A D D

[James_WV]

I'm a 48 year old male who was recently diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder. I'm told I've probably had it my whole life. In many ways I don't fit the 'normal' profile of an ADD adult - I'm very logical (computer programmer) and not creative in terms of art or general imagination. I have a poor memory for faces and generally in the short-term but a great memory for trivia, numbers and sports. I've got a 140-150 IQ and was always a great student.

I gave that as a basic intro to a question - have any of you experienced folks hypnotists and subjects noticed any great success or problems with ADD folks being hypnotised? I've probably wanted to be hypnotised since I first knew anything about it (probably that cartoon with the waves of energy going from the hypnotist to the subject's eyes) but I've never achieved it. I've only tried mp3 files from here and while I've experience some 'floating' feelings I've never managed to go into what I think a trance would be. I have trouble staying focused on the words in the file - I keep thinking 'Am I under?? Am I under ?? Is this how it's supposed to feel??'.

Any help or ideas would be welcomed. if this has been covered in a thread I haven't found yet please direct me there. Thanks.

[sandy82]

I'm a 48 year old male who was recently diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder. I'm told I've probably had it my whole life. In many ways I don't fit the 'normal' profile of an ADD adult - I'm very logical (computer programmer) and not creative in terms of art or general imagination. I have a poor memory for faces and generally in the short-term but a great memory for trivia, numbers and sports. I've got a 140-150 IQ and was always a great student.

I gave that as a basic intro to a question - have any of you experienced folks hypnotists and subjects noticed any great success or problems with ADD folks being hypnotised? I've probably wanted to be hypnotised since I first knew anything about it (probably that cartoon with the waves of energy going from the hypnotist to the subject's eyes) but I've never achieved it. I've only tried mp3 files from here and while I've experience some 'floating' feelings I've never managed to go into what I think a trance would be. I have trouble staying focused on the words in the file - I keep thinking 'Am I under?? Am I under ?? Is this how it's supposed to feel??'.

Any help or ideas would be welcomed. if this has been covered in a thread I haven't found yet please direct me there. Thanks.

James. a very interesting post.

Doctors are taught that it is better to look for horses, not zebras, when they make a diagnosis. This tends to be a wise choice, but it can lead sometimes to unexpected and sometimes unfortunate results.

When the first cases of Rocky Mountain spotted fever broke out in the Middle Atlantic states, doctors weren't looking for it...and they didn't find it. As a consequence, a number of people died. A similar situation prevailed when Lyme disease was first detected. The US let in a number of people exposed to SARS because the word hadn't filtered down to the public health people working at POEs...and they weren't familiar with the pathology. We were all rather lucky on that one.

I don't want to belabor that point, because I want to stress the opposite. Doctors see what they expect to see. When you were in school, my guess is that no pupil or student was diagnosed with AD(H)D. Now, as many as 50 percent of the children in some elementary schools are taking Ritalin. I, for one, don't believe that they all have AD(H)D.

You have received a very popular diagnosis. In your case, it doesn't seem to fit the facts. I mean no disrespect to the state of West Virginia (which is where I assume you're from); but if a doctor graduates at the top of his medical school class, he's not going to set up a specialty practice in Bluefield or Beckley...or even in Charleston or Huntington. But wherever you're living, my general advice in the next paragraph still holds.

My suggestion would be that you get a second or a third opinion on this diagnosis. Baltimore is not far away. See a specialist at Johns Hopkins. My wager is that the diagnosis will be very different.

In the meantime, focusing on the susceptibility to hypnosis among those with AD(H)D is like putting the cart before the horse.

[asdf]

Trance does not have a feeling; it is simply focusing. If you do not focus on the hypnotist's words, you will not trance.

Speaking from experience, mental disorders are misdiagnosed and mistreated. Don't let doctors push pills on you for treating these perceived "disorders."

