Stress Center Peer Support

Does anybody else suffer with ADD? I've always had this learning disability and I have found many ways to cope through day to day life with it. I write everything down, I have a system to everything now basically.

But when it comes to learning, trying to memorize things and remember them I've always had such a hard time. I'm taking a music theory course right now and I'm having a little trouble. It's all stuff I've known and I just keep forgetting it. I want to go back to school but I have so much trouble with learning that it is so frustrating to me. I was so frustrated today that I was on the verge of tears because I felt so stupid in front of my teacher. I can't seem to snap out of it and now I'm feeling bad about it.
Does anyone ever feel liek this? or have any suggestions or tricks on how to memorize or remember things?

It would be much appreciated..thanks.

Hello Carla, I'm sorry to hear you're having a rough time. I don't suffer from ADD but I do suffer from anxiety and I know all too well the feeling of being frustrated with yourself and just wanting to jump outside the circle. I know one thing I'm working on is compassionate self talk, it's not easy at all but these things are never easy! You know you're not stupid, don't tell yourself lies. It's the black and white thinking of "I'm having a difficult time, so
I must be completely unable. Caroline says in the tapes to not tell yourself lies and that has finally clicked for me.

I do indeed have a trick to remember things. This doesn't work with everything, but mostly if you need to remember a list of things. I hope it is of some help to you, I couldn't use it for remembering everything in University but did for some things and it works!

The way the mind works is that when you're trying to remember once piece of info, it tries to pick up a second piece of info and connect the pieces like putting a plug into an outlet.

Remember this little rhyme.
One's a bun
Two's a shoe
Three's a tree
Four's a door
Five's a hive
Six are sticks
Seven's heaven
Eight's a gate
Nine's a line
ten's a hen.

I hope you can remember the list, it's easy to pick up because it ALL rhymes. Now here's what you have to do. Let's just say for example that you have to remember a list of errands you're running, you're going to the mall and you have to remember you had shoes to pick up. You would visualize a stupid image of a bun with shoes on or a big shoe in a bun. Make a mental picture. Now when you go back to your mental list. You say "one's a bun" and your brain will now have another piece of information to pick up because you made a visualization and you'll remember, bun with the shoes on, I need to pick up my shoes.

I hope I haven't over complicated this, it's really quite simple and has helped me many times.

Thanks P&P that is a really great idea! Thanks so much for sharing that!


I have gotten good at errunds and things like that during the day. It's when I go back to school, my short term memory has failed me. I'm really great in writing and classes like that, but when it comes to memorizing theories and what not I'm at loss. A tutor may help, but I seem to have lost all confidence in myself going back to school. I'm nervous that if I do go back and even if I do well, what if I don't like the job that I get after all the work I've done. Anyone ever feel like that before?