Tom Dabbs
Tom’s story
Vital stats
Age – 21
Problem areas – attention, concentration, obsessive behaviour
Completed Dore – August 2008
Background
Tom knew something wasn’t ‘right’ most of his life. One of his most prevalent personality traits was his obsessive personality. This manifest itself in an unhealthy obsession with his appearance, his bedroom, cars, parties, job interviews etc. Throughout his schooling Tom also regularly found himself in trouble due to his disruptive behaviour. Although he was a popular child, Tom struggled to concentrate in class and quickly became known as a ‘jack the lad’. At the age of 17, Tom had been referred to various doctors, none of which diagnosed his problem. Instead, Tom spent his early adult life on anti-depressants as he became more and more frustrated with his ‘problem’.
Tom’s journey
When Tom had his initial screening at Dore he was immediately diagnosed as having Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). It was at this point that Tom went through a range of emotions. Anger came first, after the realisation that it had taken 20 years and a number of doctors and specialists to recognise that he had a problem. He was also angry with his school which Tom described as being like ‘the block that stopped his intelligence shining through’. However, the overwhelming feeling though was of relief as Tom realised there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Tom’s treatment consisted of a range of exercises, which he did twice a day, over a period of just over a year. Although difficult to explain, Tom recalls his obsession slipping away with every day that passed on the Programme which in turn allowed him to grown stronger as a person.
The future
Tom’s adult life bears no resemblance to the childhood struggles he faced. At the time of writing, Tom was working full time in a customer service role for a mobile phone company and also held down a part-time job at Stoke City football club. His Dore exercises and interest in sport also led him to study and complete a fitness instructor course, which he found helped him to relieve stress and anxiety and allowed him to gain yet more control over his learning difficulty. It took 20 years but at last his obsessions were a thing of the past.
“Each day on the Dore Programme I could feel my obsessions slipping away.”
Tom Dabbs