AD/HD & MY STUDENT LOAN SITUATION

Hi,

OK, this is kinda long (I know how we AD/HD people have challenges with long, detailed readings), and forgive me if this sort of rambles, but here goes......

I'm a 46-year old whose AD/HD went undiagnosed until early this year, and in the meantime, it has wreaked havoc in my life (in numerous ways).  Along with other factors, it has made it extremely difficult for me to deal with a looming, financial crisis in my life:  My student loans.

Furthermore, what compounds the problem, is the fact that since the end of March of this year, I've been unemployed due to company layoffs. 

When I finished graduate school in 1995, I didn't know I had AD/HD, and like most Americans, I wanted to "live the American Dream" by getting a well-paying job, that not only would help me pay off the loans, but more importantly, that I would have as an emotionally rewarding and satisfying career.

Unfortunately, things didn't work out that way, and the consequences of struggling with undiagnosed AD/HD (e.g., difficulty holding on to work for long periods of time; only finding low-paying work ; etc.) has resulted in either my making very few payments, or mostly getting forbearances, due to financial hardships and/or unemployment.  Consequently, my outstanding, student loan debt has gone from $58,000 in 1995, to $164,000 at the present time (both monetary figures approximate).

My situation is compounded by my other health condition, asthma, which I've had since early childhood.  This limits my ability to seek employment in many physically demanding jobs.  Additionally, I'm unmarried, and the rest of my family lives out of state.  Consequently, I bear the responsibility of caring for an elderly mother (who I live with), who also has serious health conditions, made worse as a result of aging.

Despite these setbacks, I'm attempting to take responsibility as best I can, by not only diligently seeking employment, but also by continuing treatment for my health conditions as well as utilizing as many of the resources possible, that I've thus far been made aware of.  Also, with my newly-found awareness of having AD/HD, one of my employment goals (in addition to teaching in the fields of Adult Education and Gerontology), is to help those specifically with AD/HD (as well as other learning disabilities, and all disabilities in general), through education and advocacy.

One of the characteristics of AD/HD, is difficulty in finding solutions to problems (especially complex ones).  This is caused by a vicious, feedback cycle between difficulty in concentrating, and increased anxiety due to inability to concentrate.  Consequently, what happens is the person with AD/HD gives up and avoids dealing with a problem.  Therefore, it comes as no surprise that admittedly, it would be convenient if my student loan situation would somehow, magically disappear.