.”
“We? You! You made these plans and didn’t tell me.”
“Don’t you remember the conversation on Sunday evening about when we could do this? We agreed this was the only day. In fact, we talked about it again on Thursday.”
“We may have talked about it but I don’t remember us saying it was happening today. Why don’t I ever get to decide when we do something?”
If you are frequently participating in these kinds of conversations, you are probably bewildered, frustrated, and on the verge of hopelessness. Awareness of the major symptoms used in the diagnosis of ADD and ADHD will provide an explanation for this type of miscommunication.
Knowing distractibility, impulsivity, and restlessness are key elements of this condition. Enlightening but acknowledging the behaviors associated with these symptoms is critical to living with someone who has ADD or ADHD.
Truly accepting and believing the person does not always have control of his symptoms is fundamental to a healthy relationship with ADD and ADHD. The unpredictable nature of the symptoms are particularly difficult to understand. At times, he/she will amazingly remember volumes of information and at other times he/she cannot recall really important information. Be aware this fluctuation in control is just as frustrating to the person with ADHD as it is to you, and can leave him/her also feeling hopeless.
When both members of the relationship understand ADD and ADHD and the root of certain behaviors, a healthy and balanced bond will be created. Working together, strategies can be put in place to effectively reduce the impact of the symptoms on your relationship.
Our counselors are trained and experienced in a wide variety of counseling disciplines including marital problems, children’s play therapy, drug-abuse counseling, faith-based counseling, ADD and ADHD treatments and more. Call us right now at 972-234-6634 and let’s see how we can help you, or visit our online appointment scheduling system and select your own day and time. We’d love to meet you and see how we can help.
