ADHD and Intelligence | ADHD Information
Hi, I'm new to this board and hoping I can chat with people who have some sort of useful feedback.
I have not been "officially" diagnosed by any professional because I have had some bad experiences with doctors. However, my symptoms are quite profound and correlate quite well with the diagnostic criteria.
I have been self-medicating for years and not even knowing why I kept gravitating toward substances. Now that I am completely off medication, I feel like I am going to go crazy from my boredom. I am a college student and a tutor at the university as well, and I feel like I have a big neon sign on me that proclaims ADD!!! Besides my interminable talkativeness, I also have a problem with fidgeting/picking my hangnails. Lately, I have found myself unable to even sit still for class. (I don't know WHY there is no week-long break in the fall!)
The more I have researched this, the more I have realized that I have been this way ALL my life. I want to get some medication, but I have this deep fear that the only reason I am so intelligent is because my ADD gives me superpowers. I would like to feel more comfortable in my own skin, but I am afraid of the medication.
Nytusse,
Please don't worry that geting help for ADD/ADHD, if you have it, will take away your "superpowers." Most of the people that frequent this forum will tell you that anyone that is capable of attending college and being a tutor all while dodging the many roadblocks this conditions throws your way is proof of your incredible intelligence. It takes brains and perseverence to get where you are. If you do feel you will benefit from medication, you will find that it will further enhance your life.
Good Luck!
mom 49 yrs old ADD
DS 29yrs old ADD
DS 22yrs old ADHD
You won't lose your IQ by getting a diagnosis.
First, get a physical. Then get a full assessment. After that you can decide, based on the information what would be best for your situation.
One foot in front of the other
METISREBEL,
Have you ever notice one of the traits of ADHD is the limitless capacity for being a smartass?
Or am I trying to justify my own behaivior?
got diagnosed last Friday and picked up my drugs today (concerta xl). Will
take first one in the morning. I will report back on whether I have lost my
super powers!!!!! [/QUOTE]
Go get 'em BatgirlI believe the proof of super powers is in being ADHD and your accomplishments. I disagree that it can be rated by any particular accomplishment. ADHD doesn't work that way. Accomplishment with ADHD is highly dependant on a persons interest in a certian task and which ADHD symptoms they have.
I'm not taking anything away from your accomplishments, you have done well. I'm just saying there is no significant difference in the ratio of graduates to dropouts in ADHD and non-ADHD people.
In certian ways ADHD and your high intelligence are one in the same. There are no ADHD people with average or below intelligence (those people are called Republicatons, JUST KIDDING). There is nothing to fear about ADHD and your intelligence being connected though. Properly treating ADHD does not stiffle creativity or take away your intelligence. I have been on meds for ADHD for 25 years now and I still come up with ideas that surprise everyone in the room, including myself. You may have to try different meds to get an effective treatment though.
ADHD people think differently, or "Out of the box" if you will. What is genuis if not just thinking differently. Einstein wasn't an overall superior person compared to others. He thought differently in certian areas,and that is what made him stand out. Let me clarify that I am in no way belittling his accomplishments. We remember Einstein for his theories, not from the fact he had more trouble in the classroom than most of his peers at the time.
Imagine 99 normal scientists locked in a compound with 1 ADHD sceientist. The 1 sceintist will either reguarded as a genius or a retard. It all depends on how he applies his differences and their perceptions of him.
Or take autistic people, in a certian area they far superior than other people. They just don't fit into soceity. Although some diffrences are so great that people need help to survive.
Not all experts believe ADHD is even a disablility. Some even believe its a leftover trait that society no longer has a use for ( Hunter and Gatherer ). Society teaches us that if we can't do things societies way then we are broken. I don't believe that. I believe that societies tolerence and acceptance of difference is what is broken. I take meds to better fit into society, not becuase I feel I am inferior without them.
Hi, I am in the UK too. Seems most peeps in here are from usa or canada! Igot diagnosed last Friday and picked up my drugs today (concerta xl). Will
take first one in the morning. I will report back on whether I have lost my
super powers!!!!! Nytusse I also just found this forum.
It sounds like your doing well in school and your problems (although anoying) are not too serious.
I started on medication in college (concerta) I don't believe it helped ME much with the type of problems you're describing.
It did help me focus in class and when I studied. The semester I started on Concerta I went from less then 1% bellow being on academic probation to less then 1% bellow the Dean's list. My notes in class started contain more notes then doodles and I didn't find myself rereading the same sentence in my textbooks multiple time because I was thinking of something else
gbfe
ommas39765.5373842593[QUOTE=evryoung]Nytusse,
Please don't worry that geting help for ADD/ADHD, if you have it, will take away your "superpowers." [quoteE]
Hey, does this mean I have superpowers???
Maybe I'm ADHDman!
[QUOTE=Parduse]
Too funny!!! I have had the nickname S**t Head for years! My family dubbed me with this name. Now the entire family has nicknames to follow S**t Head's Sister, S**t head's Mother.... ect. I think if you are ADHD that the wicked sense of humor is just another "super power".
METISREBEL,
Have you ever notice one of the trits of ADHD is the limitless capacity for being a smartass?
Or am I trying to justify my own behaivior?
Some how I quoted wrong. Please forgive me!I took the meds (Adderal) for 2 days and felt nervous and seld concious and remember thinking, " I felt better the day before I started taking this Sh*t" But I have also been drinking lots of caffeine before the meds. So I stopped the meds becasue to me caffeine is probobly the same thing. I then think, what have I gotten myself into , because i was afraid that I changed who I was forever. The medication also made me feel Up and Down (energy) all day. Because it was time-released. So it depends on the medication.
But as of now, I stopped because I am afraid also. Afraid to have a heart-attack, and afraid to be addicted for 25 yrs!
Fish Oil maybe???