time

Having a partner who says he loves you often be late sends confusing signals.  Learning more can help.

ADHD, like so many things that people go through, exists on a continuum from more intense to less intense, and in addition, there are different types.  There are those who are Inattentive (and may appear to be spacey), and those who are hyperactive/ impulsive, and those who are both at the same time.  No two individuals with ADHD show up the same way.

I just read a terrific article about how to better understand your ADHD or non-ADHD partner's sense of time - since it is most likely different from yours!  Yours, Mine and Hours can be read at this link and is well worth the few minutes it takes to read it.

     One of the major points my wife, Sue, and I stress in our new book, Married to Distraction, is the critical element of time.  People take time for granted.  But without time, there is no attention, and with attention there is no communication or empathy, and without communication and empathy there is no connection, and without a connection there is no play, and without play there is no fulfilling intimacy, romance, or love.  We often say that play is the main action of love.  But it all depends upon the previous steps, starting with time.

Dr. Hallowell often states in his speeches that people with ADHD have only two concepts of  time – “now” and “not now”.  How true that is!  If a project or idea is in front of a person with ADHD it gets done now…or, if not now, then perhaps never!  This trait has plusses and minuses in the ADHD marriage.