The Splintered Mind by Douglas Cootey This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.

ADDitude Magazine: Lost Wallet
Yes, my first blog over at ADDitude Magazine from a year ago was amazingly titled “Lost Wallet”.  I think my editor did a snazzy job coming up with a catchier title.I can't believe it's been a year. Not much has changed. Well, I'm more handsome and I can do 150 sit-ups now, but as for ADHD I'm still a bit of a mess. When I had my roadside breakdown over my lost wallet, I never imagined that the Family Guy would be around longer than three months. Anyway, just remember, with adults with ADHD things aren't always put away where you think they should be. Speaking of which, I just found my earbuds—mis...
Source: The Splintered Mind by Douglas Cootey - April 4, 2014 Category: Mental Illness Tags: ADHD Writing Source Type: blogs

ADDitude Magazine: the Case of the Sudden Wedding Ring
My latest blog about being an ADHD dad at ADDitude Magazine went up a few weeks ago. In it I wrote about how much trouble blurting things almost got me into at a school conference. Oh, it's just too embarrassing to write about again. You can read all about the Case of the Sudden Wedding Ring and how eloquent I sound with a foot in my mouth over at the Family Guy.(Just FYI. I choose titles for my blogs, but the editor always come up with his own titles. So, to avoid an inverse black hole of SEO chicanery, I'll be referring to the blogs over at ADDitude Magazine by my titles. You know, just in case you were confused or somet...
Source: The Splintered Mind by Douglas Cootey - April 2, 2014 Category: Mental Illness Tags: ADHD Family Writing Source Type: blogs

This Was Just a Flesh Wound. Get Over It Already!
I am constantly amazed by my own stubbornness. I am even stubborn in the face of facts. What are facts, after all, to goals and wishful thinking? Fah! I spit upon them!People tried to tell me that the surgery I underwent on my elbow last Thursday was a big deal. They tried to explain things to me. I'm sure I even listened. However, all that stuck in my head was “This is no big deal.” I mean, I've had moles removed before. This was just a bursa that developed under my skin due to that car accident I was in last year. It was growing and interfering with arm movement, and painful and unsightly to be sure, but they'll just...
Source: The Splintered Mind by Douglas Cootey - March 11, 2014 Category: Mental Illness Tags: ADHD Journaling Therapizing Writing Source Type: blogs

The Importance of Having an IEP for Your ADHD Child
Today’s mailbag is from Holly who writes for advice concerning her grandson. Sometimes I get letters from people who aren’t pitching their latest seminar, book series, and ADHD mouth rinse in one. Sometimes real people with real problems write to me, and I do my best to help. I may not be an expert, but I sure love sharing my opinion. You may have noticed. ⁂ I have been looking at your site and reading your posts for a little while now. I was excited to find it because I am raising my grandson, now 10, who has been diagnosed with ADHD, most likely a coping mechanism (as I understand it) for what caused his PT...
Source: The Splintered Mind by Douglas Cootey - February 28, 2014 Category: Mental Illness Tags: ADHD Source Type: blogs

Get Rid of ADHD Boredom Once and For All
My fifteen year old daughter, the Leprechaun, has ADHD. She can't be medicated for it because she inherited my dangerous hypersensivities to medications. My Leprechaun may be like me and also have the comorbid condition of Depression. As a parent my heart aches to help her. I wish there was a safe, magical pill that would fix everything for her. Instead, I teach her the coping strategies that I have learned so that she can live a life in control of her mental health.Does getting bored depress you?Today she confided in me that when she gets bored she becomes depressed. I let her know that I understood how she felt because I...
Source: The Splintered Mind by Douglas Cootey - February 24, 2014 Category: Mental Illness Tags: ADHD Coping Depression Family Source Type: blogs

How I Overcame Paralysis with This One Weird Trick
Sometimes writing here is about achievements and sometimes it is about struggle. I wanted to write about struggle today because it will help me not be discouraged or depressed. This entire process is exhausting me, which you will understand why in a moment, but I feel strongly to share my experience with you and the one trick that made it all possible. Maybe this trick will help you a little bit, too. I'm going to quote my social media posts from earlier today and the replies I recieved. The non-Twitter posts are from Facebook. 12:28pm: I woke up paralyzed about 30 minutes ago. I can move my eyes in my mouth and my right h...
Source: The Splintered Mind by Douglas Cootey - February 23, 2014 Category: Mental Illness Tags: Coping Therapizing Source Type: blogs

A Springtime Walk on a Cool, Winter's Day
As I walked to church the other day, the sky was almost like Spring. The clouds had the right color and consistency. The weather was not quite balmy, but still a warmish 57°F. The breeze was comfortable, too, though filled with the presence of Winter. Unfortunately, the color of the sky was a reminder that Mother Nature was not ready to change her outfit into something less thermal. The blue was just a bit too dark to be Spring, more Indigo than Blue Lake. Unlike last year, I was ambulatory and more than able to go out for a walk. Even though I have a shockingly low immunity system, I've already started regular walks sinc...
Source: The Splintered Mind by Douglas Cootey - February 19, 2014 Category: Mental Illness Tags: ADHD Blogging Coping Family Therapizing Writing Source Type: blogs

