Possibly ADD or just a loser?

Parents Forum Learning Differences and Challenges - LD, ADHD
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<p>Basically I'm afraid to mention this to my parents because knowing them I'm 100% certain they'll refuse to take me to see a professorial and I'm only 17 so consent is needed. </p>

<p>I pretty much spend my entire day from start to finish daydreaming, school or not. Even if it's something enjoyable or interesting or even if It's something extremely important like a test review or if the teacher is going over homework, I'll Stop paying attention within minutes. </p>

<p>I also don't stay on one particular task for a long time. I would go on youtube.com and look up a lecture or something for my math class and find the video too long or boring after watching it for only a few seconds and end up spending the next hour or so skimming through bits and pieces of several videos only to go back to the original video which coincidentally is usually the best video. Sometimes I'll think of something while watching the video, and I'll have to repeat the video several times to comprehend what was going on during the lecture. Now thats the BEST case scenario. </p>

<p>Usually I end up spending my entire day switching from activity to activity without necessarily going in depth with any of them. 10mins on facebook, 10mins reading random forums, 20 mins watching TVs, 20-30mins pacing around my house for some reason, a few minutes lying on my bed,rinse and repeat. Before I realize it, 1:00 AM already. I Finally do whatever class work I need to do but I still do the above things in the middle of my assignments and now its time to go to school. So hey, I just pulled an all-nighter for a silly worksheet that should have taken only a few minutes to complete, FANTASTIC. This happens pretty frequently actually, probably 3-4 times a week; on sunday I usually sleep untill 4-5 PM, no joke. </p>

<p>I continued to research it a bit more and its not like I have some symptoms, I have nearly ALL the symptoms. </p>

<p>"loses things and forgetful" You would be surprised about the sheer amount of pencils,papers, and various other material I lose. I don't think I've ever had a writing utensil for more than a 2-3 days, tops. </p>

<p>"Excessive distractibility", Basically if anyone in a room is talking about anything at all it becomes exponentially more difficult to do more work.</p>

<p>The list goes on but I don't want to bore you guys with a giant wall of text. </p>

<p>Every year I tell myself I'm going to do better, I'm going to stay organized, I'm going to at least get As and Bs maybe a few Cs and ill do okay for the first few weeks, but by the time the first quarter ends thats all down the drain. To be honest the only time I was EVER able to pull this off was in 7th grade(straight As for 1 semester and some Bs the 2nd semester) and I had to put in TREMENDOUS amounts effort and this was in BLOCKED-YEAR LONG classes. Usually the teacher would finish up early or we'll have a day or so dedicated to work(1 hour and 20min periods) but I could never get any of it done during class. I always had to do my classwork/in-school homework @ home. I'm at school for 7 hours and 30mins + 30min round trip bus rides and the 10min walk back to my house. along with time required to get ready and what-not and the fact that i spend at least 2 hours of my time at home on work that should have been done during class was a bit ridiculous.I was always the only one walking home with a bag full of books. We're looking at nearly 10 hours thats spent on course work thats not even vigorous by any means. Hell 90% of the "homework" is classwork. </p>

<p>I scored within the 98th percentile on my NRTs back in middle school and usually had the highest score within my class but thats only because we were given like 3 hours for a tiny test and because the teachers were required to make the classroom quiet. Then high school came around and the workload increased by a lot more(the material isn't conceptually challenging or anything, it was just more busy work) and i eventually just gave up and kind of just drifted by. Ive gotten straight Ds and a few Cs and Fs all of high school :l . </p>

<p>Sorry if i sound a bit pathetic but I just had to get it off my chest, hell, I didn't even cover everything that frustrates me and I probably made an enormous amount of grammatical errors throughout this wall of text. I mean this post alone took me a few days just to muster up because I got distracted from the things above. O hey its 6:50 AM, its time for school! Spent all night to write a CC post </p>

<p>-_-!</p>

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<p>You need to speak with your guidance counselor about this situation. There are federal laws that govern your access to disability services, and there are ways for your school to work around parents who are obstructive if the student requests help him/herself.</p>

