Driven to Distraction: Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder

by Edward M. Hallowell

Many people who have undiagnosed ADD feel bad and don’t know why. Some feel depressed, as we have mentioned above. Some feel agitated or anxious. Many more feel distracted and unfocused, living in a sort of disjointed limbo, waiting to come in for a landing. This feeling of unease or what psychiatrists call “dysphoria,” doesn’t have a context or even a name. It’s just life, in the minds of the people who feel it. You can live with something all your life but not be aware of it in its own right; it is simply a part of you. So it is with many of our feelings. Until we name them, they are entwined in our sense of self. Naming the feelings gives us some leverage over them. Being able to say “I am sad” can make the sadness less disabling. Once we recognize a feeling, we can attempt to control or change it. On the other hand, people who cannot say “I am sad” or “I am angry” are often directed or overpowered by these emotions in ways they are quite oblivious to.