I think that part of the issue is that everything I’ve ever heard people with ADHD say. . .I have that, too. And I’m probably not alone, and the last thing I’m going to do is get medication for it.
I never hear “symptoms” that can’t be applied to ME – and about 50 other people I know – and the only difference seems to be a willingness/ability to cope with it.
Who wouldn’t like “very specific instructions, detailed deadlines, different things to do when I get bored with the first thing”?
The difference is, I’m adult enough to realize that the world doesn’t work that way. We have open-ended projects, fuzzy deadlines, are forced to work through the boredom that sets in on stuff.
It sounds like Captain Carrot is saying, “sure I and the other employees would benefit from this kind of motivation, but some of us REALLY need it.”
Natural followup: since your ADHD requires so much more from a manager, do you think you should be paid less to do the same job?
It is ability. It is not merely a question of willpower, either. When I’m without my meds, I have to have audio stimulation. If there’s no noise, I start talking to myself nearly nonstop, about anything and everything that pops into my head. The sole purpose of this is to just make noise and break up the silence. I can’t do much of anything if the TV is on in the room where I am, my eyes are invariably drawn to whatever’s on the screen.
Ah, but when you don’t get those things, does your mind commence to running at a high rate of speed, making it difficult, if not impossible for you to select what to do to get started? Mine does.
Being an “adult” has nothing to do with it. If I’m handed a series of projects and told, “Eh, get 'em done when you can.” and I’m juggling several other projects at the same time, I’m going to focus on the ones that I know are due by a certain point in time, and totally forget about the others completely. So when you come up to me later on and ask me about them, don’t be surprised if at first I don’t have the slightest idea of what you’re talking about. Also, because my mind works in different ways than yours, don’t expect me to necessarily get things done in the order you expect me to. Some things I can pick up easier than others, and I’m naturally going to focus on those. The end result will be the same, but if you expect everyone to do the job identically, because you really don’t know the job all that well, then we’re going to have problems.
Actually, no, because people with ADD tend to test higher on IQ tests than people without it, and when we’re in a properly structured work environment, we tend to be more productive than people without ADD. We also tend to be the “go to guy/gal” because we can figure things out that other people are utterly lost in.
I was going to post, but this is a bash thread, and not a what is helpful. I can’t put up with the ignorance of persons that don’t have the shit and know better today. To you I say enjoy your ignorance, and wallow in it.
And climbing Mt. Everest is difficult, not impossible.
ADD and IQ. I don’t have time to dig for more cites as I’ve got to be rushing off, but a little google work and I’m sure you’ll be able to turn up all the cites to your satisfaction.
And, maybe I’m a little dense, but can you point out where on that page it indicates that people with ADD tend to “test higher on IQ tests than people without it.”
So is there anyway to tell if someone you don’t know well has ADD? Because I’ve always thought this guy at work was just a dick, because you can smile and say hello to him and he will appear to meet your eyes and then just look right through you. Maybe he’s just hyper-focused on whatever’s on his mind and really isn’t aware I’ve spoken to him?
To respond to this in a different way than others have: as someone with a related disease I WISH this were the case. I would give all four of my limbs (only a moderate exageration here) for this to just be lazy, spoiled brat behavior. If I could control it I would. Its kind of like the whole homosexuality issue. Who would CHOOSE to be this way? Who would CHOOSE to be socially affected in such a manner? It just doesn’t fly.
As for the what do I want from the rest of the world: it would help if I weren’t made to feel guilty when I haven’t understood you. You can be upset that I’m confused, I’m willing to agree that its upsetting (trust me, I’m more upset than you) but don’t then make me feel guilty about it. Actually, thanks for mentioning this, its something I’ve been needing to bring up with my boyfriend and haven’t.
I’m with you here HD. I have been reluctant to talk to my PCP about the possibilty of having ADD. The stigma associated with it is overwhelming and add to that the fact that so many people think it’s pure and utter bullshit.
I’m not “lazy” by any stretch, but I hear all the time that ADD isn’t real and that people who claim to have it are just lazy sots.
Inigo Montoya discussed having it and being the “go to guy” at his office. Unfortunately, I can’t find the thread, despite my best efforts at searching, perhaps he’ll pop in and provide a link.
That exact phrase isn’t on there, but did you not notice that everyone mentioned on there had a high IQ? Another reference to intelligence.
I’ll have you know that I’m not on amphetamines, and not everyone with ADD is treated with them. The productivity increase aspects come from the fact that if we find something that arouses our interest, we hyperfocus on it, to the point of not noticing anything else around us. The building could quite literally be on fire, and unless someone physically shook us, we might never notice in time to get out.
