I looked at this page and read the symptoms. The list reads as though they were written by someone who’s been spying on me all my life.
Now what the fuck do I do? I’ve exhibited these symptoms in front of doctors, therapists and social workers. I’ve told them over and over that I’m not doing it deliberately.
They didn’t believe me. They kept telling me I could get over it if I really wanted to. So I’m very leery of going to anyone else for help. What if they don’t believe me either?
I’m on Social Security and SSI for depression. Can I get them to send me to someone trained to diagnose ADD?
I’m not a doctor, but I have some small experience in this area. I was diagnosed with ADHD in October 2000, and took Adderall to treat it. I learned later that the diagnosis was off. I have another problem, which is being treated now.
My psychiatrist explained to me that the symptoms of ADD and ADHD were common symptoms – many emotional/chemical disorders cause one to exhibit the same symptoms.
You may have ADD, but maybe you don’t. I don’t know SSI, but I imagine that you could find a decent psychiatrist who would be willing to help you work out precisely what your problem is. I didn’t get anywhere myself until I combined a medication program with a “talk therapy” program. Find both a psychiatrist (for medicine) and a psychologist (for therapy). Good luck.
My first recommendation is to do some more research. There are a lot of web pages on ADD, and several books available, including ones specifically about adults with ADD. The symptom list on your page is a little vague for my tastes - there should be more specific events that you can point to as representative of the problem. For instance, how many teachers growing up told your parents “He would do so well if he just tried harder”
Then, if you can, find someone who specialized in adults with ADD. I don’t know what your financial/medical/age status is - if this is not an option, you may have to switch around your current doctors or counselors until you get someone who is sympathetic. Do not accept “just try harder”. Here is an allegory: if people are trying to swim up river, some may make it easily, others may make it by just trying harder. And some will drown. Explain to the person you are trying to work with that you are drowning!
Finally, view ADD as a problem and see if you can find a solution that doesn’t require a doctor’s help. I believe I have been ADD all of my life, and I function reasonably well. It helps with work that I am very good at what I do, so that is one facet that you can work on. At home, I use a timer to keep things going, and I used it to train myself to keep at tasks for longer periods of time. (OK, I have two timers, because I tend to lose them)
I recommend a good psychiatrist that specializes in diagnosing and treating ADD to have you tested. When I was tested I went through a day’s worth of tests, pretty extensive. They wanted to rule out other possibilities.
Jab, you and I can be psycho-buddies. Not only do I fall squarely in the middle of all those symptoms as well, but I got it right from the horse’s mouth on Tuesday.
[sub](which also makes me paranoid, as you are obviously reading my thoughts or you’d have never started this thread on Wednesday - note to self: bigger tinfoil hat needed.)[/sub]
Where was I? Oh yeah, my therapist diagnosed me, with 99% certainty, as having severe ADD. Actually, the way she put it was that I probably had severe ADD as a child and it’s never gone away, although it’s probably not as bad as when I was a child.
I had suspected this for a while, but I must say an official diagnosis is a little shocking. I expressed my concerns about it. Especially how it just felt like a “touchy-feely / new-agey” thing, that I just wasn’t comfortable with. I whipped out the George Carlin bit about how “Shell Shock” has turned into “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder”. Why can’t I just be “Hyper”? What’s with all these syllables? I still don’t know the difference between ADD and ADHD and ADHDLMNOP and whatever else they got.
In summary - I’d say we both need to do a little research to get a handle on stuff. And I need to stop posting in this total ADD style that even I can’t follow.
Thanks, everybody, though I hoped I’d get more response than this.
Is it possible to be both autistic and have ADD/ADHD? (I’ve wondered if I’m autistic, namely Asperger’s Syndrome.) Are they mutually exclusive? Do they occur in the same areas of the brain or in different areas? (If they occur in different areas, then it seems to me a person could have both afflictions.)
To the best of my knowledge, yes, autistism and ADD can cohabitat as can manic depression and ADD…that is why it is very important to get thoroughly tested.
I reccomend, highly, that you discuss the possibilities with your general doctor and set up an appointment with a good psychiatrist. Again, you have to rule out other possibilities and possibly look for coexisting issues. Sometimes, even with all the testing it’s a crap shoot because of the nature of ADD/ADHD.
A good book to read would be “Driven to Distraction” by Hallowell and another doc, my friend has my copy so I can’t give you the name of the other writer.
I know that the answers aren’t what you want to hear but self diagnosis with ADD/ADHD is not really a good thing. If you have other areas in your brain that are not getting the right chemicals, you need to have a professional diagnose you. So if you want to get to the root, call the doc and get a recommendation for a psych doc so you can get closer to the truth.
If you happen to be on AOL, there is an area dedicated to ADD/ADHD that might have more conclusive answers. There are message boards and chat for ADD.
