Old school memories: ADHD

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder - an exact description of me. Even if this disorder was only formally considered a scientific entity in the 1990s, I was already manifesting it in the early 1960s. Its eventual appearance and inclusion in the medical journals and textbooks confirmed my fears and put to rest the nagging question: "why am I like this?"

The many scars that I have from accidents testify to the fact that I always got myself into trouble. My mom who had a degree in child education noted that I had a short attention span and easily got bored so she decided not to enroll me in school when the friends of my age started at grade one. Ruel and May Ann were some of those friends and they were already looking good in their school uniform and sitting in class, whilst I was falling from broken branches and gotten stung by wasps.

The place where I grew up had endless opportunities to spend my energies on. We lived beside a ranch, and in mornings while my friends were walking to school my mom would pack some sandwiches, a jug of water or milk, a large hollowed-out carrot with mayonnaise inside, and place these inside a leather saddlebag - a gift from a cousin (Irma) in the US, and I would run to the ranch where the cowboys took charge of me for the whole day. I would stink like a horse by the time I came home, but this was life!

Fast forward to high school and by this time we were living in Davao City and I was in boarding school at Managa - near Bansalan. Unfortunately 'Hyperactive' didn't stay behind in Bukidnon, but tagged along and here I was struggling through class hours with my mind trying to concentrate on the activities. Again in God's own wisdom he supplied a teacher (Luzviminda) who understood my predicament and she provided some release for the fire burning inside me. She would stop the lecture, call me out of the classroom and ask me to go to downtown Digos to buy something - fish or groceries, for her. I loved those escapades from schoolwork and apparently my teacher's strategy worked for me... and for her. She confessed many years later - when I was already a doctor, that aside from my distractive movements in class, the other reason why she wanted me out was because of the questions that I asked, which she often found difficult to answer.

Sunni, Mimi, Luzviminda & Gervacio

College and medical school saw me somewhat mellowing down, but not totally free from this scourge. I still would excuse myself from class, walk around, get on a bike or just do anything to ease the boredom. Girlfriends offered some release, but that is a different story.

Now at 61 I'm still a hyperactive doggie, but a very matured and seasoned one indeed.