I am in need of some advice | ADHD Information

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 Returning to job market after a long period of time has left me bewildered. I used to work in the general Technical Support field. I had to stop working due to severe depression and anxiety. After working with numerious phyciaitrists I was diagnoised as Bipolar type 2. None of the medications that were tried worked at all and consequently I had gained 40lbs

     I stopped taking all medications lost some weight but still left with depression and anxiety. My girlfriend was diagnosied as having ADD and was prescribed Adderall XR. After extensive research I concluded I might have ADD  and tried a 20mg pill, it seemed as if the fog had lifted and my mind was clear for the first time in my life, not only that but my anxiety and depression were gone.

Here's the quagmire: I don't want to go back to the support field, I didn't like the endless queues of people, unsupportive management, and treated with no respect by management. 

It's sad that it took so long for me to discover that the life I led was a ramble, almost dreamlike in memory. So now I'm aware of so much in my life with the exception of where to start.

Any thoughts?

   

I felt the same way when I learned  I had ADD and tried medication.

I'm struggling still with the whole thing, but I have found success in some exercises from a book called Stopping ADHD which makes a claim that ADHD symptoms and ADD symptoms are caused by an unmatured reflex we had as a baby that we didn't mature and now it controls us, making us uncomfortable, distracting us from other things in life.

Anyway, I have posted about it in the book section on here, if you are interested in a different approach. 

It is working for me.

 

I guess I'm still walking off the shock of coming out of the mental twilight that I've existed in for almost all my life.  Only thing I can think of is to follow your heart.  What do you want to do? yup the world is now officially your oyster. 


i would go for something creative or charitable myself... (but that's just me).


as CG said --- what do YOU want to do?  get involved with politics at a local level?  start a restaurant because you are a fantastic chef?  run an art gallery?  write a book on ADD?????  go and work in Africa?  train to become whatever....

hooray it is all good.  don't let your previous limitations hold you back now.  go for what you want.  if one person can do it - then so can you!

good luck.  i hope personally that you become a famous deep sea diver along the lines of Jacques Cousteau!

Why not check out other jobs which use similar skills, training and experience? If you ask  people you know from previous jobs , one of them may know of a job you could love doing but would be a change from the same -o, same-o.

Is there any chance of advancing in the tech support field so you wouldn't have all the same problems? Now that you can control your ADHD symptoms, you could possibly advace up the ladder that was too high to reach unmedicated.

That's where I was 10 months ago - found out I had ADHD and that it was the leading cause of grief in my life.  However - my journey didn't start there - just went into high gear - I'll tell you a bit more so you'll understand.

3 years ago - I broke up with my gf of 13 years.  We were always up and down - and my unknown ADHD would cycle and it was on again, off again every few months for years.

We were to be expecting a child - a boy.  4 months in she miscarried - it was a bad time and she nearly died from complications. 

After that I knew my life was crap.  I moved - far away as I could do it.  I ended up where I am now - not knowing what to do but wanting to not repeat the past.  So, instead of taking up an office job (I have a degree in computer systems tech), I went to work in a factory packing boxes.  How freeing it was!! I was able to work simply and without worrying about forgetting all the things that my business jobs ended up doing.

My med insurance is fantastic.  I was diagnosed ADHD 10 months ago and it's all history!! I work to a high standard and love my job.  I am in better physical shape than when I was 18.  It's all so much better!

If you want a new kind of job - go for what kind of job you would never normally take.  Try for entry level in the field - less responsibility means less anxiety.  It does help you get centered.