How do you tell if you have ADD?

[BantyHugger]

I have always assumed that even if i did have it it didn't matter because my grades at school aren't affected. However this year I am going to be taking Tennis and it literally takes 100% of my concentration to watch/hit the ball. I went to camp and at least half of my energy was spent telling my self not to look at whatever just moved 300 yards outside of the court. A lot of people seem to have this disorder and i know pleanty of adults who are just now getting diagnosed. I know for sure that i don't have ADHD because I am notably not hyper (some of my friends have never seen me be hyper). I don't think its because I'm not interested or anything - I've been ridiculously excited about tennis for weeks now and now that camp is over I'm still crazy about it.

How can you tell if you have it? Is it a major problem? Should I have noticed it by now?

I don't think I'm one of those people who just pick up disease because they just heard about it. I've known about this for a long time. I am just now realizing however, that me zoning out when teachers give speeches and having a super short attention span is not necessarily normal.

-Mariah

 

[hikerchick]

I have never been diagnosed but I think I have it too. When I am at work I am supposed to be concentrating on spreadsheets and I find myself constantly checking my email, or looking at ebay or BYC. I will stare at the screen and the spreadsheets just don't compute. Then, after some distraction, they make more sense.

Also, when I am talking, I am easily derailed. I will be saying, "OK, tonight what I am going to do is- hey, your hair looks really good! What color is that?"

My daughter is always saying "Focus! Mom, focus!"

Also, when I get fixated on something -yoga or chickens or amber jewelry -whatever it is - it is all I can think about all day, for days and days, sometimes weeks.

I think I have it.

 

[Kansaseq]

Quote:
Sounds like me!

 

[EweSheep]

Hubby is that way and he still denies it to this day that he has it. We haven't gotten it DX yet. My DD seems to have it as well but they say she is too young.

 

[BantyHugger]

Him, well it seems like a wide spread condition. I doubt i would take pills for it because I've seen how moody some people are while their trying to get the dosage figured out. Also I'm not a big fan of taking pills daily. I'd just like to know it I have it. (If i go to the doctor My parents will force me to take the pills.)

 

[saddina]

Re: tennis balls...

Do you wear glasses? A seperate issue from being able to focus your eyes, is also what they call "tracking" that is being able to watch a moving object and follow it. It comes to play with depth perception, reading and driving. It may be that an eye exam is a good place to start.

 

[Wifezilla]

You can have ADD without being hyper. Look up "ADD-Inattentive Subtype"

I took a quiz about this. I scored something like 95 out of ......OH LOOK A DUCK!

 

[BantyHugger]

Quote:
I do wear glasses! I figure the hitting problems I'm having are just do to inexperience. I get my eyes checked every August before school starts; I'll ask about "tracking" then. Maybe that is why i don't like reading. (I definitely think we're on to something here.) Of course, i don't think that explains my attention span being short during speeches/lectures.

 

[saddina]

Quote:
I do wear glasses! I figure the hitting problems I'm having are just do to inexperience. I get my eyes checked every August before school starts; I'll ask about "tracking" then. Maybe that is why i don't like reading. (I definitely think we're on to something here.) Of course, i don't think that explains my attention span being short during speeches/lectures.

Is it *some* teachers or all? At the risk of being dragged into the cafeteria and beat by fellow teachers... some are simply boring.

If you have a learning style that does not fit thier mode of teaching (example, I'm auditory if I can HEAR you, I can repeat it back to you, my eyes may glaze over, and it looks like i'm staring into space, but really I'm focused on your words and ignoring what I see). My husband, you can tell him something 20 times, but untill he does it, or writes it down, he will not grasp it, for him he has to interact somehow to really understand something. If it's only some of the teachers that aren't engaging you, I'll gently suggest the problem isn't with you. Also how busy are you? in people who try to multitask too much (say cheer & Tennis & volleyball & school), simply having too much on the plate can lead to inattention and distraction.

 

[monarc23]

I've always been pretty sure I have it...not diagnosed but I don't really care if I am or I am not diagnosed I, personally think I have it as does my mom and hubby.

I feel so bad to be honest because there is MANY TIMES my mom or hubby is telling me about their day and all of asudden I realize that I hadn't listened to a word that they said and had to ask them to repeat the entire one sided conversation because I was too busy in la la land. They will start to tell me something and I will think to myself "okay this time im going to listen" and I listen as hard as I can and STILL something like "oo did I make sure to check that pen to see if there was eggs in there....I think I did...." "niki..are you even listening to me?" *back to reality*

This is also why I like PMing people instead of chatting or talking to them. LIVE talking or chatting isn't my style because I get bored easily and would rather be doing this or that than sitting in one area in one frame of mind. SO Pming and email are so much easier... as what to others looks like I typed it up in a few moments, may have actually taken a half hour or more if I was fixated on something else

It's not debilitating.... but lets just say that when I have a project I want it done RIGHT away because if I don't it almost never gets done

or atleast not when I want it to be done

I won't even eat if theres something personally important I have to get done because I know if I do I might get side tracked