Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)

roid · Post by **roid** » Wed May 30, 2012 11:15 pm

i just read this
http://gettinbetter.com/ADD.html
and it described me incredibly accurately, i think i have this, and should probably go about seeing if i can get it treated and thus change my life.
(i literally almost started crying from reading the 1st pargraph alone, is this bad?)

Anyway i hear ADD is a common thing, so some of you must have this right? Anyone here got it and can tell me their ADD life story and how treatment helped or not or what?

sdfgeoff · Post by **sdfgeoff** » Wed May 30, 2012 11:48 pm

I'm not ADD, but find it funny how the symptoms apply:

Takes Shortcuts
Reluctance to commit
Work best under pressure

That sounds like every college student to me.

Sirius · Post by **Sirius** » Thu May 31, 2012 12:49 am

I'm pretty sure I know at least a few DBBers who are strong candidates for this.

Pandora · Post by **Pandora** » Thu May 31, 2012 2:19 am

Only had a quick read, but the symptoms she describes seem to apply to almost everybody, sometimes more or less severe. So be sure you do not fall into the horoscope trap. I am not an expert on this, but AFAIK the symptoms associated with ADS are more severe and specific.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_ ... y_disorder

roid · Post by **roid** » Thu May 31, 2012 3:35 am

yeah i was keeping that in mind the whole time. Generally not much of this self-help stuff appeals to me (which is why it's an unusual trigger for me). When one does though...
Thus why i request a reality check / popular opinion.
(COZ THIS WEBPAGE GIVES ME UNIQUE FEELS)

flip · Post by **flip** » Thu May 31, 2012 7:02 am

Roid goes where his mind leads him and finds it an adventure

Mix it up a little and lead your mind.

Lobber · Post by **Lobber** » Thu May 31, 2012 9:17 am

It could apply to alot of people, even Bi-polar people. I found some of it true of myself, even though I do not suffer from the disorder. Therefore, Forer effect is strong here.

Tunnelcat · Post by **Tunnelcat** » Thu May 31, 2012 9:19 am

Hell, my mind's always been like that. Frenetic and wandering. I can't even stay focused on one topic most of the time.

Alter-Fox · Post by **Alter-Fox** » Thu May 31, 2012 9:39 am

Yeah I definitely have ADHD. I thought roid must have been diagnosed already. I am surprised -- you're like, twice as much ADHD as me and I'm not exactly a mild case.
For medication... I had to take ritalin when I was in school, but last year I managed to wean myself off of it. The side effects were just too debilitating (especially the constant nausea) and I had been losing far too much weight... I'm still trying to get it back. And that isn't even mentioning the apparent dangers of staying on these meds your whole life. Generally if you can control yourself well enough to perform well at work (or whatever setting you need to be in), I'd recommend avoiding medication. But this is only one side of the -- RABBIT!

:runs off:

Tunnelcat · Post by **Tunnelcat** » Thu May 31, 2012 9:57 am

My brother was like that when he was younger. Only he was DESTRUCTIVE! He'd go around and tear things apart for the shear fun of it like a mini hurricane on steroids. As soon as he got through breaking one thing, he'd charge into another demolition task. Had to put locks on all the doors to every room in the house to keep down the destruction! What's funny today, he is the total opposite as an adult. Laid back and mellow, a really nice guy. Maybe you can grow out of ADHD.

flip · Post by **flip** » Thu May 31, 2012 10:09 am

It's a lack of self-control that afflicts everyone to some degree. I've learned that consequences will cure you of it

Thenior · Post by **Thenior** » Thu May 31, 2012 2:09 pm

flip wrote:It's a lack of self-control that afflicts everyone to some degree. I've learned that consequences will cure you of it

That's basically what I was thinking... most of these are simply negative characteristics or virtues. I default to not wanting to commit, to procrastinating, working best under pressure. These are all things that human beings naturally go for, just like a child who doesn't want to clean his room, brush his teeth, or do his homework.

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Thu May 31, 2012 4:31 pm

"That which you believe is A.D.D. is A.D.D. However, remember that others may not agree with you."

Capm · Post by **Capm** » Thu May 31, 2012 5:07 pm

I have ADD, and when I was first put on medication, the difference was huge. I went from struggling to get C and B grades to very easily having nearly all high A's.

A good deal of that page describes it very well, but only a doctor can diagnose & prescribe a treatment.

flip · Post by **flip** » Thu May 31, 2012 6:40 pm

Yeah, I agree that there are chemical imbalances that medication can regulate, although I think a great deal of the idea is used to excuse bad behavior.

