Most people have a couple of these but it isnt to the point where they cant function. ADHD is the point where it does.
An ADHD brain is essentially interest driven. It isnt so much a lack of attention and focus but missapplied attention and focus. The reason for this is thought to be a chemical imbalance of dopamine and norepinephrine. Dopamine is tied to motivation and norepinephrine is essentially the fight or flight neurotransmitter. This is why people with ADHD tend to have little issue focusing on a fun task or a task that is urgent and induces considerable stress. The former raises levels of dopamine and the latter norepinephrine. It is also why the first line drug treatments involve stimulents which help normalize both of these.
If the behaviors that you see in yourself are causing distress, you may want to ask your doctor/mental health provider to be assessed. That said, I would keep in mind that it is usually not cheap and if that is a significant barrier for you, look for pay as you can mental health providers in your area if they exist
The bit about having difficulty focusing on tasks that are uninteresting or not urgent is striking a chord with me. Lots of half finished projects where I’ve done all the interesting bits and suddenly lose all motivation to see it through to completion. Thanks, I’ll investigate this further when possible.
If you have some other mental-diversion like autism, bipolar or dyslexia then chances are high you have overlap with properties of other neurodivergent people.
Its also possible to be “functional and normal” but still have a neurodivergent brain. Disabilities are subjective in context of the (social) world around you.
Much like depression, everyone gets sad but not everyone is clinically depressed. All ADHD symptoms are experienced by neurotypical people, it’s about the frequency and severity of the symptoms that determines diagnosis. If you experience these symptoms on a daily basis, or nearly constantly, you should look into getting tested for ADHD.
Neurotypical people experience most ADHD symptoms some of the time, but not at a frequency that significantly negatively impacts their life. Similar to depression, everyone gets sad but only some are clinically depressed.
My doctor has ADHD! Pros: my ADHD diagnosis was super straightforward and he was overall helpful. Cons: forgets my appointments and talks too fast and overexplains or not at all. Still, I consider myself lucky
Depending on their training they essentially think adult ≠ adhd.
The easiest way to get a proper diagnosis is to imply that you were seriously tested for adhd/other neurodivergence as a child.
I’ve noticed that because of current understanding and research for adults are minimized due to people’s naturally tendency to develop coping mechanisms as they get older. So by saying you showed signs as a child they may take the time and actually listen to what you have to say. Definitely don’t lie but insist that you showed some signs as a child, and talk about issues you have today and steer them away from asking about details you had as a kid. I’d bet you did have some signs as a kid but you can’t remember/people didn’t notice. Remember a lot of these symptoms are related and could easily just be due to anxiety or well anxiety idk.
For me personally I was tested as a kid but had my medical record essentially wiped and my parents didn’t want me in any “special” classes. The schools I went to definitely had no handle on how to treat basically any neurodivergence other than stick everybody in the same class.
Another way is too force a recommendation from your doctor to a testing facility, psychiatrist, or therapist. And hopefully they’ll listen to you and get a good diagnosis. It probably won’t be covered by insurance and I’ve seen prices range from $500 to $2000 so make sure to ask. Some testing facilities technically brake the law by not informing you that’s it’s not covered under insurance, so make sure you get in writing that your exact insurance is covered. Not just x company accepts it but your exact insurance plan.
damn, 1 short of a blackout lol (talking too long and fast for anyone to keep up). just replace it with “constant, unrelenting music in my head, sometimes multiple songs at once” and I’m a winner
I have both, the fast talking switches out with not being able to form a coherent sentence from time to time and the music can be nice but also extremely distracting
If you experience a lot of those issues very often then there's a good chance for that. I'm going to yet again recommend my favourite introductionary source to learn about ADHD: Part1Part2Part 3 (90 minutes total)
There are a lot of helpful videos on youtube about it and a ton of actually helpful questionnaires online. If you fill out a couple you’ll get a goos first impression. A doctor should them assess further.
Got Bingo in Row one then had surprisingly few other hits. Does it count as an impulse buy if you think about buying it suddenly but don't get around to buying it until a month later?
Personally for me being exposed to a lot of noises for a long time and not being able to escape from them causes the stress to build up and become very easly irritable, angry, and sensitive to everything. I'm curious how others experience it.
Yes and it sucks when you live below loud neighbors that are constantly making noise, stomping, and yelling at each other and you can't escape because you're in your own home.
A little. Though it's more when you become hypersensitive for short periods. I sometimes find in restaurants or situations where I'm feeling a little anxious that everything will be so much louder and over stimulating as my senses sort of go into overdrive with my surroundings. I usually chuck in ear plugs or nip outside for 5 minutes. But this usually goes away after 10-20 minutes or so.
Self-suspecting autistic here. I got 11/24 so long as I'm allowed to interpret 'ADHD paralysis' as a general task paralysis (otherwise it's rather begging the question). I can always commiserate with ADHD people's difficulties, but I don't seem to have the same noisily chaotic inner world that they describe.
Sup, I just wanted to let you know that I have a severe ADHD and my brain is pretty silent so not everyone with ADHD has a noisy mind. I still daydream a lot though.
There's an interesting overlap in the definitions and symptoms of mental abnormalities. For years I thought I was just a little on the autism spectrum. Similar to what you describe. A lot of symptoms describe me, but I don't get the racing thoughts/daydreaming often associated with ADHD.
I still think there's an element of autism based on some of the lack of innate awareness of social constructs. I had to actively take interest in figuring out why people responded poorly to me and actively change my behaviors just to do what comes naturally to many people. I also get overwhelmed by certain stimuli like crowds, noise, etc. At a certain point that feeling becomes mentally painful.
But then I saw the common behaviors associated with ADHD and realized that maybe that's a better fit in some ways, or at least also a very good fit. I feel like the venn diagram is two circles that almost overlap entirely for me.
It can be a sign of a few things, like anxiety too, but it can also just be a sign that someone's bored.
Like with most things, it doesn't mean a lot on its own, but if it's being done in excess, or uncontrollably, then it could be a sign of something else.
I uncontrollably play air drums or tap drum patterns with my hands and feet any time I'm idle. Like, idle for more than 5 seconds. If my hands are busy, I'm kicking double bass drum patterns with my feet. If I'm walking, its air drums or pseudo beatboxing quietly. It never ends.
Actually, that's not true. It does stop sometimes; only when I'm in a severely distressing situation or horribly depressed. That's how I know my shit's fucked up; the drums stop. :(
I "win" twice and fill half the remaining squares. Still, I didn't know until I was 41 and am still waiting on a formal diagnosis because the NHS has been deliberately underfunded for so long and I never got around to sorting out going private!
Fuck. Im surprised how much ADHD affects me and how I've made it this far in life without treating it. It's like the only time I'm on point is when there's a swinging blade over my head
The pinned post explains this very well, but there aren't really such things as adhd symptoms that are exclusive. People with adhd just tend to have these problems so often that they interfere with normal living and usually they have multiple of these problems
A lot of these are things everyone does sometimes. If it's something that is happening multiple times a week, or multiple times a day, then it might be worth taking to your Dr and filing out the test.
Full time student + full time work is a LOT to handle, even without ADHD.
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