Please share your experiences with ADHD

[TonyF]

@Leviosaurus

I wouldn’t call it a disease or a disorder. That makes ADHD kids into unnecessary victims, IMO. I would call ADHD a characteristic. Like height, hair color, nose length, etc. ADHD may be an inconvenient characteristic, but height can be too (says the six foot seven guy.)

I can’t quite agree. Though I am hardly a psychologist/psychiatrist, it seems to me than an inconvenient characteristic - though I would use stronger terms! - becomes a disorder if it’s irrational and severe enough. And that’s about what I have.

What I’m saying is, the characteristic is inconvenient enough to be indistinguishable from a disorder.

I mean, from the outside an alcoholic can seem identical to a social drinker. That is, you don’t need to be hitting the bottle every hour to be an alcoholic. Moreover, the only real difference - externally - between an alcoholic and someone taking a drink is how the drinking is affecting the person over time. It’s not really a problem if it’s not hurting a person, right?

It’s a little different with ADD, because you can chalk up the effects to other things. If I don’t finish a project on time, maybe I’m just lazy; maybe I didn’t do something because I feel I am “above” the task. Who knows! But whether it’s just a character trait or is an actual disorder is hard to tell, because they share the same symptoms.

But by analogy, maybe an alcoholic is just really thirsty - or not disciplined enough to get off the stuff - and if he’d just stop drinking he wouldn’t suffer. It’s easy to correct the problem: just put down the booze, right? So maybe the person is normal, but just taking their fondness for a drink too far. Maybe alcoholism isn’t really a disorder or all, but a love for the drink that got carried away.

This is kind of the feeling I’m getting here, but toward ADD - not from your view, but from where your view may lead. This is why I’m reluctant to call it a trait or characteristic - it makes the problem sound more negligible or easier to overcome than I personally feel it is. YMMV.

Unlike yourself, my attempts to develop a coping mechanism have all been unsuccessful. My condition tends to override any discipline, such that I actually have very little self discipline over time. On the grand scale, I can’t form the discpline that forms the discipline that … that forms the discpline to do what I need to do on a daily basis. I’ve tried.

It just seems to me that something is wrong - more than just an inconvenient characteristic - if it takes another person to keep me on track. That indicates to me that I’m lacking something this other person has.

[kanicbird]

What I’m saying is, the characteristic is inconvenient enough to be indistinguishable from a disorder.

Do you see any benefit to this disorder/trait/chararistic?

I personally do, though I do see drawbacks too.

Not that it is a determining factor in what it really is.

I would think if your job is ‘push on the pushem, then pull on the pulliem, and the pickels fall into the jar’ - repeat, you are going to have a very difficult time if you have ADD and more liekly to see it as a disorder (if you reconize you have it). If your job is along the lines of Bond, James Bond, I feel you will see your ADD (again if you realize you have it) to be a benefit.

I think some of us were made to push and pull, and others were made to spy on those who push and pull, if you have a mismatch either way you are either boared to death or shot dead.

[TonyF]

@kanicbird

Do you see any benefit to this disorder/trait/chararistic?

Definitely. As I stated before, people have commented that I’m awfully relaxed in crisis situations. Matter of fact, I took a midterm today; I was weary a few days ago, but actually sitting down to take it, I was really relaxed. My mind was going a mile a minute, though; I was checking notes, trying to remember obscure details, trying to prove answers to myself, all at once. The… fury is deafening. But with all that noise going on, I don’t fidget…

I personally do, though I do see drawbacks too.

Not that it is a determining factor in what it really is.

I’m not entirely on the other side of the fence… it’s made college easier in some ways. I’ve certainly thought to myself that grace under fire is an asset, and I’ve said as much to friends.

At the same time, I have a major project due tonight at midnight, but having completed the hard parts I am now turning to the SDMB. I’ll probably get some fresh air, get a little food, etc. before I can finally feel like working on the project. And unfortunately I need that feeling - my productivity drops without the interest. (Though I should say the converse is true as well: I’ve been so intent on solving the hard part that I hardly noticed that I forgot to eat, am sitting in an uncomfortable position, and have a headache; indeed, my productivity was to the exclusion of all else.)

I would think if your job is ‘push on the pushem, then pull on the pulliem, and the pickels fall into the jar’ - repeat, you are going to have a very difficult time if you have ADD and more liekly to see it as a disorder (if you reconize you have it). If your job is along the lines of Bond, James Bond, I feel you will see your ADD (again if you realize you have it) to be a benefit.

This brings up an interesting point - I probably wouldn’t react like this. :smack:

Who knows. Maybe I’m just crazy.

But, a lot of it is internal. If I find that packing pickles is incredibly amazing - or if I withdraw internally, as I do at my job - then it doesn’t matter how boring or repetitious it would seem to be. And I could easily imagine dodging bullets but be thinking about all the wrong things. (At least, this is what happens when I’ve airsoft’ed… despite being a target, I’ll get focused on, say, posture or aiming technique and miss out that my clip is empty, etc.)

[Leviosaurus]

@TonyF

I can’t quite agree. Though I am hardly a psychologist/psychiatrist, it seems to me than an inconvenient characteristic - though I would use stronger terms! - becomes a disorder if it’s irrational and severe enough. And that’s about what I have.

What I’m saying is, the characteristic is inconvenient enough to be indistinguishable from a disorder.

I see your line of reasoning, but I have to point out that using this logic, my height can be classified as a disorder. I’m too tall to fit in most cars, I can’t find clothes, ergo my height is inconvenient, ergo I have a ‘height disorder’.

I think there’s a critical perception issue here. If you see yourself as a victim on ADHD, you’re giving it a lot of power over you. Personally, I’m unwilling to do that.

FYI - I struggle daily to keep my self discipline in place and keep focused on my priorities. The thing is, that’s true of everybody, whether they have ADHD or not. Maybe those with ADHD need to be a bit stronger than others. But hey, everybody has something they have to fight.