Ferno · Post by **Ferno** » Thu May 31, 2012 10:02 pm

i'm sorry, but that article is full of it.

for starters, she's not even a registered MD, let alone holds a PhD in any neurological/psychological sciences.

emails are to be kept "only to 150 words" due to time constraints? sounds to me like she'd rather sell you a placebo than actually take the time to properly read and help you with your problem. This is our health she's dealing with and she only wants a snippet because her time is too important to help out?

thanks, but I'd rather have an actual doctor help me than someone who tries to sell stuff on the internet.

I could spend the next hour dissecting that article symptom by symptom (mainly because i've been through all the testing, medication, etc until I got an actual diagnosis last year) but it's late and I just can't be arsed to do it.

flip · Post by **flip** » Thu May 31, 2012 10:38 pm

Ferno wrote:i'm sorry, but that article is full of it.

for starters, she's not even a registered MD, let alone holds a PhD in any neurological/psychological sciences.

emails are to be kept "only to 150 words" due to time constraints? sounds to me like she'd rather sell you a placebo than actually take the time to properly read and help you with your problem. This is our health she's dealing with and she only wants a snippet because her time is too important to help out?

thanks, but I'd rather have an actual doctor help me than someone who tries to sell stuff on the internet.

I could spend the next hour dissecting that article symptom by symptom (mainly because i've been through all the testing, medication, etc until I got an actual diagnosis last year) but it's late and I just can't be arsed to do it.

QFT.

roid · Post by **roid** » Thu May 31, 2012 10:48 pm

Alter-Fox wrote:Yeah I definitely have ADHD. I thought roid must have been diagnosed already. I am surprised -- you're like, twice as much ADHD as me and I'm not exactly a mild case.
For medication... I had to take ritalin when I was in school, but last year I managed to wean myself off of it. The side effects were just too debilitating (especially the constant nausea) and I had been losing far too much weight... I'm still trying to get it back. And that isn't even mentioning the apparent dangers of staying on these meds your whole life. Generally if you can control yourself well enough to perform well at work (or whatever setting you need to be in), I'd recommend avoiding medication. But this is only one side of the -- RABBIT!

:runs off:

tunnelcat wrote:My brother was like that when he was younger. Only he was DESTRUCTIVE! He'd go around and tear things apart for the shear fun of it like a mini hurricane on steroids. As soon as he got through breaking one thing, he'd charge into another demolition task. Had to put locks on all the doors to every room in the house to keep down the destruction! What's funny today, he is the total opposite as an adult. Laid back and mellow, a really nice guy. Maybe you can grow out of ADHD.

Capm wrote:I have ADD, and when I was first put on medication, the difference was huge. I went from struggling to get C and B grades to very easily having nearly all high A's.

A good deal of that page describes it very well, but only a doctor can diagnose & prescribe a treatment.

Just quoting the most salient opinions ITT, and Capm seems the only one so far with experience with ADD.
Capm how old were you when diagnosed, and can you describe more of how it was for you before diagnosis? I'm 30yrs old atm. The DSM-IV symptoms seem to be written for a childhood diagnosis

Many years back i mentioned ADD to my psychiatrist and asked if we could try medication, but unfortunately i had already spent the previous few weeks discussing with him my current (academic) interest of the time in drugs and counter-culture. No surprise my request was denied.
I hear that ADD is commonly misdiagnosed as other stuff, like bi-polar. It can be a bit of a ★■◆● to actually get it properly recognised for what it is as an adult.

I'm doing correspondance schooling atm, it was great for the first month, but when my concentration started to wain it all started to fall apart like a house of cards. It's like i have been pulled back through time to my years of being a kid in school. I've been spending a lot of these un-productive hours in contemplation trying to make sense of that past history, now, as an adult. It's unnerving how uncannily familiar the feeling is now to then when confronted with this schoolwork, it's identical. This is the last thing i expected, coz my attitude to education has changed so much since then, so i thought for sure things would be different. blarg.

The work to be done for me is always in finding the right way to explain myself to others. This is why it helps so much to hear others describe their own experience.

flip · Post by **flip** » Thu May 31, 2012 11:41 pm

I would venture to guess that ONLY children are diagnosed with ADD.

Isaac · Post by **Isaac** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 6:56 am

I'll administer the test, flip.

Let's see how many can make it past this shiny object:

Tunnelcat · Post by **Tunnelcat** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 12:31 pm

Mmmmm, bright, shiny, moving object. Can't stop myself........

