Does anyone here have ADHD or ADD, and does that make you more creative?

Adhd was not a thing when I was young, and is much more common diagnosis today. My suspicion is if I was in school in the last 10 years instead of in the 70's, I probably would have been diagnosed with this. Truth is, I don't much care whether I would have been or not. Life just is what it is.

I do think it is a fair observation though, that a consequence of this type of disorder is great attention and focus on things that interest you, and very little for things that don't. That would correspond to being very good at a craft if that was where your interest lied.

 

My dad and brother both have ADD. I'm not sure it makes them 'more creative', but they are very passionate and intense about what interests them.

Creativity is a natural part of being human, and a skill that can be practiced. Having ADD could, i suppose, make your brain function in a different way than another person's, but I don't know if it would affect how creative you are so much as how you express it. For instance, focusing more intensely on a project, being able to conceptualize more complex ideas quicker.

 

I have ADD, and I'm sure it's a factor. But I've also seen it said somewhere that people with messy desks also tend to be creative, and my desk turns out to be that way.....

 

I have ADHD and it's kind of a double-edged sword for me. On one hand, I do think I'm more creative because of it. But on the other, it causes me to self-destruct a lot. At any given time I'm just overflowing with new ideas, but I often get distracted or burnt out before I can record them. I've never finished anything longer than a short story. My worldbuilding is novel-length at this point, but the actual novel it's for is languishing at about 3k words. So yeah, it's a blessing and a curse.

 

Ah. I relate, somewhat. But my dad is like that; he gets passionate about an idea for like 2 days, but never sees any of them through to completion because of losing interest.

 

I don't take meds at the moment. They weren't working for me and my doctor decided to see if I would manage fine without them. I need to talk to her about either switching medications or changing my dosage.

I've tried yoga, and it does seem to help! The only problem is finding a class that works with my school and work schedules.

 

Interesting ... I was never a fan of yoga. I like to run instead. (Weather permitting) can do it any time of day. Just strap some shoes on and hit the road.

To the OP - you might be interested in a book called "Overcoming Dyslexia" - wish I could remember who it was by ... ADD/ADHD aren't the same (obviously) but they originate from the same region of the brain (so does Bi-polar and a bunch of other stuff). This book talks about how people are not neuro-typical have brains which literally function differently (beyond the disorder itself). It went into some of the research and talked all about how people w dyslexia are usually more creative (compared to neuro-typical counterparts). I wouldn't be surprised at all if ADD/ADHD works similarly (especially since so many people that have one also have the other).

I would say I'm a very creative person. I suppose some of that comes out of my need for personal expression, sometimes it can be a way for me to process emotions/thoughts, but lately I've been working to beef up my backlog so I've been tapping into it on demand. Not sure how much ADD plays into it vs personality (I'm INFP) ... but I'm certainly happy to be me. Life would be much more boring if my brain was like everyone else's

Plus - we get Hyperfocus which is totally awesome.

For all the ADD-ers out there ... check out the magazine ADDitude . It's amazing!

OH! And Tom ... I seemed to do much better when I was eating Paleo. I know a few people who absolutely swear by the FEINGOLD DIET but I have yet to try it. I'm curious to know if you (or anyone here) has had any success with it.

Also, as far as medication alternatives go, Fish Oil is supposed to help... also makes you hair, skin, & nails nice too

 

Paleo? Huh. I'm not on a specific diet, but I don't eat a lot of processed foods as it is, and I only eat grain products sporadically. The taste/texture of grains has always put me off. I also know a ton of people who've said that artificial dyes in food, specifically red dyes, exacerbate their ADHD symptoms, so that's one thing I try to steer clear of. Once I stopped eating foods with red dye I noticed a pretty noticeable decrease in my hyperactivity. I'll have to do some research on paleo and Feingold and see if it would be a good fit for me!

By the way, does anyone else with ADHD take melatonin? I started taking a 10mg pill every night before bed and it's helped a lot with my sleep issues, even my persistent insomnia.

 

Melatonin is AMAZING! I don't use it very often though I probably should.