Q: I have several friends, some corporate professionals and some artists in creative fields, all diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. I act as their sounding board, so I end up listening to all of their workplace complaints. It seems there are more troublesome situations and daily problems for my friends in corporate environments than those in creative fields.

My creative friends are given greater slack than my friends are in conservative corporate America, perhaps because financial and technology fields demand structured and logical thinking to produce desired results. My friends in structured companies have a harder time dealing with stress at work because they are pressured to analyze and produce within a limited amount of time. That does not allow them to think creatively, which for them may include jumping from idea to idea before settling on an outcome.

I've read that many people with ADHD are extraordinarily intelligent, as are all of my friends, but they seem suffer when they choose an environment ruled by conformity. My creative friends have complaints but rarely experience anything punitive regarding their thought processes or behavior. Since I'm their chosen confidant, I'm expected to advise them on how to handle nearly every situation, even though I do not have or specialize in ADHD. All I can tell them is what I have seen, that my friends in creative fields suffer far less than the others. I don't want to cut them off when they are relating frustrating experiences, but there's nothing I can do for them anymore. What do I say without being rude? I am feeling drained.

A: Working with a child who has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder can be difficult and emotionally draining; having several adult friends with ADHD might give one for pause — and re-evaluation of one's friends. ADHD is usually diagnosed in childhood and continues into adulthood. The main symptoms include inattention, distraction and disorganization, and if left untreated, can affect school and work, as well as social and emotional development. If a person is diagnosed with ADHD, there's a 25 to 35 percent chance that another family member also has it. Children do not grow out of ADHD, so for you to have several friends with formal diagnoses who use you as their "therapist" is worrisome. Though you recognize feeling drained after listening to your friends complaints, it would behoove you to ask yourself why you've chosen these individuals as close friends. Some people have rescuer personalities, and acting as a friendly counselor is not healthy for you or your friends.

You could politely offer the information you've discovered by knowing them and hearing about their frustrations, that your friends with ADHD who work in the creative fields fair better than the ones in corporate settings. Realistically, your friends in the hard sciences may not have the option or talents to switch to the arts. Apart from that, the kindest advice you could give would be to suggest they seek professional counseling, since ADHD requires medication as well as therapy. Also, if you want to continue those friendships, you don't want your social events and conversations to turn into drudgery, causing you to want to run the other way upon sight of any of them.

Email your questions to workplace expert Lindsey Novak at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @TheLindseyNovak. To find out more about Lindsey Novak and to read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Website at www.creators.com.