Capm · Post by **Capm** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 6:54 pm

I was probably 13 or 14, and it was for ADHD, which is what the diagnosis for children usually is. At the time, they believed I would grow out of it, well, sorry to say, that never happened. You grow out of the H as you get older, but not the rest. I actually went off my meds when I turned 18 (partly because I was arrogant enough to think I could use *willpower* to overcome it, partly because I lost my parents medical coverage and I could no longer afford the medicine)

Frankly it was rough being off meds for so long. Always either couldn't focus or I was too focused on one thing and *by god* whatever it was consumed me until it was complete. I mean quite honestly, and Ferno, you don't have to be a MD to write a (mostly) accurate article about the symptoms, you only need suffer from them. And before you even start in on me not knowing what I'm talking about, I spent a great deal of time in my teens with an expert in psychopharmacology, medicated and getting ekg's until I thought I had a printer coming out my side. Sure, these symptoms are common to alot of things, but they can be much more pronounced in a person with ADD.

Having said that.. The first part of that article is pretty good, but the rest can be subjective as it varies by person, she delves too much into what a doctor is really needed for, but most of the content is at the very least, on the right track. I'm dubious on the "causes" she lists, but she totally lost me when she started talking about chakras. But take your pick of ADD symptom articles, they'll all be pretty similar to that first page, and there are only two or three that I can say don't really apply to me, personally, the rest are definitely recognizable as having been large problems for me.

Before I was on my meds, i would procrastinate the crap out of my homework, I found it boring, my mind would always wander while I was trying to do stuff. They say it can be like flipping through TV channels, only you don't have the remote, someone else does - its exactly like that sometimes, even when I wanted to focus on something, I often couldn't. I mean I could go on and on.

Getting meds it was like night and day difference. I could focus, I got things done... hell, I got into a grade contest in algebra class (and lost by half a percent, with like a 98.2% A )

When I went off my meds again, I really struggled. There was no amount of willpower that I could muster that could overcome it. Until I was in the doctors office one day (regular doctors office) and the doctor, who I'd seen a couple times, recognized it through our conversations and asked about it, and gave me an Adderall script, and its like holy cow I can DO things now! Its like a great fog has been lifted, brain has been un-muddied. I can get through arduous tasks without feeling overwhelmed or bogged down, etc etc...

I'm 34 now, so basicly, I feel like I wasted (academically speaking) the last 15 years in a virtual coma.

My best advice to you would be to see a doctor who has dealt with ADD, not necessarily a psychiatrist, and explain how you feel. Leave out the counter-culture part.
Medication is different now than it was when I was first diagnosed. I had to do some trial and error to find a dosage that worked best. Before, I had to ramp it up for a week, I took 4 doses of two medicines, and it lasted 24/hr day and if I stopped, I still had focus for about a week. With this stuff, I take 1 a day, and I can feel it wearing off, daily. I chose to keep it that way so I can sleep at night, if I took a second dose (even if it was smaller), I'd never sleep.

Ferno · Post by **Ferno** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 8:00 pm

actually, yes you do need to hold an MD in order to write about the proper symptoms and methods of diagnosis.

haven't you thought it was strange to read that website and not come across something that was akin to "for a more accurate diagnosis, see your doctor"? Should you not be asking questions related to this seeing as they are dealing with your HEALTH and mental state?

there's a reason why she's doing this, and it is to SELL you HER products. Products which could very well damage you more than not doing anything about it.

This is not something you should be taking a chance on, not something you should agree with because you read it on a website, and definitely not something you should self-diagnose yourself with.

Ask these questions with your psychiatrist, no one else.

and capm, calm down.

Pandora researches neuroscience and has a PhD in psychology. We should see what he has to say about that page.

Alter-Fox · Post by **Alter-Fox** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 10:14 pm

@Capm: You can understand and write about what the symptoms are like for you, but even within a disability everyone who has it is different.

You want to give your side of the story, and that's fine; but don't present it as absolute fact unless you have that degree and the associated experience. And even then it's probably a good idea (maybe even moreso since you can diagnose them now) to listen to the experiences of other people rather than assuming it has to be a certain way.
I know my quality of life has been much better since I stopped taking my meds, whatever it was like for you. I can eat, I don't get depressed anymore, and I don't feel constantly sick now. And I'm a lot happier, a lot more creative, but not out of control.

roid · Post by **roid** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 11:31 pm

Urgh guys i really didn't want this to be a discussion of whether this disorder exists or not, i mean i don't really mind, as long as it doesn't distract from what i intended this thread to be about - which was a kindof ADD Safespace. While i say that i don't mind, i'm actually totally expecting it to scare away the discussion that i want (I WILL BE CROSS U GUYS! SO CROSS!), people generally don't feel free to talk in a thread when there are others telling them they don't exist.

