It seems to be the most common path, to have the youngest in the family diagnosed and then have others in the family go, 'hey! me, too!' In my family, it was my father who was diagnosed first, and only because an article had come out a month or so before in which an adult talked about his nephew being diagnosed and realizing the same symptoms applied to him. My father's therapist was like, wait a minute... and he handed copies of the article to my parents, and both my parents said after only a minute of reading, "yes!" After that, my sister and I went in and almost immediately I got pegged, as well. (My sister's case is so mild that it's almost negligible, compared to her bipolar issues.)
I think what's most valuable, ironically, about the fact that ADD/ADHD tends to run in families is that once the family's aware, then you have a concerted, joined effort in dealing with it, because it affects all of you. In that way, the resolution of being diagnosed is certainly an opportunity for a family to become a lot healthier and stronger, just in the course of creating more productive behavioral patterns for itself.
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Date: 11 Jun 2010 05:39 pm (UTC)I think what's most valuable, ironically, about the fact that ADD/ADHD tends to run in families is that once the family's aware, then you have a concerted, joined effort in dealing with it, because it affects all of you. In that way, the resolution of being diagnosed is certainly an opportunity for a family to become a lot healthier and stronger, just in the course of creating more productive behavioral patterns for itself.