ADHD and people | ADHD Information
Same here. It started in my teens and got more intense over time.
It is draining sometimes but it keeps me safe.
I thought it was ESP but it probably is picking up the slightest cues on a sub-conscious level. But some of it just can't be explained.
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I think that "openness" is one of the best distinctive qualities of the ADHD person. Perhaps because ADDers are not able to settle into one fixed way of thinking, they are more apt to see other's opinions more readily (empathy).
There's lots of negatives to ADD, but lots of positives too. Sounds like you possess the positive ADD characteristic of openness.
What an interesting gift! Use this ability to your advantage. Perhaps choosing a career where sensing what people are like is a plus. Any field of business with people contact is a plus IF you also have good communication skills.
Or marketing perhaps where you have to sense what people want.
Just curious, but can you also sense when someone is dangerous or harmful?
I don't know if I'd go that far as to say I can do that to everyone just walking by. But I do think that I am highly intuitive, and my instincts are never wrong about people. I've been told that I can read minds.... for example, my job (graphics/web designer) my clients come to me and most of the time they either don't know what they want their logo or website to look like, or they may have an idea but they don't know how to describe it. Just by talking to them a little and asking a few questions, I can picture in my mind their 'style' and I'm always hearing "That's just how I pictured it to look, but couldn't describe it" or other similar things along that line.
From what I'm learning about ADHD... is that we do have that gift of instinct and intuition.
I must say though.. I'm VERY glad to have that gift, it's kept me alive for 35 years (and I shall say there's been a few close calls).
ShawnB39062.3223958333I don't know if many people are like this but... I am extremely good at meeting someone for 5 minutes and having a conversation about working out and know a lot about them. I can usually tell if they have gone through major emotional trauma (personally I was depressed twice, once for 3 months and once for 9 months. I can always tell what music they like. Without ever meeting people I can, with about 95% acuracy, tell what type of person they are and how they react emotionally to different situations. Too bad I cannot do any of this for myslf, I have extremely low sense of sefreflexivity. Does anyone else know what I'm talking about?
When I'm talking to one of my brothers in my fraternity he will say hello to someone passing by who I have never met or seen in my life. Just by seeing them walk by, I will be able to list off many acurate things about them, like what music they like, a large portion of their political views, how socially active they are, how they are stereotype and how they really are behind the stereotypes. Obviously I cannot tell everyone about someone from just seing them pass by, but more so than not I know who that person as if I were one of their pretty good friends, not as well as their best friends. Please don't yell at me for stereotyping or judging people after reading this. My whole thing about like is that you can only fully understand yourself when you know the opposing viewpoints AND know them through the opposing perspective, I love hearing all sides to everything and am open to most opinions.Oh yeah by the way, I have been diagnosed with ADHD since a couple months ago and am realizing now that I have had it my entire life.It sounds like you're a good judge of character redeyesurfman. Not to the same extent as you, but I can sometimes tell within afew minutes of meeting somebody a lot about them. It helps a lot with connecting with people and understanding where they're coming from. Although I've been surprised at how wrong my judgements have been sometimes too. Like if I took an instant dislike to somebody but then a few months down the line realise that I really like them