<p>Good test scores, and bad class grades is practically a diagnosis of ADD. However, you may have other issues going on in your life that have nothing to do with a learning disability. Your guidance counselor should be able to help you start sorting through everything so that you can find your own best ways to use the brain that you have.</p>

<p>Wishing you all the best!</p>

3

<p>Whether or not you turn out to have ADD, it would be good if you could speak with a psychologist well-versed in learning disabilities and educational issues to help you get a handle on what’s going on with you. Bright students like you with LD’s or other issues that impact their academic performance can find ways to cope and turn it around with some assistance. Please follow happymom’s advice and get your guidance counselor to schedule you with the district’s psychologist. Good luck!</p>

4

<p>Danny- The experiences you relate in your post are familiar
to me. I’m a professor who works with approximately 250 undergrads
and graduate students each semester. Certain of them take my
exams thru Disability Services — many of them have legit issues,
eg. cerebral palsy, nystagmus, and yes ADD. It has been my
experience that a percentage are “working” toward a diagnosis
that can be used to explain less than adequate mastery of academic
material. This may be a sign of the times as well as commentary
on society. In other words, they have no disease or medical diagnosis
that stands in the way of learning.</p>

<p>I am serious in the following recommendation-- You should seriously consider
enlisting in the Navy, Army or Air Force. You will return a changed young
man. You will be able to focus on coursework, have motivation and best
of all-- you will have a benefits package to assist ($) you thru college.</p>

<p>FWIW, my .02 David</p>

5

<p>^^ do not enlist, yikes. I sense something in addition to ADD is going on. The going to bed at 1:00 a.m., spending needless time on the computer, low self-esteem, all point to depression as well. I would definitely talk to your school counselor if you are able and see if you can get an evaluation going asap. There could be underlying chemical reasons for your behaviors as well. Please do talk to your parents, and convey what you have shared here. I cannot imagine that they won’t listen to you and try to find you help, but I know there are parents that are completely unresponsive. Your counselor is sometimes your best advocate. I have a DD with ADD and I am telling you from experience that there is a completely different world for you once you have the help you need. She still struggles at times, but she is HAPPY, and reaching her full potential, which is all I really truly want for her. You deserve the same and I hope you will find yourself help right away!</p>

6

<p>It sounds like it could definitely be ADD, especially if you tend to drift off even when you’re trying to concentrate on an activity you enjoy. Be wary of diagnosing yourself on the Internet though, while symptoms may seem to apply to you, they have to be extreme and pervasive and interfering with your life to major disruption. (Which sounds like to me what you wrote, but I don’t know you and I’m not a professional so I can’t say for sure.) And if you want to see a professional but your parents won’t comply, well if you are REALLY desperate, I know that if you end up in the hospital for suicide attempt you automatically see a professional psychiatrist. Don’t do that though! I don’t know about other ways but there should be some. Also try your school counselors they probably know some way around the parents. Good luck and don’t lose hope</p>

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<p>I know this is a post asking for help, but I felt compelled to share a bit of my story as well. It is very good to hear that I’m not the only one going through this. Well, not “good” as in good you are faced with those issues, but it is good to know I am not the only one out there who is constantly under pressure because of those issues. I read your account, and I can safely say that it describes me to a tee. In fact, that is only a slice of my problem as well. </p>

<p>The only difference is that I am now 20. I am still going through these same issues I have been going through for years and years: the aforementioned possible symptoms of ADD, and social anxiety disorder on top of that. These issues have probably started when I started American public school in 4th grade when before that I was a model student with a promising future in the hard sciences, and a popular kid at my school! However, since this is a discussion for ADD I won’t bother with the detail on the social anxiety side of me, and get to the point on my attention problems.</p>

