Obsessive Compulsions by C. Thomas Gualtieri

Author:C. Thomas Gualtieri
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781784509057
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Published: 2018-05-27T04:00:00+00:00

Are Ditzy Blondes ADD?

DB#2 was probably ADD, based on her tests and her school history. DB#1 also had problems with focus and concentration and was easily distracted. Was she ADD, too? Yes, and no. I think she acquired ADD. DB#2, on the other hand, was congenitally ADD; she had been that way all her life. Both, however, were a bit anxious about their performance in the world of adult responsibility. This gives us an important clue as to what a DB really is and also how some people, especially women, can acquire ADD.

Research on girls with ADD show that they tend to be under-active and inhibited; they don’t have behavior problems, and although they struggle in school they are seldom referred for diagnosis and treatment. DBs are not under-active and inhibited. They have problems with attention and distractibility, too, but they tend to be impetuous and disinhibited. They don’t usually have problems in school because they do OK in structured situations. In school, all they have to do is what they sense the teachers expect. Even if they’re not smart, DBs are context-sensitive. That means that they are keenly attentive to other people, and can usually figure out what the teacher requires in order that they get a good grade.

Yet when they come to us as women, their usual complaint is, “I think I’m ADD.” No, they’re not. The odd thing is, they are reflective. We usually think that DBs are clueless, but that is only an illusion. They may seem ditzy or scatter-brained, but that’s only an outward sign. It isn’t necessarily what is going on inside their heads. What, then, is going on inside? (If anything. Ha ha.)

In unfamiliar situations, the so-called DB tends to reflect. That may seem paradoxical, but we know all about paradoxes now and we also know how too much thinking can clog parts of one’s head. Like any context-sensitive organism, the DB responds to events with a keen eye, taking in all the details, and pondering. That, by the way, is why her processing speed seems slow. She is thinking hard, and cogitation is always slow work. It may take her a while to decide, for example, what the fellow sitting next to her is driving at.

She is also sensitive to what he might be feeling. She knows that what she perceives is not necessarily what is going on inside his head. So she runs through the possibilities. He seems to like me, she thinks. Is that why he put his hand on my knee? Her active mind runs through the alternatives: Perhaps he is cold, or lonely, or maybe he is just trying to be nice. Reflecting deeply on the possibilities, her spirit of ineffable sweetness gives him the benefit of the doubt and her slow mental processing delays the appropriate action step. A non-DB would say right off, “Buzz off, creep,” but the DB, after some moments, says, “Excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom.” If she’s not a smart DB, it may take a while longer before she gets around to it.

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