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Adult ADHD: 'All over the map'

By Judy Fortin
CNN

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(CNN) -- It's early on a Saturday night and Lewis Alston is taking song requests at 99X, a radio station in Atlanta, Georgia. Alston and his on-air partner will trade barbs and man the audio board until midnight. It's a perfect job, says Alston. "I wear many hats and that suits me because I am all over the map."

At 30, he's all over the map because he has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD. Growing up, he was labeled a problem child. He struggled with classes in high school and admits to behavioral troubles.

When his ADHD was finally diagnosed at age 17, he says, he and his family breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm kind of like a faucet and go on and off, on and off. That's how choppy it is," Alston says, "I'm thinking so many things and I'll do this and do that, go here and nothing gets accomplished." (Watch how one successful adult with ADD copes. )

Alston's description is typical of patients who deal with ADHD -- or ADD, as it's also called. It's estimated 4 percent of American adults have the condition and many more cases go undiagnosed. While ADD is most often associated with adolescents, "about 70 percent of people grow into having adult ADD," says Stephanie Moulton Sarkis, author of "10 Simple Solutions to Adult ADD."

Sarkis, who holds a Ph.D. and teaches at the University of Florida, is one of those adults. She describes the symptoms as "perpetual losing of keys, having problems being organized, feeling just an inner sense of restlessness, not being able to sit through activities that take a lot of brain power."

Like Alston, she takes medication to control the symptoms and help her focus. "What happens with medicine is when you have ADD you have a low level of a brain chemical called dopamine and taking medicine raises the level back up to where it is in a person without ADD."

Alston started out taking Ritalin in high school, and now he takes two doses of Dexadrine a day. Alston says "it helps me finish the task at hand."

But medication is not a cure. In her book, Sarkis suggests that medication in conjunction with counseling works better in treating ADD. She also urges patients to take a look at their lifestyle and make adjustments so they eat well, exercise and get enough sleep. Choosing the right profession also can make a big difference. "You can find a job that is more flexible," she says. "So for instance, people with ADD don't do real well in a cubicle from 9 to 5."

Alston says that was never an option he considered. In his five years at the radio station he has spent a good deal of his time working with teenagers and setting up remote broadcasts. He's developed coping mechanisms to help him get through his shift. He makes no secret of his condition, even talking about it on air and giving speeches.

He uses a daily planner to write down important dates and often relies on a tape recorder to help him remember information. He says humor is one of the tools he uses to overcome the stigma associated with ADD. He also believes accepting the disorder and learning how to live with it has made all the difference. "I can't stop it. This is how I am. I was born like this....It makes me spontaneous; it makes me think outside the box.

"It makes me who I am."

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