[QUOTE=csr19us]too.
Anyway... I have a question regarding inattentive subtype of ADD.......
Do you find that your childhood self was very patient and socially behaved? At home was a different story for me, but when out with my parents or whatever, I'd always get compliments from the adults that I was the most calm and well-behaved kid they've seen. I think this was around 8 years old and up??
Anyway, I was wondering if anyone else can relate to that, or if it's just a psychological mechanism I've developed to cope with ADD. (trying to figure the ole' gray-matter out, lol)
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That seems to be a common thing in ADD kids. My cousin has the same issue... very well behaved and polite to strangers, albeit precocious in some ways and very immature in others. He still can put on good manners and be a very kind, giving kid, but his behavioral problems are HUGE. At home, he is the worst of all. I think it's because we ADD people can put on a pretty good act of being not just normal, but better than normal, for short periods of time. Then the ritalin wears off or we get bored or whatever and... pffft... back to spazzing out. So when an ADD kid is at home he or she can't sustain the effort to act normal, but in other places where it doesn't have to continue for such a long time, like in school, it's easier. Either that or the structure, with class subject changing every 40 minutes, is tolerable enough for some kids to remain interested, while the unstructured "get your chores done" of home is not. Just speculating. I had good days and bad days both at home and in school, myself.
Ya as I think about it I was very well behaved in front of strangers such as teachers and they would always tell my parents that I was such a good kid. But when I would get home I had put on this act of being perfect for such a long period of time that I was just exhausted from it. Although I was never the really hyper type. Like when we would play board games or cards when I was younger I would get really obnoxious. I could manage through things such as church but I would always doodle on the donation envelopes and bug my brother and sister. But maybe it was just me that didn't think I was hyper...Now that I look back on it and I think about how my little brothers acted when they were that age. I guess I was pretty hyperactive. Omg this is funny...I just thought about it...Like when we go to church now days I'm the one bugging my little brothers and they're telling me to shut up...ha ha...I'm 19 and they're 14. Kinda sad actually...Hahaha this is amazing how much we all have in common when it comes to this stuff.
It is funny, I have always been a mild person. Never bothered anyone, and was always kind and warm of nature. My parents even say that I havent even been a teen. I 23 now, and I totally agree. I have never been angry with my parrents, or acted improper towards them or anyone else. I remeber that I used to vent my rage at message boards, discussing policics... but never at people I faced. I didn't like to confront people, but that have changed somwhat now hehe.
[QUOTE=csr19us]OH yeah.... Taag Man, that's some interesting information about dopamine and noradrenaline levels... it explains maybe why we excel at things we truly enjoy doing. Do you have any sources of information on this? I would like to look into that some more![/QUOTE]
Yes, I have multiple sources, but most are are danish, and I presume you can't understand that? I have looked a bit around for english sources.
Read Managing ADHD With Medication: http://kidshealth.org/teen/drug_alcohol/drugs/ritalin.html
And read all of this: http://misspelled.guidecentral.com/dopamine.html
You will be able to draw the same conclusions out of these sources... and perhaps gain a understanding of how it works. Just remember that external stimulation increase the production of those drugs... read the Discussion about Adictive of nature... or something like that.
Just a note: I have always felt I didn't have the capacity to cope with tho world, and I am quite sure that my mildnes is a way to cope/compensate for that. Everything is just much easyer if you don't bother anyone.
Taag Man38415.2210069444[QUOTE=surfgirlie5]Ya I hate taking tests too. I'll read the question but I won't actually pay attention to reading it so I have to read it again. Then I'm just like screw this because the harder I try to concentrate the harder it is to think because all these thoughts come in to my head. So I just fill in an answer. When I told my mom that I thought I might have ADD she was like but you have always done well in school. And that's what gives me second thoughts is that I did do fine but I always knew that I was only giving about 40%. I know I can do better that what I do...I've just gotten really good at getting by.[/QUOTE]I did well in school till I did drugs. It wasnt that I tried it was that it didnt take much effort to get a B average for me....not bad for a kid the school tried to label as slow.
