The only reason I ask was because recently a friend told me i might have ADHD because of all the bu****** I do. I am a college freshman and I have the worst time focusing on my work and it’s really affecting me academically, I love to learn but I always get side tracked and now that I’ve been thinking I’ve always kind of been like this I forget about stuff very easily and frequently, I never focus on one thing because I always have another in mind and i also easily go from one task to another without finishing the first one lastly I always have to be doing something this can be anything from moving my feet to wiggling my fingers just anything random that keeps me busy. But when I do study I might be doing research and I come across a word I’ve never hear before and I go and Google it but then I might find another interesting word in that words definition and next thing you know I have 10 web pages open on totally different words and I somehow managed to not even finish reading one definition but just partially read it before I drifted to another. This has all become a problem and I don’t know why I can’t ever get anything done, I’ve bought a personal planner which I forgot to use, I’ve written reminders in my phone and laptop as far as planning my whole week but I somehow managed to forget about deadlines, nothing really seems to work and the only time I can really do work is at night when everyone is asleep and I have minimal distractions. I have taken adderall 3 times and those times where the only times where I would actually start one thing and finish it, start on a project and actually be thinking on things about the project and nothing else, this was the most productive day I’ve had and those days were months apart from each other so I don’t say I am addicted because I never crave it or even think about it. I would say i was normal but i don’t want to go to the doctor because I don’t want people to think I’m crazy or something.
It is possible, or perhaps likely. I think that you should talk to a psychiatrist (because they are the doctors who have the expertise and are permitted to prescribe the appropriate medication).
There are a LOT of students in the USA who take medication to deal with some degree of ADHD or depression or anxiety, and the enormous stress that the US education system puts on students almost certainly increases the number of students with some related issues. This is becoming common and I don’t think that you should be concerned about the stigma. See a doctor, let them prescribe the appropriate medication, benefit from the results but if you don’t want to talk about it then just don’t talk about it. No one needs to know.
Be aware that it is possible that some trial and error might (or might not) be required to identify the best medication to help in any one specific case.