<p>My major still involves the hard sciences, but I typically feel as If I am biting off more than I can chew, which is very discouraging and depressing to me, especially when my academic dreams and aspirations don’t match my attitude and actions…In my mind I feel like my life is constantly in a static mode; there’s really no progress, and therefore there’s no reaching my goals, or at least in my head.That drives me crazy and demotivates me, because I feel like a child where I can’t get anything done. For instance, it took me 3 months to finish a personal statement that should’ve taken a week - tops. It’s not like I have a super busy schedule, it is just that I have a problem managing my time and focusing on one thing and finishing it promptly. I would usually rather pace around the house, or sit at my desk staring at the wall for 4 hours (literally) instead of getting started on an assignment. EVEN if the assignment is an assignment I enjoy!</p>

<p>Also, for me there is a line between an A and a C, and it is a thin line with trite reasoning for the mediocre grade. It is not something severe like I’m dumb, or I choose to be ignorant of my education, or can’t retain information. It is simply my dumb time management and horrendous study habits, which I would say puts me in a worse position than someone without any goals, because of the added pressure due to personal demands, goals, pleas, and promises constantly not met. It’s almost like I sit down with a mission, and then immediately I black out and do utterly useless things such as pacing around the house, pondering at my desk, unnecessarily reorganizing my binder, staring at the floor, going on facebook, youtube, etc here and there, and all this before realizing that it is 2 AM and I need to study for a test or complete a homework assignment. I can go on and on, but my point is that It is very frustrating!!! Can I also add that it took me an hour to come up with this silly post?? </p>

<p>I am going to try to see a counselor at my college at the moment, but they only offer only so much free counseling. I am not particularly rich, in fact not at all. I can’t afford to pay for therapy or counseling. I am not interested in a psychiatrist - I don’t really want to get involved with meds, since I still believe in therapy as a better option to solve these problems rather than mask them. I’ve been looking into support groups, but the ones in my area seem to charge fees to attend them. I still wonder if I truly do have ADD or as the author of this thread mentioned, I might just be just a loser? I would like to know as well.</p>

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<p>"And if you want to see a professional but your parents won’t comply, well if you are REALLY desperate, I know that if you end up in the hospital for suicide attempt you automatically see a professional psychiatrist. "</p>

<p>I know you offered a disclaimer, but what are you implying?</p>

<p>I hope I don’t have to say this, but you may NOT end up seeing a psychiatrist, and I think no psychiatrist is going to offer an opinion on ADHD in that scenario.</p>

9

<p>Having AD(H)D is like a noob driving a Nascar Car. You need to be able to control it or you will screw yourself. When you can control it though, you are blazing fast, faster than most people.</p>

<p>What you’ve described is not the definition of loser. The attitude of losers is giving up. As long as you don’t give up, then you’re not a loser. However. your symptoms above do sounds like you have possible ADHD.</p>

<p>Because ADHD itself has multiple causes, no one knows what is the best cure for ADHD. But in the case of screwed dopamine receptor, which is what most ADHDer have, getting meds first for short term, while also doing counseling for long term, is what I’d suggest for the best. If you don’t want meds, try coffee. Drinking moderately, it has similar effect with relatively no side effect (except if you have high blood pressure) and much more benefits (a good amount of studies in nature suggest that it protects against diabetes II, parkinson, alzheimer, alcohol liver damage, liver cancer). Or tea, which has lower caffeine than coffee, but also help in reducing your ADHD symptom.</p>

<p>Sometimes, ADHD symptoms are caused by diet as well. Be more aware of what you eat. Change your diet to less calories, more protein, less carb, less fat, no junk food, no preservatives, no food coloring, rule of thumb is don’t eat anything with chemicals which name you can’t pronounce. Or google it up to see its effect.</p>

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<p>"I know you offered a disclaimer, but what are you implying?</p>

<p>I hope I don’t have to say this, but you may NOT end up seeing a psychiatrist, and I think no psychiatrist is going to offer an opinion on ADHD in that scenario. "</p>

<p>I’m not implying anything. It’s simply a last, last option if it ever gets to that point. (But I hope it will never go to a point where you have to fake suicide)
So, OP and anyone else who reads this, please don’t misunderstand what I wrote.</p>

<p>On topic, I know many people here are against meds, but the majority of people I know who had ADD benefited incredibly from meds. Meds are never the solution but they will help you get on your feet fast and stop the negative cycle. So definitely keep it an option</p>