TroubleAgain, sadly, like a lot of medical conditions there’s no easy way to tell. About all you can do is make an educated guess if someone has it or not. It could, quite simply, be that the guy’s an asshole.
The Chao Goes Mu, if the doc gives you any lip about it, find another one. A doc should have an open mind about such things. After all, his/her job is to help you, and by putting you in a situation where you feel uncomfortable talking to them they’re doing you a disservice.
Simply, it’s real. It’s not some fake disorder made up by some feelgood hippy-dippy pseudo-therapists to justify or excuse laziness, ineptitude, or simple short attention spans. In recent years, it seems like it’s become quite acceptable to make fun of ADD, or use it as a scapegoat.
We also want more audio books. The idea of listening to a story as you’re typing a paper/project and surfing the net is not a problem for most of us.
A white noise generator helps to focus the concentration when reading a book that I must concentrate on. An office environment where there’s NOTHING to do except my work is also very beneficial to ensuring I’m always doing what I should be. For adults like us, there is no such thing as beneficial telecommuting.
* not remembering being told something,
* "zoning out" in conversations,
* speaking without thinking,
* pressured rapid-fire speech, seemingly random, and aimless hopping from one topic to the next,
* perceived as aloof and arrogant, or tiresomely talkative and boorish,
* compulsive joking, often about personal life history and feelings,
* easily frustrated or bored,
* leaving a mess,
* procrastination (difficulty starting tasks),
* incompletions (starting tasks, household projects, or book reading, but not completing them before new projects or new books are begun, leaving a never-ending to-do list),
* underestimating the time needed to finish a task,
* insecurity and self-esteem issues because of unmet high personal expectations, and
* often a high achiever, even an overachiever, but with poor self-image because of beliefs that more could be accomplished if not for disorganization.
This list is my life (I left out one item about being late. I’m never late.) How do you know when it’s real and not some sort of freaky mental health issue shopping?
Jsgoddess, I took that same test and scored over 250. With something like 50 of them having a score of 4. I’m still scraping my chin off of the floor.
One reason I’d personally like to find out if I truly am ADD and to get treated is that I’ve decided, after dropping out of college 3 times, to go back in January and finish my degree. When I became entrenched in a class, I would get straight A’s, no matter how difficult it was, but if I began losing interest, I couldn’t read the material, nor could I focus in class. I would end up meeting with the prof after class or asking another student for help and still manage to only make a C in some of the easiest classes.
I fear that I’ll go back once again and end up dropping out, yet again, because I’ll get “bored” or become mired in my own self doubt.
For me, it came from a combination of factors. I knew that there were things which weren’t quite right in my life, but I couldn’t pin them down to any one thing. (Heh.) The first thing that led me to thinking that I might have it was an NPR interview with a guy who’d written a book about having it (sadly, I can’t find the piece, or I’d link to it) and I noticed that a lot of the things he talked about matched up with my life. Then, and this was the clincher, I was chatting with my mother who’d just shipped my 15-year old nephew (who has ADD) back to his parents and she was talking about how he’d run her ragged and how much his behaviour reminded her of me when I was his age.
The big question you need to ask yourself is, “Does this have a negative affect on my life?” If it does, then you need to see a doc. If it doesn’t, then you’re “normal.”
There are, in fact, physical differences in the way cerebral microcolumns are organized in normal vs. ADHD/ASD people. Look up Manuel Casanova, who has done work in this field. My lab was set to collaborate with him and find a biomarker for ASDs, but the NIH funding dried up. The next DSM will likely list ADHD as part of the autism spectrum, as it is a statistically significant co-morbidity as well assharing some anatomic features. My own desire to find a biomarker is not only to help diagnose, but to demonstrate that there is truly a biochemical difference that results in behavioral changes. We’ve done that with depression, now it’s time for ASDs.
One of the things that keeps coming up in these things is inability to focus on reading, but I focus so hard on reading that a bomb could go off next to my head and I’d never notice.
Well, something is having a negative impact. I’ve been diagnosed with depression before and with anxiety, but I never quite fit the criteria. The overlap between depression and ADD symptoms seems to be pretty substantial.
I’ll have you know that I’m not on amphetamines, and not everyone with ADD is treated with them. The productivity increase aspects come from the fact that if we find something that arouses our interest, we hyperfocus on it, to the point of not noticing anything else around us. The building could quite literally be on fire, and unless someone physically shook us, we might never notice in time to get out.