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Having ADD can make it difficult to get through even one day without getting stressed. The best way to prevent the stress from becoming debilitating is to take care of yourself.

Eat a healthy diet. Stay away from too many carbs, too much sugar or caffeine. These can create a roller coaster effect on your energy level which can create more stress as those lows hit repeatedly during the day.

Get enough rest. Lack of sleep can cause people without ADD to exhibit symptoms of the disorder so you can imagine, or may have experienced, what it can do to someone who already has symptoms.

Get enough exercise. This is one area where we can get an immediate boost to our mood and cognitive abilities and it can last for hours if we get exercise regularly. It only takes 15 minutes several times a day to help relieve stress, ease depression, and get more dopamine working in the brain to help ease ADD Symptoms. You don't have to go to a gym in order to benefit. There are plenty of exercises that can be done in your office or workplace without causing undo attention and still get the juices going.

Give yourself de-stress time. It may work for you to schedule 15 minutes of your day during which you don't have to focus on anything in particular or work at picking up the silent cue that can be difficult for us or what ever makes dealing with the world around us smoothly an exhausting effort. For others it may take an hour during lunch when you close your office door and take the phone of the hook , perhaps a run or workout after work or a full day each week to remove yourself from the world and veg out.

When you learn what your specific needs are and can take care of yourself regularly you can often avoid getting stressed to the point of causing physical or mental health problems from disrupting the flow of your life.

HOORAY!!!! The holidays are over.

The winter holiday season is generally the most stressful time of the year for most people with ADD. Not only are we expected to carry out traditional activities within our own families but if we have any contacts outside of our family, which most of us do in one way or another, we are expected to understand and be able to follow traditions that can seem to have been established randomly. The office gift exchange, holiday cards, what is a proper response to an unexpected gift from an acquaintance, the pot luck at the office or the dinner meeting/holiday party of your monthly club.

This time of year can make those of us with the disorder who have sensory problems want to run for cover. We are expected to attend parties, spend time in crowds, busy shopping malls, go to school plays all of which can bend our last nerve into a pretzel.

I have taken the option of eliminating anything that I possibly can that will lessen the stress that comes with the season but I live alone and have no in-laws who might have expectations that need to be met in order to keep peace in the family.

With all this going on it can be a really rough time of year but come the 1st of January I can rejoice in the fact that I made it through not just another year but another winter holiday season with my sanity mainly intact.

I can look forward to another year of new experiences. I can feel a renewal not just of a new day but of an entirely new year. I can throw off of my shoulders the burden of lost chances and missed opportunities because the new year has a promise of more to come.

I want to thank all of my clients past, present and future for making what I do for a living so rewarding. I love working with people and at the end of our work together having them feel like I have aided them in making positive changes in their lives. Whether it is simply finding a Dr. who has their best interests in mind or helping them find the beauty of who they truly are inside instead of viewing themselves through others eyes that were or are too critical because of a lack of understanding of the disorder we live with.

You make my work a joy.

Thank you