ADHD Undiagnosed and Untreated

Here’s what it looks like in the life of a 70-year-old man.

I went hiking with a group of friends on July 4th. I rode with a friend of mine who agreed to drive his van. Six of us piled in and headed out to our hiking spot. About 45 minutes into the trip, I remarked, “This isn’t the way I would go.” Nothing looked familiar to me.

My friend, the driver, then informed me that he didn’t know where he was. “How long have you been lost,” I asked.

“About 10 minutes,” he said.

We found our way to the hiking trail, but we were 45 minutes late and 10 people had to wait for us to begin the hike.

I saw my friend later in the week and he informed me that he had lost his very special leather briefcase and pen his deceased wife had given him, along with his blue tooth, his calendar and many other papers.

“What happened,” I asked.

“I forgot to lock my car and when I came back to my car after having lunch with a friend, my briefcase was gone.”

I saw him again today. He was going to do some computer work with me at his house. He wasn’t home when I arrived at the designated time.

“I bet he forgot”, I thought to myself.

I sat down under a tree in his front yard and decided that I would wait 15 minutes to see if he showed up.

About 10 minutes later he pulled up in his van.

“I had to go handle an emergency”, he informed me. “My checking account was overdrawn $800”, he said.

He wasn’t upset. I would have been in tears and having a meltdown.

I asked him if I could give him some feedback.

“Sure” he said.

I told him that I thought that much of what he had experienced this week was ADD related.

He knew it. He came to our local CHADD meeting a couple months ago. At the end of the meeting I asked him if he wanted to share.

He said, "I don't like what I'm discovering here."

“I don’t want to have yet another disorder”, he said.

We had a heart-to-heart talk and I invited him to come back to the CHADD meeting that I lead. He said he would.

Pauline Laurent, CPCC
Certified Co-Active Coach
Coaching Adults with ADHD
www.gutsycoaching.com
707-578-4226

Comments

[Jeff]

All I can think of after reading this is the phrase uttered by Daffy Duck in the Bugs Bunny cartoon "Pronoun Trouble." After Bugs gets Daffy all tongue tied, Daffy starts yelling, "Shoot me now! Shoot me now!" And that's the phrase I kept hearing in my head as I read this entry.

He's a brave soul if he's going to tackle his ADD issue at this stage of life.