ADHD ( less the "H' ) - What, am I 10 years old again??

How many of the things on this list are true of you often or very often (at home, socially, or at work)?

1• Frequenter of the Mood Swing
2• Have an inordinately large amount of things "to do" on the list
3• Create many "to do" lists, but rarely use them
4• Poor judge of time, often late
5• Chronic procrastinator
6• Trouble wrapping up final details of projects once challenging aspects are done
7• Difficulty finishing things you've started
8• Feel restless or fidgety
9• Problems remembering appointments and/or obligations
10• Distracted by noises around you
11• Delay/avoid tasks that require a lot of thought to get started
12• Misplace or have difficulty finding things at home or work
13• Very poorly organized
14• Make many careless mistakes working on boring or difficult projects
15• Fidget with hands/feet when sitting for long periods
16• Change jobs frequently
17• Find yourself talking too much in social situations
18• Difficulty waiting your turn in situations where turn-taking is required
19• Difficulty maintaining long-term friendships
20• Difficulty concentrating on what people say to you, even when they are speaking to you directly
21• Easily bored
22• Trouble managing money
23• When in a conversation, finish sentences of people you are talking to before they can finish them themselves
24• Difficulty unwinding or relaxing when you have time to yourself
25• Leave your seat in meetings or other situations you are expected to remain seated

For me, all but number #17 rank in the 'way up there' category of Never - Sometimes - Very Often scale. If asked, Lovely could tell you how often I misplace things (like right now, where the frick did I put my coffee cup?), and how chronic my procrastination is (I would win awards if I got the applications in on time). Probably most other things on the list could come into conversations about ways I drive her crazy (though she is a very patient woman!). During lunch she let me in on the fact that despite my thoughts that I didn't have trouble with #18, if a line is more than 3 or 4 people long, or if the wait is more than 10 or 15 minutes, I drag our butts out of whatever store we are in - even after an hour of grocery shopping (and she very patiently comes with me). So, it's just #17, I'm rather quiet/shy in social situations.

Now, this list is on tap for me because it has been suggested by someone 'in the know' that I should talk to my Dr. about Attention Deficit Disorder. She gave me a self-report symptom checklist and a couple of websites, and asked me to think about it. When she first suggested it, I was annoyed. I don't have ADD. I'm not hyper. I didn't get in trouble in school when I was a kid. I don't need meds. My brain is fine. I'm just disorganized and going crazy with mulitple deadlines. Then I started reading. Bastards! I might actually have ADD! I am not a hyper person, and news to me - Harvard Medical says that ADHD comes in a few different types that don't include being hyper. For girls and women, hyperactivity is not often exhibited with ADHD, that's a symptom that is generally found with boys and men, leading to an underdiagnosis of women and girls with ADHD.

ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. ADD - Attention Deficit Disorder. Love that word, Disorder. Ugh. Well, I don't have an attention deficit all the time. Sometimes I'm hyperfocused to the point of ignoring all else (even if I'm not meant to be paying attention to it right now). Hyperactivity, not generally me either (though at the moment Lovely is in my head calling me a hummingbird, is this another lack of person insight on my part?). Sometimes I'm hyper to the point where I'll collapse if I don't sit down and stop what I'm doing. I have heaps of attention and focus for things I enjoy, sometimes to a scary and obsessive point - I can scrapbook for 3 days straight with only breaks for coffee, food, bathroom and naps; or I can read huge books in single sittings, even if it means 2 days on the couch. But try to get me to read a boring 5-page article for school, it takes me a day and I have to re-read it 10 times on the way through; start a conversation with me about something I'm not interested in, and you'll have lost me after the first minute (though I do try to pay attention!).


This is a cute little chart that I cound online, where they have taken the 5 types of ADHD and linked them to the characters from Winnie the Pooh. Apparently you can have one, or a combination or different types of ADHD.

So here I sit, in the midst of grad studies in Psychology; I spent 4 years of my undergrad studying psychology - don't you think I could have given myself a heads up or something? I can tell you when a kid would best be served by an ADHD assessment. Since when are there these hyperfocused and inattentive types? If 4% if adults have ADHD of some type, that's 1 in 25 - how many people actually know they have it? How come there's so little information in the current DSM (boils down to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual - the bible of things that go wrong with people's heads)? What will the new information in the 2012 version say about what we know now, and why didn't we know it before?

To avoid making myself crazy (crazier?) I am going to stop writing about it, and I'm going to go see the Dr. tomorrow, see if I can get a referral to someone who "knows" about these things (apparently your GP isn't the answer most times). I don't know though, mine (doctor) is pretty up on stuff, she's young, she seems smart and current, I'll see what she says. If I can get an appointment same day or next day I promise not to fret about it (there's that problem with my waiting my turn again, jeez, it really is me!). In the meantime, there's a whole internet full of information to sog my brain up with - so off I go to fulfill my need for immediate gratification!