In College now with medicine y well I have not recieved a test or paper back less than a 95 this semester and it seems easier to sit in class. It's nice to not have a page of doodles with some notes on it but instead have notes. It's nice not to watch the clock the whole time. I am still hyper even in my 40s it's nice not to shake the building when I am at my desk waving my pen, shaking my leg etc..... If you ahve ADD the medication will probably make a big difference. Good luck on your evaluation. Either way both conditions are very treatable...they also are not mutually exclusive unfortuneately. It's nice to pay attention most of the class and not be fading in and out of the rooom mentally as the mental wheels spin in my head
Surfgirlie5, well, I don't really know the grade system, but I suppose it's a bad grade. ADD is when people have low level of signaling hormones like Dopamin and Noradrenalin, wich is also affiliated with pleasure. Their function is to transport information between the braincells, and if those levels are low you can't focus/concentrate. A most commonly identifyer for ADD people is to ask if they can only focus on things that they find interesting. Dopamin and Noradrenalin is part of the pleasure sytem, and if you do something that is stimulating your mind, the hypothalamus will produce Dopamin and Noradrenalin making it able for you to focus and also feel joy.
Perhaps you feel it as getting worse because there is less and less you find interesting, and the preasure on you is rising....
Depression is a typical result of low seretonin levels... if you get medicated for ADD, and don't have ADD you propably won't sleep for a day... so don't worry... either way, you will have a better life when you are propably medicated.
surfgirlie5
I don't know if I do have ADD but, I can definatley relate. high school wasn't really problem I did decent but not great. Now I am a freshman in college and My GPA sucks. The problem is in high school you can get away without doing alot of work but college is completely different.
I don't know if this happens to you , but when i am taking tests I get bored and just want to finish to I don't have to sit there any more. The SAT's sucked for me because I couldn't sit there for three hours!
I feel the same way about gettting diagnosed, I don't want to have ADD but if I do that means Iwill be able to do something about my problem.
Ya I hate taking tests too. I'll read the question but I won't actually pay attention to reading it so I have to read it again. Then I'm just like screw this because the harder I try to concentrate the harder it is to think because all these thoughts come in to my head. So I just fill in an answer. When I told my mom that I thought I might have ADD she was like but you have always done well in school. And that's what gives me second thoughts is that I did do fine but I always knew that I was only giving about 40%. I know I can do better that what I do...I've just gotten really good at getting by.Sounds a lot more like ADD inattentive than depression, though you might have that as well. You should give some pseudoephedrine (sudafed) a try, it increases the dopamine and noradrenaline levels in your brain, helps me a ton. It's cheap and sold OTC, if only I had known it helped me in college, I would've done a lot better. I would recommend a dose of 90mg or so to start with, I never got any results from the decongestant (60mg) dose. I did use a lot of vivarin (caffeine) in college, which also increases your brain's dopamine levels, but the effects of caffeine on dopamine levels are *very* short lived. I took a few vivarin every time I had a hard test and did significantly better than without it.I've been having trouble with ADD more in my adult life over my teen years (I'm 23 now). I was in the same situation of wondering if it was depression or some other problem over the last year because it was really starting to take a toll on me. I went to the doctor and discussed some oh what I was feeling. I also know ADD runs in my family and looked into that being a possibility too.
I really don't think I have depression because of several reasons but let me tell you how I think ADD might have made me think that.
In H.S. I didn't get good grades, just good enough. Also I worked part time and my job didn't require alot out of me. I had all the ADD symptoms but I could get by fine and I never really put much thought into any of it. After I did some college (never finished), moved out, and now work full time I started feeling not like myself. I didn't say anything to anyone and just kept on doing what I've always done like things we normal even though I didn't feel that way. I couldn't put my finger on what it was, which is maybe why I ignored it. Then I started feeling worse and worse and it occured to me that I was STRESSED! Growing up I was never a stressful person so that is probably the reason why I didn't realize what was wrong.
I started trying to identify what was causing it and I realized it was me feeling overwelmed by my life. I had to much to do like paying bills, getting tasks done at work, cleaning my appartment, laundry, commitments with friends. Normally in my teen life I could put it off and things would just work out but in my adult life it doesn't work that way. I have to do this stuff on my own! When I put it off doing things they pile up making it worse for me to take one thing at a time. I'm not sure if it was like this for everyone here but that is how I realized I needed help. My doctor let me try Ritlin about a week ago and I notice my mind works like a whole different persons. Instead of looking at all the things I need to do that moment and end up doing nothing because I don't know where to start, I find it much more easy to just take one task at a time and complete it. The only problem is it's a 3-4 hour temporary cure. Once the effects wear off I'm back to the normal me.
Sorry for the long post I just had alot to say because of how new all this is to me too. You found a great board to join because I've learned alot in the few days I've been here. It's almost like another form of medication!