Welcome to our Life With ADD/ADHD Community!
Our mission at Ben’s Friends is to ensure that patients living with rare diseases or chronic illnesses, as well as their caregivers, family, and friends, have a safe and supportive place to connect with others like them.
This is an online support group for patients, friends and families affected by ADHD or ADD. ADHD is a problem with inattentiveness, hyperactivity, impulsivity, or executive functioning and organization. Individuals with ADHD may find it much more difficult to focus on a task, particularly an uninteresting one, without being distracted. They may have greater difficulty in controlling what they say or do and may have difficulty sitting still or keeping silent in situations where it is expected. Impulsivity, restlessness, and poor risk assessment may be characteristic. On the other hand, ADHDers are known for creativity, out-of-the-box thinking, and unique problem-solving abilities.
Living With ADD/ADHD is a virtual community intended to be a safe place for patients and family members as young as age 12, to visit for information, discussion, venting and mutual support. Members come from many backgrounds. Some have a strong religious faith, and others no faith; some are children and others adults, rich and poor, graduate educated or taught by life. Our common denominators are that we share a life journey, and we try to help each other.
Though we get occasional visits from medical doctors, the site is not routinely supported by medical professionals. Nobody here can diagnose you or tell you what your treatment choices “should” be. We might inform your choices by sharing individual experiences and information developed by study as lay people. But Life with ADD / ADHD is not intended to replace the advice or treatment of licensed medical professionals. Readers should validate any information they take away from here, against the experience of a licensed medical doctor.
Site owners and moderators are not legally responsible for the accuracy of information shared on the site. We do not require you to identify yourself or exactly where you live: it is important to us that you should be anonymous here. That encourages openness. Nevertheless, visitors should also be aware that our discussion forums and groups are publicly accessible and frequently searched by Google. That’s why your speech here should be considered “public”. If you’re tempted to write something about another person that you wouldn’t say to their face, then we counsel you to think first. Speech can be consequential.
Life With ADD/ADHD is supported by unpaid volunteer moderators who validate and register new members and monitor ongoing discussions, photo postings and blogs. Very often, moderators are themselves patients or family members of patients. Most of the time, moderators tend to keep a low profile, except in their roles as members of the community who may be well-informed about the state of medicine and research.
Joining Ben’s Friends LifewithADD.org is easy: please check out the pointers on this Youtube video , then tap “Join” and “Sign Up”.