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<p>You sound exactly like me. No joke. (In fact, I’m here on CC instead of doing 16 pages worth of essays, 3 pages of math homework, 2 physics labs, 3 pages of physics problems, and a Latin powerpoint-- all due tomorrow. I just literally cannot bring myself to do it, no matter how hard I try. I just know I won’t start it until 10PM at least. Looks like it will be another night of staying up until 3AM+). And yeah, I have ADD. So if you really think you have it, certainly get it checked out!</p>

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<p>My son has ADHD, so I’ve learned a lot about it.</p>

<p>You mention many of the symptoms of ADHD in your post - too many not to get a professional involved.</p>

<p>Another poster mentioned depression; a high percentage of ADHD people also have anxiety or depression. Sometimes, ADHD medications also make the depression or anxiety go away (my doctor - a family practitioner - told me that he has half a dozen adult patients that he has effectively treated for anxiety with stimulants). There are also a number of medications that treat both ADHD and depression/anxiety.</p>

<p>Starting with your guidance counselor is your best bet. He or she will have some training in this, and can refer you to the school psychologist, who can do some testing and determine if you have ADHD. Your guidance counselor can also help you discuss the situation with your parents, if you think they are going to be truly reluctant to have you get help with this. Regardless of what you think, your parents are truly on your side, and want to help you (it just may not be that obvious all the time).</p>

13

<p>Be careful about leaving it up to the school! 99.99999999% of the time they will automatically say there is nothing wrong with you so that they don’t need to give you a 504 (my mom is a neurologist and sees this happen with kids who have pretty severe neurological problems). So try to get an outside neuropsychiatric testing, because then the school cannot dispute the results.</p>

14

<p>Good point, born2dance94. The schools resources are strapped. </p>

<p>I would stil start with the school, especially since the OP’s parents aren’t in favor of seeing an outside professional. If the school pooh-poohs it, then go to the outside right away, however.</p>

15

<p>Wow, what a great thread.</p>

<p>I was EXACTLY where EventHorizon was two years ago. In elementary school I was star potential, and got into a highly gifted magnet middle school. At adolescence, it all went downhill. Read EventHorizon’s post… its my twin.</p>

<p>Having all the above traits, at 20 (two years ago) I left school having again received awful grades. I sought evaluation from an ADD specialist, and she diagnosed me with ADD and potentially mild depression. My doctor also (independently) diagnosed me with ADD, and so I started with Adderall. I’m definitely not hot on the idea of drugs, but I gave it a shot, and wow, what a difference. I found a (small) dosage that is right for me, and it’s pretty incredible …because you’ll feel calm. The discussion of ADD and anxiety/depression is very relevant. Yes, Adderall helped with giving you focus and academics and all, but what surprised me is it gave me what I felt I was missing for the last decade. Confidence. I wasn’t amped up on some drug like overdosing students before an exam. I just knew I had become EXACTLY what I had been trying to emulate for so long. You will feel normal. It’s amazing. It’s empowering. Not that it makes you superhuman, but that it brings you close to where you should be.</p>

<p>The progress in focus and school were trivial to the huge improvement it made in other realms, like abilility to converse with people, being social, and a myriad of other things. </p>

<p>It really showed me a new world and that all along, I really had no control over it. Like, it is in a sense beyond you. I think a good example of this is actively trying extremely hard to focus on something, and not being able to, at all. This makes it worse, when it should not, and non-ADD people will probably never understand this struggle.</p>

<p>I must add, having read up on ADD a lot, you’ll find medication alone is a poor overall treatment. Diet is MASSIVE. Also, exercise is supposed to help a lot too. Medication, with these and other little things, constitute a much more legitimate approach to dealing with ADD.</p>

<p>According to Dr. Amen (a well-known ADD doctor), ADD is 60% of the time genetic, and aside from that, the leading cause of ADD is head trauma.</p>

<p>So, go get tested by a SPECIALIST. (My doctor’s ADD test was way too simple.) It could change your life.</p>