Should I talk to a doctor about ADD?

Parents Forum Learning Differences and Challenges - LD, ADHD
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<p>Hi, I'm about to be a freshman at GT. I've never really understood the whole hype about ADD. Personally, I think it's overdiagonsed, probably very rarely real, and people are way over-medicated. I think it's used as an excuse for laziness and just being a kid way too much. Recently though, I read an article about the symptoms... and I feel like a bit of a hypocrit typing this out, but I feel as though... I don't know. Just read on.</p>

<p>Here's my problem: I can't concentrate and do homework. It's obvious. Look at any class where busywork (not just test scores) is part of the equation, and I do worse. I'm plenty intelligent, tons of test scores prove that. But I just can't focus. I'll lose track of a conversation with my girlfriend (that doesn't end well, trust me) just because I notice something out of the corner of my eye. I'm not wild... at all. Very chill, never get in trouble. I constantly have many many things open on the computer at the same time, it's the only way I can get anything done. I don't think I've ever been able to actually complete a whole math assignment, without skipping a good few or being constantly watched. I just can't focus. I notice it in tests too, I start dozing off, thinking about something else, but I quickly catch myself and I manage to finish faster than most other people do anyways (I'm a fairly fast worker). My homework grade is generally lower than 50%, not for lack of trying. I've tried PDAs, sticky pads, agenda books. The more I try to use a system to not forget to do homework, the more I forget to use the system.</p>

<p>The thing is though, everyone says I'm just absent-minded, that I need to organize myself better. I've needed to "organize better" every single year of my school life. I need to "work harder". Trust me, if lack of motivation and drive was the issue, I would've done that project that was 15% of my grade and could NOT be turned in late, no exceptions, instead of completely forgetting it existed until class started, even though I wrote it on my hand at the beginning of the weekend. (Long sentence, but you get my drift) I've had this issue since well before 4th grade.</p>

<p>Either way, my parents don't really believe in the whole "ADD" thing either, so I never got diagnosed, and well.. who knows if I do or don't. I don't really know. I do know that I'm going to be at one of the toughest curriculums in the college world next year (Georgia Tech), and I really hope that I can overcome this myself, because trust me, I will try.</p>

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<p>I would rec. talking to someone about your symptoms. My son always did well in HS, but workload in college put him over the edge. He talked to a counselor who when he heard his symptoms (very similar to yours) reccomended testing. We used an educationally focused counseling center to do the testing. I also think ADD is overdiagnosed and certainly do not advise medications w/o testing. I actually have an older son who was diagnosed as a senior in HS--he did not take any meds and was able to use organizational aids like you mentioned and did fine in college. However, #2 son is in a more demanding major and at a more rigorous institution and bottom line is a different person---so what works for one may not work for another.</p>

<p>It was difficult adjusting medications while in the process of adjusting to college life, dorm life, academics, etc. I would strongly rec. following up on this during the summer so that you have a plan in place for the fall. You may or may not have a "label", but a good counselor could help you determine what you may need.</p>

3

<p>Many doctors may not be able to diagnosis ADD. They'll just listen to your symptoms and give you some sort of medication. If you have the time and money you probably should go to a testing psychologist who is trained in evaluating learning disabilities. Based on a series of tests and talking with you and reviewing information from your parents that person could recommend proper medication, but can't perscribe it, and could recommed academic adjustments to your college that would help take any learning disability you have out of the academic equation. Problem though--it costs big dollars to do this. It's doubtful your college will provide the testing because of a possible conflict of interest as well as the costs involved. If you approached your campus center for disabled students or counseling center they might be able to make some recommendations for professionals in your area who could do an evaluation that they would accept.</p>

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<p>I am not sure what GT stands for (Georgetown?GeorgiaTech?) but I do know that many schools have counseling centers where students go to discuss problems etc and alot of times they offer testing for a minimal fee or no charge at all. </p>

<p>Big schools that have a med school attached to it generally have psychiatrist who rotate throught the student counseling service and they are the ones who prescribe for students taking advantage of counseling services. </p>

<p>If your school does not have a counseling center you should go talk to the Center for Disabled Students. Tell them that you want to find out about being tested and they should be able to direct you to the right place. </p>

<p>So I agree with tsdad - especially that it would be great if you could get testing done to see exactly where you need to help to be successful - but I am unsure about why there would be a conflict of interest of being tested through the university.</p>

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<p>It could be alleged that it's not within the university's interest to read the tests to indicate that the person has a disability since they will then be then responsible for providing the required accomodations. There is also a possibility that the counseling center might read the tests one way and the disability service center another.</p>

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<p>I can completely relate to the OP's dilemma, but my mother gets angry at me (who knows why) and says it's just because I don't care (which isn't the case).</p>

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<p>Maybe you could ask your mom to do some reading on the subject.
Two of the books I used were: "Teenagers with ADD, a Parent's Guide" by Chris Zeigler Dendy and "Driven to Distraction" by Hallowell and Ratey.</p>

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<p>
[QUOTE]
I can completely relate to the OP's dilemma, but my mother gets angry at me (who knows why) and says it's just because I don't care (which isn't the case).

[/QUOTE]
</p>

<p>same with my parents; they think i'm unmotivated and am just trying to make up excuses.</p>

9

<p>
[quote]
I've never really understood the whole hype about ADD. Personally, I think it's overdiagonsed, probably very rarely real, and people are way over-medicated. I think it's used as an excuse for laziness and just being a kid way too much. Recently though, I read an article about the symptoms...

[/quote]
I hope I can put this in a way that doesn't sound rude or disrespectful, because I don't mean it that way. This is my interpretation of what you said above: First you say you don't get it. Then you express some fairly strong opinions about ADD and the people who have it. Then you say "recently, though, I read an article about the symptoms..." as if you had never read such a thing before. It seems to me that it would make sense to read something about what ADD actually is before making such strong judgments in conflict with medical and psychiatric consensus about a disorder that has been recognized and treated successfully for decades. But I understand that the limited information you've had available so far would lead you to such opinions. I believe that these widely held views were invented by the media--in the absence of any factual information--because doping up kids makes a good story.</p>

<p>Although there are other things that could cause the problems you are having (sleep much?), your story sounds like a textbook case of inattentive-type ADD. You need to see your college's counseling service, and if they tell you to just buckle down, get a second opinion from a psychiatrist. Pick up the book Driven to Distraction and see if the individual stories in the first couple chapters seem to be about you. Show them to your parents.</p>

<p>No, you CANNOT overcome this yourself! You need to get help, now. Do not let this go. If you can manage to NOT procrastinate on one thing, let it be this.</p>