I dont bounce off the walls, but i am always tapping my fingers, stomping my feet to a song in my head, and cracking my knuckles. My handwriting is horrible, and I have ZERO orginizational skills. My backpack would be just a pile of papers in chronological order. Get a paper, put it in the bag. And my room is a constant mess, piles of clothes everywhere and t only gets cleaned when my mom says I cant go to my GFs house till I clean it. I am sure everyones life would be much easier if I didnt have these problems. I dont want to start on the meds, but would rather learn about the problem and try to control it. Heck, I might not even have anything chemicaly imbalanced or anything. Hehe- sorta sounds like Im tryin to cop out now!

 

I'm not so sure you haven't described the typical College/University student. I'm not trying to make light/fun of your situation, but in your previous post your "test" results stated "May be possible". The important question to ask is do YOU think that you are having problems in life that are a result of ADD? It's not about what makes "everyones life" easier. Just beause you're not the typical "pea in the pod" doesn't mean you've got ADD. If you're truely concerned, then by all means seek medical help. But do it for yourself, not because you think that other people think you have a problem.

A good friend of mine has ADD. She just graduated from college with a degree in Mathematics and she's teaching math in middle school. Believe it or not, she has a remarkable talent for algebra, and an even more remarkable way of making it understandable. I've told her on more than one occasion that if I had a teacher like her some 20+ years ago, algebra and all of mathematics wouldn't be so difficult for me.

As for your handwriting, well join the club. To put it into perspective have you ever thought about the fact that many medical doctors have horrible handwriting? But I'll bet you'll never hear a mother say "This is my son/daughter 'The Doctor', and he/she has horrible handwriting."

Even if you really do have ADD, you're still capable of many remarkable things. Don't limit yourself based on the possibility of ADD or on others expectations of you.

 

muchtomydelight,
It doesn't sound to me that you are someone with ADD. If you saw an actual ADD case you would understand. The fact that you can sit and type a paragraph of that length on this thread proves my point. I worked in an adolescent Psych unit for three years, I saw many kids come through because they or their parents were convinced they had ADD. I'd like to say 90% of the time they did not (but I can't state stats for sure). The real cases of ADD were actually easy to tell. They were far, in a way, worse then any of the other "supposed" ADD cases. The fact that you have a girlfriend and can hold a conversation with your mother not to mention sitting through a whole test and getting good grades on those tests. The fact that you were able to sit for the SAT and get good scores, all of these leads me to believe that your not even close to the definition of a DSM diagnosis for ADD. A real ADD case as described by the DSM would not be able to do any of these.

 

OK, so maybe i dont, but after hearing Phat02s discription, it fit me to a T, and i thought Id look into it.

 

add is real....i was diagnosed 6 years ago....i am now 50....i take medication.....big help.......it runs in families.....don't let your children suffer because of misplaced macho nonsense about trying harder, no way is my kid going to take drugs, etc.....that said, it is not an excuse, but an explanation of some of the whys and wherefores of human behavior.....it is more prevalent in this country because we are a nation of immigrants...people who could not/cannot sit still...do the math.....

 

You can find additional ADD/ADHD resources here:

http://www.add.org/content/abc/basic.htm
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/adhd.cfm
http://www.chadd.org/
http://www.add.org/

I take Strattera for my ADD, it works well with very little up/down peiods.
http://www.strattera.com/index.jsp

ADD was selected for genetically in the past because it made for individuals that could detect danger and made good trackers, hunters, soldiers etc. They were succesful in the old days and reproduced Modern man with factories, offices, schools are not what we were bred for and we find our skills lacking for this environment. We just have to get along as well as possible. If Mankind ever opens new frontiers like outer space they will need our skills and abilities again. We thrive on danger, solitude, and harsh conditions, they are the only things that make us feel alive.