Where are the craziest places you've misplaced something?
(Source: The Splintered Mind by Douglas Cootey)
Source: The Splintered Mind by Douglas Cootey - February 10, 2014 Category: Mental Illness Tags: ADHD Source Type: blogs

How ADHD Helped Me Fight Off Depression
Shadow & SnowLight DustingStubborn Winter LeavesSomething Was WrongIt was a lonely Tuesday night just past midnight, and I was feeling down. My kids had left to be with their mother for two weeks, and I was still sick with a virus. The five days of sickness had put me behind in my freelance assignments which was causing a wee bit of stress. I was run down and miserable. Depression had crept in and switched out all the artwork on my walls with sad, big eyed kittens sitting in cold, dark puddles. Then I noticed the time and realized that I needed a change. For years I've followed a system to help me manage my moods. Stav...
Source: The Splintered Mind by Douglas Cootey - February 5, 2014 Category: Mental Illness Tags: ADHD Depression Somnambulating Visualizing Source Type: blogs

An ADHD & Depression Resource on Flipboard
Today I am sick with the flu. At first it felt as if my stomach was in the clutches of an angry dragon, but soon I just felt blah all over. I'm so glad I got my flu shot last week! Yes, indeed. It may not have worked at all, but at least I got out of the house, got to meet new people, got jabbed in the arm for no reason, and then got the flu anyway. It really couldn't have turned out any better. I also got a pneumonia shot, but it felt like I had been stabbed with a pencil. Then my arm ballooned and turned cherry red. Boy, that was a lot of fun. I bet I'll get pneumonia again, too. It's been a year since it nearly killed m...
Source: The Splintered Mind by Douglas Cootey - January 31, 2014 Category: Mental Illness Tags: ADHD Depression Spinning Source Type: blogs

Celebrate Distraction. Hug a Squirrel!
Here's today's public service announcement. If you have ADHD, beware of operating any heavy machinery or working near windows. National Squirrel Appreciation Day   (Source: The Splintered Mind by Douglas Cootey)
Source: The Splintered Mind by Douglas Cootey - January 21, 2014 Category: Mental Illness Tags: ADHD Spinning Source Type: blogs

ADHD: At Least Remember To Laugh
So there I am bouncing back and forth between two apps because I have dueling checklists and not a lot of time. To make things more difficult, I had one list open on the iPhone, and another on the iPad. I was so focused on organizing the tasks that I didn't have the devices together, so I absentmindedly paced to and from the computer desk with my iPad gripped in my hands. Finally, I had everything organized and set the iPad down on the kitchen counter with a satisfying plop. That's when I noticed the fork. "What's that doing there?" I wondered to myself. A lone fork in the middle of paper piles. Not very tidy of me. T...
Source: The Splintered Mind by Douglas Cootey - January 18, 2014 Category: Mental Illness Tags: ADHD Source Type: blogs

Guess What! You're Not Overly Negative or Hard To Please
People with ADHD are known for being hyperactive, but activity isn’t the only way that they are hyper. They can be hypersensitive to all manner of sensations, like sound, touch, and taste, but they are not alone. In recent years hypersensitivity has been recognized as a positive personality trait. I read about this recently over at Lifehacker and was surprised how upbeat the coverage of the trait was. There was even a handy quiz to aid self-diagnosis. How Being Highly Sensitive Affects ADHD Are you usually accused of being too sensitive? I am constantly told I am too sensitive. I’m told I’m too picky, to...
Source: The Splintered Mind by Douglas Cootey - January 14, 2014 Category: Mental Illness Tags: ADHD Coping Therapizing Source Type: blogs

My Life Is a Fortune Cookie Filled with Surprises
Thursday – Entry 46: The other day I went in for my very first root canal. Because of a hiccup in the insurance I couldn’t get my face drilled that day and had to reschedule. I’ve only had one cavity in my life and it came right at the end of my marriage, so I put off taking care of it…for two years. Obviously, cavities left alone become bigger problems, but it didn’t hurt so I could ignore it and simply chew on the other side. Until my tooth was chipped last month (while eating a hard candy…sheered a corner right off!), I had never had any dental work done on my teeth. I knew nothing of needles and drills. Whe...
Source: The Splintered Mind by Douglas Cootey - January 10, 2014 Category: Mental Illness Tags: ADHD Coping Depression Journaling Writing Source Type: blogs

Bright and Filled with Potential
Wensday – Entry 45: There are many people who want me to state that 2013 was my best year ever, but truthfully it was the hardest, most exhausting and stressful year I can ever remember living through. This was the year my favorite minivan was totaled and replaced with a pale imitation. This was the year I went through extensive physical therapy to treat two prolapsed disks in my neck and spine. This was the year my daughter's epilepsy worsened due to the same car accident, reaching life-threatening tonic clonic stages for the first time in her life. This was the year I spent months—MONTHS—sick with pneumonia and th...
Source: The Splintered Mind by Douglas Cootey - January 1, 2014 Category: Mental Illness Tags: Journaling Source Type: blogs