Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Knitting with ADD


This is what happens when you have a hobby and ADD. (Compare this with last Thursday's picture.) As with my quilting, I start lots of projects and bounce around between them a lot before I finish anything. The second sock of the red pair is two inches along the length of the foot out of six inches total before I start to work the toe. The sweater body is about seven inches done out of about 14. And now I've started the new pair of socks. The cuff is almost done and in a few more rows I'll start to work the ankle and heel. I could write a litany of unfinished quilting projects, too. Remember the quilt for Fern I wanted to finish in June. Still not done. That's the tip of the iceberg.

I had been seeing a psychiatrist for my ADD, but she left that practice, which didn't take my insurance any more so I was paying out of pocket, and I never went in to see her replacement, nor did I follow through with a new doctor referral from my primary care doctor. So, I've been off my meds for a while now, maybe two years, I've lost track. And my primary care doctor won't prescribe the psych drugs.

I should probably think about going back on the meds. Trying to think without them is sometimes like waiting for a sticky bicycle chain to engage when you're shifting gears. It takes a while for the message to click through, to comprehend it, form a reply, and actually speak the reply. I lose my train of thought easily. I often grasp for words that were just on the tip of my brain. What was I saying? Oh, yeah, I can picture the process in my head, the gears clicking, but I can't get the words out in a timely manner. I know it irritates the people around me and without meds conversations can be hard. Are hard. Maybe that's why for any given conversation with my friends, I do about 80-85% listening and only 15-20% of the talking.

5 comments:

Mom said...

Sounds to me like you are just a very young old person.

Jennifer said...

Everything I start ends up like your knitting projects!! I was finally diagnosed with ADHD two years ago...which means I like to start a LOT of projects, but don't ever finish ANY of them...which is why I don't knit, or scrapbook, or anything like that :) I don't take medication for mine..I have thought about it, but was on antidepressants two years ago, and found that I don't like ANY kind of medication...so I just deal with it :)

Maddy said...

Interesting [and helpful]
Best wishes

just me said...

Your insightful comments about ADD may help me understand what goes on in D's head on a daily basis, but he is still too young to articulate.

We have a psychiatrist that we liked at first but now it feels like she is just coasting. Our pediatrician didn't want to deal with the meds either - and it's so hard to find a child psych that takes insurance.

Good luck with all those projects. Speaking strictly for myself, I hate loose ends, so I've never gone in for those craft-y hobbies.

AM Kingsfield said...

My ex had his first shrink convinced that I had ADD and that's why our marriage was failing. (Obviously he wasn't admitting everything to her.)

Anyway, I looked up the symptoms and I would probably be a borderline case. Only you can know if the meds are worth it.