I think I have ADD - long | ADHD Information
Hi, I'm a 22 year-old female, recently married, and graduating from college in Dec. with my accounting degree. I recently began researching ADD after telling myself that I needed to do something about my reduction in motivation and my increased inability to focus, study, do anything really. My level of procrastitation has reached an all-time high. These are things I've always dealt with but they're starting to really hurt my academic life now.
I think I may have ADD, but in a moderate way since I've been able to cope with it until now. I was never the hyper kid bouncing off walls or getting into trouble. I was the quiet kid who excelled in social sciences but had a hard time learning math. You might think that's ironic since I study accounting, but it doesn't require extensive math. In elementary school, my desk was always messy, as it is now. It always took me forever to get started on my work and then forever to finish it, so I've never had a good sleep schedule.
I have a terrible time waking up in the mornings...I use two alarms, one so loud that it hurts my ears when I'm awake, but I never hear it when I'm asleep. Sometimes it takes up to 20-30 minutes of both alarms blaring before I wake up. My husband is extremely patient about it and helps me wake up most mornings, but as a result he loses sleep since I wake up before him. I also have a very poor perception of time in general, and this has become clear to me since moving in with him because he points it out sometimes when I otherwise wouldn't have noticed.
Because I traded sleep for homework, I always did extremely well in school. It also helped that my mom, understanding how I felt because I am exactly like her (she's never been diagnosed with anything either), helped me with my work sometimes and helped me stay on task. It took me much longer than the other kids to get my work done, but I made the effort and graduated in the top 5% of my high school class. I can't tell you what I learned in those years, though. Most of it's gone from my head.
I love to read, but only if it interests me. If it doesn't, then it takes me about an hour to read one or two pages from a textbook. I read a few sentences and then get distracted by something else, which distracts me to something else. Then I go back to reading and read the same sentence 6 times and don't know what I've read. I daydream constantly and find myself losing focus in class after a minute or two into the lecture. I don't feel hyper at all, though my leg is always moving when I'm sitting and when I'm not focusing, I'm picking at my fingernails or something. However, I'm fine sitting down at a movie or watching TV.
I am a bigger procrastinator than just about anyone I've met, and I hate it. I just have so much trouble getting started on large tasks that require lots of commitment. It's just so hard to visualize. And once I start a task, I have a hard time finishing it, regardless of whether it's hard or the easiest thing in the world. There are a lot of things that I'd like to do every day but I usually don't get them done because I don't have the motivation to start them. I have lots of thoughts in my head at any one time, but I can never fully finish them because they're fleeting. I have a difficult time explaining myself or explaining things to people without using lots of words. If you asked my friends, they would probably tell you that I'm the most indecisive person they know.
I am very good about paying my bills because I know myself...if I don't pay them immediately, then I'll forget about them and they'll run overdue. The same thing goes for my keys and my wedding ring. I make special efforts to put them in a certain place so I'll know where they are next time I go looking for them. I'm also very careful about putting the cap back on the toothpaste, little things like that. So I don't think you could say that I'm careless or not detail-oriented.
I don't have problems with relationships or social life. I usually don't have much of a temper and I don't have emotional outbursts. I am very quiet and I usually think things through before saying them, though lately my husband has been pointing out some thoughtless things that I've been saying. He and I get along very well and having a loving, understanding relationship. He's my best friend and knows basically everything about me. The other day I told him that I thought I might have ADD. I think he thinks that it's mostly in my head and that I can fix all of this if I want to, and maybe I can? I don't know. But he did agree that the symptoms of ADD sounded like things that I would do.
I think the main reason why I'm looking into ADD now is because lately I've been feeling just generally bummed. I think it has led to my decrease in motivation to do much with school or even my life right now. I've always been a worrier, and lately I've been worrying about what I'm going to do after college, whether I'll have learned enough from my classes to be able to get a good job. I don't usually feel bummed, and I don't think I'm depressed because I feel that overall I have a good outlook on things. I think that if I were able to find a way for me to do better in my classes, I'd feel a lot better.
I looked into getting tested for ADD, but apparently it will cost me 0, which I don't exactly have right now. Thus, I'm a little sad that I'll have to continue to deal with this and continue to struggle in my last college classes (last chance to improve my GPA).
Sorry this is so long, all of this is just very new to me and it's sort of exciting to think that being so nutty may not be my fault after all.
-Sam
Sam,
What you need to do is go to a psychiatrist and tell him about your symptoms. Tell him you want to be tested for ADHD. Only then will you know for sure.
Disorganization, over-sleeping and a lack of focus are symptoms of ADHD/ADD but are also symptoms of a variety of other things like anxiety, depression, bi-polar, anti-social disorder...and more or it could be NONE of these things and you may have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or something like that.
The reason I'm telling you this is because many things are often mistaken for ADHD and ADHD is often mistaken for other things. It is very important you get the correct diagnosis or your problems will continue and not get better.
Good luck,
Cheekydeeky
ps- long messages are often difficult for people with ADHD, they get distracted (as I do) after the first paragraph!
cheekydeeky38185.4884375Sorry about the long message, it distracted me as well when I went back to read it. I'll try to be more brief from now on.
I understand that I won't know if and what I've got until I get evaluated. I'd like to do it immediately, but I don't have that kind of money available right now. So I just wanted to hear everyone's thoughts about it.
Thanks for your response. 
Sam,
If you go to a psychiatrist you may be able to find one that is a lot cheaper than the 400-dollar test you've found. My psych was an initial 250, then 90 after that. Try to shop around. I think it's worth the initial cost to find out if it's ADHD or something else.
Cheekydeeky
Oh really? Yeah, I didn't shop around, I just accepted the price because it was already discounted for me since I'm a student. I'll look around and see if I can find a lower price. I agree that it's worth the assessment fee to find out if I have ADD, or anything else. Could really help my life. Thanks a bunch.You may also find a counselor or psychologist who does ADD screenings. They can often diagnose as well as offer coaching or counseling. But you will still need to go to a psychiatrist if you need medication.
I found one Psychiatrist who had a difficult time accepting the idea that ADD was my problem and he wanted to spend the next ten years talking about why I hated my father
. So you do need to find someone who understands ADD but also knows that issues other than ADD can be the cause.
If it is ADD, your husband is right. It is all in your head. Your brain to be presise (probably right frontal lobe). Believed to be caused by an imbalance in the neurotransmitter chemicals. I have been married for 20 years and my wife spent at least 19 of them telling me I cold do better if I just tried harder. If you do have ADD, trying harder does not work. trying harder while people say you are not trying hard enough will only end up causing other problems like depression.
Whatever it is that is causing your problems (depression, ADD, or whatever), these things do not go away by just "thinking positive", or "trying harder". You need to see a professional.
Let us know how things work out.
Please stay in touch. If you do get diagnosed with ADD, please contact me. I was an Accounting major also and may have some ideas for you.
It seems funny with you all comparing prices, but at least you can shop around fairly easily.
I've just been told to wait.
I get to see a psychiatrist once every 6 weeks for 15 minutes, who may refer me for longer tests, but these have a waiting list of upto 18 months.
I've done the test on the Amen Clinic website, and I seem to match these symptoms (and have done for as long as I can recall, even back to that magic number of 7 years). I know I should get a proper diagnosis before going round telling people / making excuses "because I have ADD", but at least you can all get a much quicker response.