Adult ADD
For me, it's having a hard time concentrating on what I'm supposed to be doing. It's being in the middle of a lengthy conversation with someone and spacing out during what they are saying and not even knowing what they were talking about. I get bored with things easily and move from one thing to the next quickly. Hope this helps answer your question.
Thank you, that does help. Any ideas about how to work best with an adult who has ADD? Any good strategies out there?
@blueserenity try coffee and spending more time outside. Coffee will act like the medication to the point that you cannot have coffee on medication. Also if you have trouble doing on thing for too long set a timer for 15 or 20 min then do another task until all are complete
Hello, I've done some 'light' reading on ADD which can sometimes be confused with disassociation. What was what I was dismissed as but it seems to be a precursor of abuse or trauma from medical journals. I was diagnosed with ADD as a child and put on all meds. It seems to just be a pharma ploy.
I get. Bored, and have difficulty being still. I also have issues controlling strong emotions w/out acting on them. I get really irritated when I don't have structure and seem to be more impulsive and on the go. Even in meetings I get lost at times, and have difficulties focusing on mundane task and seem to do better w/ short challenging tasks that allow me to be creative. I cut people off sometimes when I want to say something and sometimes I'm too honest or react and then regret actions. I wish I had a different brain at times or I could just grow out of it.
thats ADHDfor me- but everyone is different and may experience ADHD in different ways and it can present itself differently-although I have a strong personality and try to compensate I'm aware that it still noticeable and I'm on the journey to acceptance
Hey, I found an interesting page about adult ADD
the signs are:
-Trouble concentrating and staying focused
-Hyperfocus
-Disorganization and forgetfulness
-Impulsivity
-Emotional difficulties
-Hyperactivity or restlessness
more infos @ https://www.helpguide.org/articles/add-adhd/adult-adhd-attention-deficit-disorder.htm
That is a great link, thank you for sharing with us!
I've been wondering the same thing about myself. It seems the older I get and the more is out on me, the worse I can cope. I used to love taking photos and making jewelry, but within the past year have just dropped everything and have had no interest in picking it back up. I want to, I really do but have a hard time getting the drive and focus to do so. I really struggle with the mood swings that someone has mentioned often going from angry to sad to happy all within a few hours or less. I struggle with focusing at work, had to drop out of college and even stuggle with daily conversations. I'll often miss important information that my husband has been telling me only to feel like I'm hearing it for the first time three days later. We were at a loss for what to do and it was going to be several weeks before I could make an appointment with a doctor. I was leaving work in frustration because I couldn't focus and was having anxiety attacks on top of everything. He was able to give me something to try because his brother has ADD. I'm not sure if it's possible to feel a difference within just a day or two, but it helped. Problem is, telling my doctor all this without them just thinking I'm looking for pills. Any help?
I have adult ADHD too, I was diagnosed when I was 20, so i've been aware now for 6 years. I wasn't really aware of the symptoms until I tried to study at university, and everything fell apart. I couldn't concentrate on lectures, get organised, complete assignments, I would get really frustrated and overwhelmed. When I was diagnosed I realised that I was like this in my social/personal life as well... I think learning what I was doing (behaviour) because of ADHD and what I had learnt to do to cope was the biggest tool for me. It meant I could acknowledge those ineffective strategies and begin to build more effective ways to look after myself. I also started medication, which has helped, but doesn't solve everything. It merely gives me the platform to be able to choose whether I'm going to be mindful and work on efficient strategies or not to. I think everyone has different symptoms, but its about acknowledging and working with them to be the best you :)
I've had a lot of difficulties over the past few years with a lot of these symptoms, especially since moving out and starting university. I'll make plans for things weeks in advance, and then completely derail them on an impulse or because I just don't feel motivated enough to do them. I have a hard time staying focused during lectures and while doing assignments, and keeping up conversations is very difficult. My brain will wander during them and before I've realized what's happened I will have missed the majority of what the other person has said. Often I will try to say something but my mind will trip over itself and I'll leave chunks of sentences missing or say the wrong word, or start a completely new sentence in the middle of another one. I get bored very easily and haven't been able to do things like watch long movies or read thick novels like I used to when I was younger, but along with that I also have times where I am hyperfocused on one thing and I ignore everything else around me. I have frequent and intense mood swings that cause me to overreact to situations and act without thinking. I'll make commitments with friends and my fiance, only to forget them hours later and then fail to go through with them once they happen (this has placed a significant amount of stress on my fiance too as I'm continuously forgetting dates and household chores and things like paying bills). I ended up flunking out of university because I couldn't focus hard enough on my studies, and I've lost a lot of friendships due to not being able to keep up with them. I've been treated for an anxiety disorder because of these problems but it hasn't seemed to be working, and I think that is because it might be adult ADHD that I'm dealing with. But I'm not sure how to address this to my doctor or my therapist without it sounding like I'm just looking for something to be wrong..does anyone have any suggestions on how to approach this?