Ferno - if it helps - the councilor who wrote this article has a Bachelor's degree is in Human Behavior Psychology and a Master of Arts in Counseling Psych, which i imagine is like many councilors. But she's clearly speaking mostly from personal experience, in her case she seems to be speaking about the combined anecdotal experiences of her clients - which is basically exactly what i'm looking for. I'm glad she wrote this article on her site, as you can imagine - this kindof stuff is personal to some of us, and we'd like to talk about it. Just, please keep that in mind before you rant. I'm not offended, i'm just saying that this isn't the thread for that, i'm not telling you to stfu, i'm just telling you i'm not interested. And i think the only people who would be interested in what you're saying are people who don't have ADD, people for whom this doesn't effect them. Do you get what i'm saying?
No-one ITT is buying anything off her, don't jump to that conclusion dude.
I didn't make this thread to debate about the existance of these disorders, i'm not interested in what anyone has to say about that. i have more important things to talk about, like the nature of this disorder and how it really effects the lives of the real people who have it. This might not be you. Ok, that's fine.

As far as i'm concerned it goes without saying that what she has to say about chakras etc is best ignored (woudl it make you guys feel better if i told you that i was literally yelled at teh computer screen NOOOO NOOOO STOP RUINING THE ARTICLE DAMNIT when i got to those bits?), also the "causes" bit, head trauma, falling down stairs, avoid soy, avoiding chemicals blahblah, i ignored all of that garbage and yet i still thought it important enough to start the thread. It's clear to me she's has little-to-no medical doctor training, that kinda doesn't ★■◆●ing matter in this instance, but this is something hard to explain to those who arn't well practiced in sorting through strange testomonies without throwing babies out with bath water, actually taking things for what they're worth. Yeah some of the 2nd half of the article i thought was kinda dumb. I'm with Capm on this, actually i'm prettymuch on Capm with everything he said about the article. Most of the critisisms go without saying (i just didn't want to distract the thread by bringing them up initially, i don't want the thread to be about that!), and yet the article prettymuch still stands regardless of that. So lets move past that. Coz goddamn the rest of the tasty meat of this article is talking about super important ★■◆●.

Urgh, damnit i said i would avoid get sidetracked with this stuff, and yet i did. I thought the critisisms went without saying, no it's not a perfect article, no durrrr, but compared to the cotton-mouth levels of dryness of what's written in the DSMs i'd put it the article at at least an 8/10 on the scale of pretty damn useful.

i hope this post was intelligible, i'm not certain how intelligible my current trend of conversational-style of forum posting is. I'd go as far as to call it symptomatic. I literally find it hard to be fucked thesedays doing anything other than seat-of-my-pants stream-of-consciousness posting. It's embarasing, because i've been used to deep analysis and having the patience of a saint. But now i feel stupid and useless, like i'm driving with no clutch, I'm going to put my foot into my mouth at any moment.

Ferno · Post by **Ferno** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 11:40 pm

well if she holds those degrees, why aren't they listed? shouldn't it be say.. a matter of pride to list such achievements to let people know she's on the level? If I spent the time getting that education, you can bet your last dollar i'd list the degrees everywhere I could. (this is called putting myself in their shoes)

anecdotes are one of the last things you want to read if you think you might have such a condition. they only serve to lead you down the wrong path.

"No-one ITT is buying anything off her" um i highly doubt that. she has an audience, and that audience usually buys something if she's selling. don't be naiive.

roid · Post by **roid** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 12:47 am

i just now realised i had accidentally titled the thread: Attention Defect Disorder (ADD). lol oops

Ferno her degrees are listed on her site (hint: "under 150 words"), you skimmed.
Anecdotes are welcome in this thread.
In reference to "No-one ITT is buying anything off her". ITT means "in this thread".

Her degrees don't actually matter to me, she's not my doc, it's actually not what i want from her. To me your attitude in this thread Ferno is like someone barging into an ADD group-talk session and demanding to see everyone's qualifications before we are allowed to open our mouths to talk about our own personal experiences.

Capm · Post by **Capm** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 9:10 am

Relax Ferno, I'm not suggesting he use that page as the add bible. The fact that she doesn't take insurance pretty much says don't buy anything from her. My point was that the first part of the article was pretty spot on.