[James_WV]

sandy82 - I'm touched by your concern. However I'm about as sure as I can be of the validity of my diagnosis. My therapist is a psychologist and isn't looking at medicating me. She also has an ADHD son. I've already read 4 books on the subject and the classic symptoms that I display (including poor organization, poor time management, procrastination, risk-taking, poor estimation skills and I'm a HUGE packrat) have me convinced of the way my brain is wired. With my wife's help I'm implementing various coping/management methods of dealing with life in a much better, efficient and effective way.

So I'm confident I'm ADD (the attentive/distractive type, not the hyperactive type). I'm looking for any tips/tendancies/helps, etc that any of you have discovered as an ADD subject or trying to hypnotize an ADD subject. Thanks in advance from Almost Heaven WV.

[Jack]

Questions.

When do you usually listen to whatever hypnosis mp3s that you listen to?
Where do you do this?
How often?
If you don't mind saying, what do you listen to?
How do you listen?
What position?(sitting, standing, laying down, floating, what?)
Have you ever tried any self-hypnosis techniques?
I wonder if you've ever tried just letting go of everything else(including that voice that says "Am I under? Is this how it feels to be hypnotised?"... Just let it all go, and focus on what the induction is saying. There is no thing "trance". Trance is a nomilization that basically means "any state other than one that a person uses normally". Or even more succinctly: "Trance- an altered state of consciousness."

[James_WV]

My listening runs in spurts - whenever my wife is traveling. I usually listen just before bedtime, lying in bed. I'll listen several days in a row when she's gone, but then have to stop listening for a week or 2. I know that doesn't sound like a recipe for success.

I've tried all the induction, deepening and susceptible files and some of the others that interested me, including Curse PMS Period, Trig Vagina, Trig female form, Trig Woman, etc (you may be able to tell where my interests lie :) ).

[loadedkaos]

A relative of mine has add and he has some of the same characteristics that you've mentioned you have, and he's smart too. I would probably suggest to experiment with other forms of affecting the subconcious mind to maybe as reinforcers or simply mental exercises. I'm not sure of how add functions but if it is a wiring problem in the brain, it may be possible to fix...Although I'm not a doctor but more of those guy's with phds are suggesting that the brain can be rewired with practice. Although I'd haft to assume this is all being covered with the coping techniques you are learning.

[rebel76]

James,

Be proud of the condition...With it comes some nice perks such as the ability to think of many things at once while "normal" people can only think of one thing at a time. I was diagnosed about 8 months ago with what my psych doc said was just about the worst case of ADHD he'd ever seen in a patient. Being 25 at the time of the diagnosis, I wasn't exactly thrilled at the fact that I was going to have to re-teach myself many of the dysfunctional skills/habits I had grown into. Like you, I am highly intelligent, which was why I wasn't diagnosed at an earlier age. I'm also a HUGE packrat, totally disorganized, poor with time management, and let's not even get on the subject of procrastination. I, too, initially had problems getting into the trance. My approach was to imagine the what the hypnotist speaking looked like. Then, you're going to find this weird, but because of the tendency of my mind to want to go in 40 different directions, I gave it 39 angles to look at the guy from. Basically what I visualized was a constant 3D picture of the guy that was being looked at from many different positions. This kept my mind on the task at hand and I was in a trance very quickly. You have to find a way to take the many angles your mind is trying to take and redirect them in a way that will keep your brain too busy to ask ,"Is this working?" The good news is that for an ADD/ADHD person, this approach isn't too hard. For others, it would probably go against anything that they would imagine would be relaxing or comfortable. It is very relaxing and I've found that since the first time I was able to successfully go into the trance, subsequent times have been progressively easier. Just stick with it. I was having the same "floating" feelings you described and did the same thing you did in breaking concentration, wondering if I was under. Sounds like you're on the right track, though. Stick with it and give that brilliant mind a bigger chunk to process. Hope this helps...

Rb76

[James_WV]

Thanks for your reply. I'll try the visualization of the hypnotist idea - especially when I'm listening to a Lady Rio or Goddess Spiral file :)

I've tried occupying my conscious mind with counting backards from 100 or other little mental diversions to occupy the various threads that may be running through it.