Vacation from ADD

Originally posted on Themestream
Ever try to race an Olympic swimmer?

Performing a job or an everyday task can seem like that to a person who has ADD. Many have found ways to work with these issues. Some take medications, some use behavior modifications, some have tried diet, and some have tried different jobs. Granted, all people have issues with time, or preparation, or just stress in general. For the ADDult, however, these can be daily problems.
It’s actually pretty exhausting to spend your day trying to keep up with everyone else.

What about a day off? We get days off from work. Sometimes, we’ll take vacations and go somewhere, or maybe just stay around the house and clean or do yardwork. How would you take a day off from ADD?

Taking a day off from ADD doesn’t necessarily mean to take a day off from missing appointments or burning meals or misplacing your glasses. If it were that simple, ADD wouldn’t exist, and it really would be nothing more than an excuse.

A vacation from ADD is a vacation from “hafta do.”

My vacation from ADD can take many forms. I may just drive around, pick a road and go until I get bored. I’ve traveled over 600 miles in a day doing just that. No plan, no schedule, only worrying about when I’ll be back, and having enough money to buy gas and food.

Or I might take time out to go to a convention. For the past couple years, I’ve attended the ADDA conventions. It’s actually very therapeutic for me. Not only was I able to learn more about ADD -- about advances in treatment, learn where to find resources to help me get through this life – but I was able to meet others who understand, who have some idea what it’s like to live in this world with a difference like ADD. I’ve met some of my best friends at those conventions.
Sometimes, I’ll take a real vacation. I recently returned from a trip to Colorado, visiting friends. No meds, no deadlines, no organization, no plans. All we did was fly by the seat of our pants. Very relaxing.

I don’t necessarily have to go anywhere to have a vacation from ADD. On slow days at work, when I don’t have anything I have to do, I will skip my afternoon meds, and just let myself be myself. There is a significant difference in my productivity when unmedicated. But it is good to go through a regular day without medication, without special planning, and without compensating for my weaknesses.

Before I switch into vacation mode, I have to determine that I have sufficient funds to cover what I want to do. If I’m leaving town, I need to make sure I have a way back, and that I will be back in sufficient time to do whatever it is I have to do, such as get back to work. Sometimes, I even like to know where I’m going, although that’s not essential.

Once I finish my planning, I’m off.

Many people with ADD have a poor sense of time…as in non-existent. Five minutes and five days can actually seem like the same to me. Trying to keep track of a schedule, particularly a tight schedule, is very stressful. If I don’t have to be somewhere at a certain time, I feel less stressed. On vacation, my only time obligations may be to get to the airport before my flight or leave early enough to drive home.

Planning is another weakness. My Saturdays on the road have an amazing lack of planning. The most planning I do is driving within a certain distance, depending on the time of day I start. I don’t have to be in a certain place to do something, I will get there when I get there. It relates to the time thing, actually.

Again, not everyone treats their ADD with medication, nor is it a requirement for treatment. But all ADDults may feel a need to take a vacation from ADD. Everyone has different things in their lives they’d like to escape.

A vacation from ADD isn’t a vacation from the symptoms. There is no such thing. A vacation is time for yourself, to be yourself.

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Learn More About it
CHADD – Children and Adults With Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder – Convention: November 1 – 4, 2000 Chicago, IL
Life Skills for ADD – From About.com. A listing of links for Life skills.