might I have ADD? | ADHD Information

I'm a university student in my 3rd year and I've noticed these symptoms for the past 4-5 years and I wanted to know if I should be tested for ADD.

I'm deeply interested in things I like, but if I'm forced to learn/do something I don't like, focusing is almost impossible to maintain (even if I REALIZE that focusing is the best thing to do).

I hyperfocus on things that I enjoy - I just finished a book about Atheism in 6 hours non-stop. I had no idea what was going on around me, haha. And people usually have to "shake me out of it" in order to get my attention...my mother noticed this especially. My father does this as well. As a child, video games were an escape...I would play for days on end with no reprise...my parents thought I was addicted...I would get lost in those worlds for so long that my parents never bought a video game system until I was 14...I had to bogart my friends Video Games in the mean time.

I'm EXTREMELY scatterbrained...whenever I'm not talking (and I do a lot) I'm usually thinking about something in my own world. This is probably why I chose Philosophy as my major, because I'm essentially told to think all day :)

I forgot things in conversations all the time: my roommate will tell me something and I'll say "mhm, yea, sure, what did you say?" This is very frustrating to others and it leads me to constantly requesting people to repeat what they say...sometimes several times over. I'm also a "bottom line" person...if you can't break it down to a little morsel, it won't make any sense to me. I also can't decode things into little morsels of information either.

Same thing happens during class lectures (where my GPA has been hit hardest): I'll take EXCELLENT notes but I'll be writing and not paying attention. If I pay attention, I won't take notes because it's too hard and I'll lose track of what's going on and lose interest. Example: my favorite philosophy class last quarter A+, boring math class which I never paid attention to (though I attended every class) C. Very dissapointing because I know I'm intelligent. I've scored in the superior range in IQ tests during childhood (140+) and this is most likely why I was never thought to have ADD in elementary school (as teachers are taught to report it if they see learning impairment). Of course, that was not the case with me as I was reading at the high school level in 3rd grade.

I also am very exuberant and energentic all the time...especially around people and I can barely contain myself in groups...I'm loud, obnoxious and I speak out of turn all the time...my brain feels like it's on fire and can't hold anything in.

I switch jobs/internships several times during my college career. I NEED to be on the go and busy all the time, or i'll feel extermeley bored. Currently I have an intership, a job, college, clubs, sports that I'm invovled with...people wonder how I can balance everything but I just tell them that if I don't then I'll be lazy. I have done so MANY things in college, it's mind boggling...it's been wildly fun. But I feel as though all my responsibilties piled on have been just to keep me entertained. I've never followed through with any of my jobs...I've had 3 in the past 3 years. I'm just not sure if I have ADD. I read an excerpt of "driven to distraction" about a college student with ADD and i felt I was reading about myself.

Relationships: in college, I've never been able to maintain or stay in contact with friends I've made...people call me and beg me to visit, but I always forget to visit and it's led to a lot of hard feelings...I just keep FORGETTING...I'm so busy and scatterbrained it's difficult to keep up relationships unless the person is right NEXT to me...I dont' know how to articulate it....but I've ruined a lot of potential with friends/girlfriends because of my "on-the-go" attitude and "never-look-back" philosophy....which I hate and I think may be due to potential ADD.

Do I Have ADD and should I be tested? What is the possibility?
And don't even get me started on procrastination:

I was late to EVERY class for my 8:00AM spanish class. And the thing is: I woke up 2 HOURS EARLY every day for it so I wouldn't be late...I ended up suffering HARD for that, since participation and class attendance are mandatory. I CAN'T PRIORITIZE or maintain a time schedule. And when I do, I have to keep checking...like a hundred times over. Last quarter, I had a schedule printed out with EVERYTHING I had to do or be for the whole week. Most peopel get the hand of their schedule after 2 or 3 weeks...makes sense. But I was looking at it every day until the last day of the quarter.... that's 12 weeks. I STILL thought I was missing stuff. It's amazing. That schedule was a way I coped with my issues but it was still a big problem.

I also failed to write papers on time, homework was always handed late...or never started....college has been a big mess for me, academically speaking.

Okay, everyone on the boards that thinks J.D. has ADD and should be tested, raise their hand.

Let's see 22,000+ people on the various forums. About a couple hundred that regularly visit.... and oh look, about 157 are raising their hands. 

You are describing classic ADD symptoms.  Go, get tested.