Perhaps this will be more to your liking:
http://www.add.org/

Ferno · Post by **Ferno** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 11:33 am

hey look, i'm just trying to get you guys to look at this in a skeptical light. but my bit about talking to your doctor if you think you might have ADD? it still stands. It's good advice. And it's experience talking. But I feel like I'm talking to people who attended a psychic seminar and believe everything they've said, regardless of whether or not it's accurate.

someone barging into an ADD group-talk session and demanding to see everyone's qualifications before we are allowed to open our mouths to talk about our own personal experiences.

ugh, that's not even close to what i'm saying. Again: skeptical light; talk to your doctor; don't self-diagnose from the internet.

her degrees are listed on her site

bachelor's degree in human behaviour psychology? master of arts in counselings psych? The first doesn't even exist, and the second, basic education. One would need a PhD and the requisite experience in order to give proper advice. They're dealing with your well-being. shouldn't you WANT an experienced voice helping you?

Sirius · Post by **Sirius** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 5:16 pm

Ferno wrote:don't self-diagnose from the internet.

Can't say this enough. The best the internet is good for is giving you an idea what you MIGHT have, but you should always talk to a professional before deciding you DO have it. I've seen quite a few self-diagnoses that turned out to be quite wrong.

Jeff250 · Post by **Jeff250** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 11:47 pm

There are a lot of clinically "normal" people who abuse stimulants and/or amphetamines for the performance benefit as well. ADD is a real phenomenon, but I'd advise against the trap that you need stimulants/amphetamines to perform well unless absolutely necessary.

Alter-Fox · Post by **Alter-Fox** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 10:39 am

Jeff250 wrote:There are a lot of clinically "normal" people...

You mean people with NPD*?

*Normal Personality Disorder*

Gekko71 · Post by **Gekko71** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 10:06 am

I was diagnosed with Inattentive ADHD in March this year, one day before my 41st Brithday.

Best Fuckin birthday present I ever got. Seriously!

I really don't care two shits about the time I've spent with the handbrake on. I've got greater clarity, energy, resourcefulness and drive now than I've ever had. It's a beautiful thing.

If I were you Roid, I would go have a diagnosis professionally done.

If you've got it, the treatment regime can radically change your life.

If you don't have it, then there's no more wondering if you might.

The only thing I would recommend is that if you find out you DO have it, keep people around you that love you enough to stand by you as you sort out your drug regime.

In my case it was a ★■◆● of a trip.

The depth of emotion that it can dredge up can really floor you. Having the support, love and patience of others around you can really help.

"The truth will set your free, but first it will make you miserable".

...I was miserable.

Now I'm free.

Best of luck.

roid · Post by **roid** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 11:31 pm

what prompted you to get checked out for it gekko?

Gekko71 · Post by **Gekko71** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 12:00 pm

roid wrote:what prompted you to get checked out for it gekko?

Check your PM Roid

roid · Post by **roid** » Thu Sep 27, 2012 3:06 am

well, almost 4 months after i started this thread.
Today i managed to get diagnosed with ADHD.
Got my pills.

i'd been collecting notes from my journal on my own for that time.
but the psych also wanted to see any old report cards i had from my school days.
and a letter from a parent answering some questions about how i was as a kid.

4 months of existential panic over the possibility that i'll be knocked back, is finally over.

Foil · Post by **Foil** » Thu Sep 27, 2012 11:23 am

Be careful, roid. Keep that journal going for a while, just you have a "measuring stick" to see how you're reacting to the pills.

Top Gun · Post by **Top Gun** » Thu Sep 27, 2012 12:47 pm

Yeah, and don't lose the crazy stream-of-consciousness stuff. We wub it too much.

More seriously, though, I had concerns about the medication I was going on possibly affecting my personality, but fortunately those fears proved unfounded. ADD/ADHD medications are a whole other kettle of fish, though, so it's definitely a good idea to try to keep track of the effects you notice.

roid · Post by **roid** » Thu Sep 27, 2012 5:16 pm

i have no idea what you guys are talking about.
who's "roid"

edit:
<---- woa who the hell is that.

i have... a strange compulsion... to use this icon

i cannot explain

haha this icon is fun who invented this

no but srsly, i've been journaling forever, the ADHD stuff just added to it. I've been doing multiple-daily moodmapping for over a year now due to suspicions of bipolar (commonly mistaken for ADHD, as OP's link mentions), and i've been charting my sleep for almost 3 yrs now. graphs graphs graphs

Isaac · Post by **Isaac** » Thu Sep 27, 2012 11:11 pm

What are the chances you're totally normal?