BTW, manic depression can disguise its self as ADHD to many, so that is why I stress getting a thorough testing of what is going on.
I checked out two books from the library: Adult ADD: A Reader Friendly Guide to Identifying, Understanding, and Treating Adult Attention Deficit Disorder by Thomas A.Whiteman, Michele Novotni, with Randy Petersen. And: The ADDed Dimension: Everyday Advice for Adults with ADD, by Kate Kelly.
Well, Jack, as I told you in e-mail, I’ve thought for quite a while that I had it, too. I took the test and scored an 85, so obviously I should at least look into it. To be honest, though, if I do have it, there are some advantages. If I take meds, is my mind and/or personality going to be severely altered? Sometimes my random-ass thought process actually makes me humorous. Shit, I don’t know.
Good luck, jab; maybe we (and Batty) can communicate with each other about which treatment is working best, if it turns out we’re all afflicted.
Since my sister was recently diagnosed with ADD – and the amphetamine she is now taking has made a WORLD of difference in her life – I kind of started wondering about myself. But I took that test and scored a 44. I guess I’m just anxious.
jab1, are you sure we weren’t separated at birth? I have a strong suspicion that I have ADD, and ever since I read about Asperger’s, I’ve suspected that as well. But I haven’t really been able to afford to go to have them checked since I found out about them (I haven’t had an insurance-benefits-included job in three years…temping sucks…)
BTW, yes that was somewhat better. I guess I’m looking for something concrete that you can point to and say “This doesn’t happen to everybody” For me it was my second grade teacher who set up a desk behind a partition specifically for me to sit in because my attention would wander so much.
I did pretty well in school, academically speaking, but it was probably because the curriculum was so easy. I was bored, but I dealt with that by cracking jokes in class (which got me in trouble) and by reading voraciously. (This was how I found that I needed to read things over and over before I could truly understand them. I still need do.) I would read the encyclopedias. Kids who transferred from other towns told us how much more difficult their previous schools were. The high school came that close to losing its accreditation.
But my social skills sucked. I couldn’t stand the taunting and teasing and bullying; I cried a lot, which, of course, just led to more teasing and bullying. (I actually thought that if they could see how much they were hurting me, they would stop. Stupid, huh?)
I am easily distracted. Right now, there are two people sitting to my right at another computer murmuring and whispering to each other. If I keep writing, their talking won’t bother me. But if I try to read, I’ll lose my place because their talking interrupts my train of thought. I’m this close to yelling at them to shut the fuck up and they are just whispering!
They just left. Now I can really concentrate. This happens to me all the time. I can’t fall asleep with a TV or radio on or if someone is talking, even whispering. I usually need to have an electric fan running so I can sleep.
“I am easily distracted. Right now, there are two people sitting to my right at another computer murmuring and whispering to each other. If I keep writing, their talking won’t bother me. But if I try to read, I’ll lose my place because their talking interrupts my train of thought . . . I can’t fall asleep with a TV or radio on or if someone is talking, even whispering. I usually need to have an electric fan running so I can sleep.”
—Well, THAT is perfectly normal and descibes me and everyone else I know. Don’t over-analyze yourself and think everyone else in the world is perfectly calm and well-balanced and has laser-like concentration!
Well, that didn’t make me feel any better. I just took that test and scored a 113. (I also had to stop twice and re-read questions because someone walked behind me talking.)
I work in an environment where most tasks take between 3 and 10 minutes. I usually have something in my hands while I’m talking to someone on the phone. So I do pretty well at work. I don’t think, though, that the test necessarily diagnoses just ADHD…some of the questions seemed like they could apply to other things, as well. When I’m deeply depressed, I feel like I’m stuck in mud with my thoughts flying around me like little hummingbirds I can’t catch.
At home, I have a structured list for everything. I have a list of everything I have to do before leaving the house and what I have to take with me, taped on the bathroom door and the front door. I have a notebook with lists of everything that has to be done to clean the different rooms. I have someone who reminds me to do laundry. My roommate and I worked out a way for him to remind me without nagging…when he asks me to do something, he hands me the kitchen timer. If I’m in the middle of something else, I set the timer for 15 or 20 minutes, then finish what I’m doing. Otherwise, I’d get done and have totally forgotten what I was supposed to be doing afterwards.
Once I get focused on something, I’m usually fine. It’s the transition between tasks that’ll eat my lunch every time.
I’m pretty distrustful of doctors, so I really don’t think that seeing one would result in any better treatment; I’d just get someone that would prescribe a month’s worth of stuff, and then take it away after I’d gotten used to it.
Corr, who was married to someone with ADHD, and thought it was funny that the standard medical diagnostic test is FOUR HOURS LONG