One of my clients, Charity (not her real name), mentioned her son’s recent diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactive disorder. (ADHD)

She had been resistant to the diagnosis at first, she shared, but she soon gave in, after realizing that in fact, she and her husband both suffered from ADHD as well.

In the end, it was good news. An occupational therapist proved to be the biggest help—teaching him time management; improvement in motor, relaxation and social skills; anger control; and the ability to focus.

Thinking about it, I realized that, of course Charity deserved the same diagnosis. She is exuberant, creative, and visionary.  On the surface, the traits of a highly successful person. If unchecked, however, those traits could easily slide into distraction, disorganization, and anxiety-fueled mania. She is right to stay on top of her strengths so they don’t morph into weaknesses.

So I had ADHD on the brain when I was reading this week’s issue of Time (February 17) and encountered an article by Fareed Zakaria about Afghanistan. (Stay with me, here.)

The article was about Afghan President Hamid Karzai. In it, Fareed quotes statistics from the forthcoming, War Front to Store Front, by Paul Brinkley, where he describes that in 2009, after you subtract the heroin trade and foreign aid, the Afghan economy was worth about $1 billion. During that same year, “the US military spent $4 billion per month to protect a country with a real annual economic output of $1 billion.” That’s not a typo. A month.

Being a mental health professional and not an economist, I’m more interested in what mental health disorder got us into this $4 billion a month quagmire.

With that, my thoughts turned to George W. Bush and I wondered, “Was he ADHD?”

With just a few clicks, I found multiple websites that purported that W. had ADHD. They didn’t say how they got this information, but one site, ADDitude: Living Well with Attention Deficit, was actually bragging about it.

Now don’t throw tomatoes at me, because I’m an independent and I make fun of both sides of the aisle, if the occasion calls for it.

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Let’s take a look at the symptoms of adult ADHD. I like Web MD’s description the best and I’ll summarize it for you here:

Those adults suffering from ADHD can experience impaired functioning in a variety of ways. They may be anxious, forgetful and chronically late. They may have difficulty concentrating on reading that requires in-depth attention. They procrastinate. They have a low frustration tolerance, mood swings, and are impulsive and disinhibited, and this can lead to difficulties controlling their anger. Many times they end up self-medicating their high anxiety.

So now we’re talking about underachievement in education, higher divorce rates and relationship problems, career issues, road rage, and substance abuse problems.

What’s the take away?  Know thyself. If these traits look familiar, seek treatment.

New controversies are developing regarding over-medication of ADHD, but there are many behavioral options available as well.

The OTs mentioned at the beginning of this article are frontrunners in teaching behavioral techniques. Good therapists can teach you stress management skills. Life coaches can help you set goals. Sometimes with good old-fashioned self-discipline you can train yourself to be more organized (lists, planners, cell-phone alarms). You can learn to minimize distractions, and develop constructive outlets for your nervous energy.

Let’s work at staying out of extraordinarily expensive wars; improving our divorce rates; just saying no to substance abuse; and being cooler, calmer and more collected at home, work and behind the wheel. Then we’ll be better people, a better country, and a better world. And then, like Charity, who introduced this post–you’ll stay exuberant, creative, and visionary; the strength side of ADHD.

Next on our agenda: What’s up with Hamid Karzai? Some say he might have bi-polar disorder. The subject of another post . . .

Sanity now!