A reflection of jumping off a cliff. How far is the fall? Can we afford to fall ten feet? Is a slippery slope padded with soft grass or brambles, stickers and pot holes. If we jump off a cliff, will we survive?
How many of us suffer from other diagnosis, problems other than ADHD? For me and my clients the list includes history of addiction, active addiction, Traumatic brain injury, Anxiety, Compassion fatigue, poverty, too much time on our hands, too little time on our hands, alcohol abuse, gambling addiction, shopping addiction, too much sex, too little sex, insomnia, too much sleep, over weight, under weight, too much money, too little money, dishonesty, toxic relationships, mental illnesses, Autism, physical disabilities, mental disabilities….. Wow, how long is this list anyway?? Well the list is indeed endless. We, each of us is different. When I was teaching nuses many years ago, a young female student marched up to me and said….. “MR! Eastman, Worman are different than men. All the studies in your book are based on studies done ONLY on men. WAKE UP!” and she marched away. This led to a metanalyis of the literature, and yes indeed many studies for heart disease, mental illness and other diseases are slanted towards men only. We still have a bias in medicine and in treatment, and coaching that may or may not be accurately accounting for not only the differences between men and woman, but also for all the nuances that come with interactions affected by the aformentioned list, but also cultural biases, affects of trauma, addiction, homelessness, success and an infinite variety of factors.
No wonder that for many of us, small decisions are not only a slippery slope, but indeed we end up jumping off a cliff. If we are addicted to gambling, for instance, how long before a raffle ticket becomes the loss of all we own? If we are addicted to alcohol, is one drink too much? One drink is too much and a thousand drinks are not enough. If we have RSD, can we afford to rage, perseverate and “ventilate” endlessly without suffering ourselves, and drawing our families and friends into a vortex of BS?
Reflect on what areas in your complicated life are cliffs that we can not afford to jump off.
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