According to the book “The Little Monster: Growing Up With ADHD”, Jergen was a “little monster” from an early age. The book is a good depiction of what life was like, having ADHD, for Robert Jergen, from early childhood and into adulthood. The book gives a good description of the characteristics of ADHD, and makes a good map for parents and teachers; to help them understand the impairment and how to better deal with a child who has it. Jergen seemed to eventually adopt the idea that ADHD was a gift, if one knows how to use it, and therefore made him gifted. In the first chapter, "The Power of ADHD," he describes the symptoms of ADHD and the category the symptoms fall under, such as “inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity). Jergen talks…show more content… Because he had a “poor sense of time”, he was not able to plan, which affected his desire to do anything. Jergen had problems “paying attention, rushed through his school work, was messy, missed details and was socially immature”. During this time in his life, Jergen made two suicide attempts. In high school his grades were continually dropping.
By the time he was in college, he had become an alcoholic. Not knowing what was wrong with him was taking a toll on Jergen. He selected classes that he found interesting, but had trouble sitting for long periods of time; some classes being a three hour long class.
As an adult, Jergen describes his romantic relationships. He maintains the idea that he is free to do whatever he wants, and to say whatever he wants, so his relationships are short lived. It is during this period of time, while Jergen was in graduate school, taking special education classes, that he learns he has ADHD. He now began to understand himself and afforded hi m hope for his life. He learned how to use his extra energy to his advantage and graduated with a PhD in two years, from a five year