Post by MarkeyMy doctor thinks I may have ADHD along with my bipolar.
I know a lot of the symptoms cross over from each illness.
Has anyone been diagnosed with both?
If so, How do you handle both illnesses?
Mark
Okay....her'e my serious answer.
For reasons that include BP2 and being an ADD suspect the tendency to
be off my game and letting everything slide makes me feel a strong need
to be as organized as possible. The best approach for me has been a
continuing need to have things as well organized as possible.
So far, I have certain areas of my like very well organized and they
have stayed that way since the bones of the organizion are in place.
finding a good sytem and it becomes idiot proof......and idot proof is
what I strive for.
Some areas where i've don this include my clothestes and drawers
(clothing) which includes the fact that i have have large portions ofr
my wardrobe corordinated around color palates.....olive, navy, browns
and blacks work well for me. I have several suit sets where combo
pieces, slacks, blouses, etc are offerred in the same palat and I tend
to buy the coordinating peieces resulting in several outfit groupsing
occur from each set of combos. I have blouses, shoes, belts that
coordinate withing and between the neutral palates and this makes
pulling it together relative easy.
I have an excellent filing sysptem and organizer/daybook/todo list (I
use Lotus Organizer) and I've modified these to work with the way my
mind works.....and after organiziing the categories that work for
me......took some adjust ment. It workds extreemly well.
Ii have my finances organized with the use of online banking, direct
deposits, use of a dedit card where ever possible and prescheduling
expense payments such as motrgage and utilities, etc automatically go
out on presullected days every month. Every now and then i have to
adjust, but worst case scenario my utlilites are never cut off because
I forgot to pay a bill. In fact, by sending a preset amount every
month I usualy have a siglt plus balance on all these bills.
I also have a specific place where i put things like scissors, stamps,
my keys, this makes finding things so much easier and I rarely lose the
things. Being unable to find things that I know are hidden in plain
sight can send me into freek out mode really quickly and this is
usually the trigger for just another round of putting systems in place.
And.....here is the strongest point I wish to make. When I'm on top of
my game it allows me to work at maziumum effeciency beause the systems
are in place and I can see what has been done and what needs to be done
and turn my focus to the right things.
But......even more importantly to anyone with large fluctuations in
ability to be functional, it minimizes things that slip through the
cracks to the degree that this can be done.
I usually let things slide...but thr bones of the system are there and
it often means picking up on the thing that have slid, putting them
away where they belong....because they now do have a polace where they
belong...what a luxury! and getting caught up is so much easier.
Also....when i have minimum functionality i can look at one or two
little things that can be put away here and there, even if i can't
face getting a lot done at once.....and this helps on a practical and a
morale level.
I also have some fallbacks built in. Two good ones are a pharmacy that
delivers and works well with my doctors by phone and fax, and a a
supermarket (the Safeway chain) where I cn go on line and order
groceries for the same instrore, in ad prices plus a $10 delivery fee.
I used this when I needed to by the large bag of doog food.......and to
stock up on nonperishables when there are good sales. I still use it
about one a month...but it can be delivered tomorrow if I can't get it
together to leave the house and I'm running out of stuff.
Hope this helps.
Maggie
yes, i have given this a whole lot of thought.