Jeff at Jeff's A.D.D. Mind wrote a great article a few months ago titled The A.D.D. Money Panic. The article is about him not checking on his bank account for two weeks and "the little wave of panic" he had about seeing what his activity and balance is now. For many people "the little wave of panic" (stress or worrying) motivates them to look at their bank account. Adults with ADD are more likely to avoid "the little wave of panic" by avoiding to look at their accounts all together. Avoiding the "little wave of panic" is not only detrimental to your finances, but can affect your overall health and well being.
The key is to control your worrying so that you are better able to deal with your problems. In Dr. Edward Hallowell's book Worry he has a five-step method for controlling worry:
1. Never worry alone - This is the most important step, if worry has no where to go it just intensifies and much harder to deal with
2. Get the facts - If you are having trouble just looking at your accounts so that you can get the facts, get someone else to look at your accounts with you.
3. Make a plan - Once you have a plan to deal with your problem, it helps you to reduce the fear of what will happen if the issue in unresolved.
4. Take care of yourself - The amount of sleep,nutrition, exercise, and social interaction that someone gets has a great affect on their mental state and ability to deal with stress.
5. Let Go - This is the simplest step but often the hardest to do.
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