Mary3 Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 Hey can anyone enlighten me about what exactly ADD medical conditions and symptoms are in adults ? I read a previous post that they are always late and easily distracted. Anyone care to add their 5 cents ?
francis Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 Characteristics like; not liking routine, or feeling frustrated by routine e.g. doing mundane repetitive tasks impulsive do not set long term goals, like to set and achieve short term goals only
blue16 Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 Well I'm an Adult with ADD, and I've read lots of online research and a book or two which go into details on the symptoms. When I read the book, the first thing that I noticed is that "wow, there are TONS of symptoms." It goes beyond just simple concepts such as being distracted and being late etc...it's usually much more intrusive. That being said, some symptoms are: - easily distracted - interrupts others in conversation - chronically late - gets quickly attached to others - trouble forming close relationships - very impulsive - gets bored very easily - excessive day dreaming - slow-reading abilities - often seen as 'weird' by other people - often very creative - hyperactive - easily frustrated - many times seen as having lots of 'potential' but not putting it to good use - process thoughts much faster than non-ADD people - constantly changing job fields In addition, someone with ADD is very all-or-nothing when it comes to projects, tasks etc. For example, if I'm not interested in a task I will get bored very quickly, lose interest, and do a poor job (I would also day dream and get distracted easily). However, if the topic interests me I will spend TONS of time at full attention, almost to the point of obsession and do very well. Of course, there will be some ADD people that would say "I'm not an impulsive person!" as an example, but just as a general rule these are a lot of symptoms that apply to an Adult with ADD.
jerbear Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 Sometimes ADD maybe associated with autism, similar aspects are shared between both add & aut.
blind_otter Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 Sometimes ADD maybe associated with autism, similar aspects are shared between both add & aut. where did you hear this? I was not aware that ADD altered emotional affect, other than in conjunction with ODD.
alphamale Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 - easily distracted - interrupts others in conversation - chronically late - gets quickly attached to others - trouble forming close relationships - very impulsive - gets bored very easily - excessive day dreaming - slow-reading abilities - often seen as 'weird' by other people - often very creative - hyperactive - easily frustrated - many times seen as having lots of 'potential' but not putting it to good use - process thoughts much faster than non-ADD people - constantly changing job fields. yes I would agree with the above BLUE16, especially the ones I've bolded. I lived with a ADHD roomate for about a year and always thought there was something askew about him but I could not put my finger on what it was. After about 6 months of living with him he volunteered that he had ADHD and that explained everything! I also work with a woman right now who's in her 50s who has ADHD and she exhibits many of the same behaviours. I was not aware that ADD altered emotional affect of course it does....there is research to show that ADHD may be a mild form of Autism. Many of the mental "malfunctions" seem to be linked together to some extent.
blind_otter Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 of course it does....there is research to show that ADHD may be a mild form of Autism. Many of the mental "malfunctions" seem to be linked together to some extent. Could you let me know where you got this information? I'm curious. I've only heard it as a co-existing condition. Autism and epilepsy are connected to the same gene, but they are entirely different disorders with different treatment protocols.
alphamale Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 Could you let me know where you got this information? Please see the book below: The ADHD Autism Connection [sIZE=2]Diane M. Kennedy [/sIZE] ISBN: 1-57856-498-0 Publication Date:2002 Book, 206 pgs.
blind_otter Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 thank you. I just wanted to know where I could find out the information for myself. off to amazon.
blind_otter Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 what I found is that publisher WaterBrook Press is "an autonomous evangelical religious publishing division of Random House." Ok, this is not any kind of research that has been published in peer reviewed journals. That's why I was unfamiliar with this s***. It's not acceptible research, just case study reviews. bible quotes? Alpha, come on.
Author Mary3 Posted April 6, 2006 Author Posted April 6, 2006 Thank you Blue Here are a few more and tell me if you think these fall in line with ADD. Talks excessively / and or with exagerated animated gestures or voice characterizations. Loves to be the center of attention in the conversation but when the subject is off him , he quickly dimisses what you have to say and continues talking, almost as if what you had to say was not as important as what HE is talking about. Always late. A 30 minute (tops) drive took 2 hours because he kept running back to the house to retrieve something ( twice ) . This has happened on 3 occasions in the short time I have known him. He went from serious adult conversations to immature middle school behavior and back to video games ( nothing wrong with games I own 9 , lol ) but while you are talking or trying to talk to him , he is shrieking in the phone about vivid detail of the car crash in the game. ( I asked if he could pause while we talked ) He always seems to figit. He makes himself out to be better than he really is. His income , his housing, his job in general and what he does for a living. ( As I stated I dont care about how much money they make but please be honest about where you are in your career and interests ) I can overlook alot because he is very handsome , lol. But I just want to know what I am dealing with here. This might get pushed into the friendship zone although we have been crazy intimate . It might get pushed into less than that if I can't come out and say " Hey do you have ADD " ?
blind_otter Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 The thing about ADD is that it's only tolerable (for me) if the guy is getting treatment. Almost every guy I've dated had ADD or ADHD. Did you see the like 2-3 episodes of sex and the city where carrie dates a guy with add?
blue16 Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 Thank you Blue Here are a few more and tell me if you think these fall in line with ADD. Talks excessively / and or with exagerated animated gestures or voice characterizations. Loves to be the center of attention in the conversation but when the subject is off him , he quickly dimisses what you have to say and continues talking, almost as if what you had to say was not as important as what HE is talking about. Always late. A 30 minute (tops) drive took 2 hours because he kept running back to the house to retrieve something ( twice ) . This has happened on 3 occasions in the short time I have known him. He went from serious adult conversations to immature middle school behavior and back to video games ( nothing wrong with games I own 9 , lol ) but while you are talking or trying to talk to him , he is shrieking in the phone about vivid detail of the car crash in the game. ( I asked if he could pause while we talked ) He always seems to figit. He makes himself out to be better than he really is. His income , his housing, his job in general and what he does for a living. ( As I stated I dont care about how much money they make but please be honest about where you are in your career and interests ) I can overlook alot because he is very handsome , lol. But I just want to know what I am dealing with here. This might get pushed into the friendship zone although we have been crazy intimate . It might get pushed into less than that if I can't come out and say " Hey do you have ADD " ? Well some of those traits could be influenced by ADD. For example, when you said that he is very talkative, that is one 'symptom' that a lot of ADD people have. They get excited about a subject and ramble on about it at any costs, no matter whether the person is listening or if they have something important to say. However, that is NOT an excuse for him to just go on, no matter what you have to say. I would consider myself talkative, but I do listen to what people are saying about all the time and I do my best to pay attention and not interrupt. You also mentioned him having to drive back to his house to retrieve something. YES! That is a huge symptom of ADD, i forgot to mention it above. People with ADD have INCREDIBLE long-term memory. However, they are also EXTREMELY forgetful. So him having to go back for his stuff is probably due to his ADD. People with ADD can be hyperactive/figity as well, a sub-category of ADHD that some people have but not others. The part about how he can go into an adult conversation and act like a little kid in a blink of an eye sounds like me. Although I can't recall if I've read that being one of the symptoms, it does sound familiar in my world. Sometimes I can be extremely mature (well beyond my age) and at other times I am very immature. When you called him and he was playing a game, he was most likely immersed in the game and didn't want to talk or do anything else. It's not like a normal person where they can kind of put it down and take a break. If someone with ADD gets totally immersed into what they're doing they get totally into it and block out everything else. Him making himself out better than what he is doesn't have anything to with ADD, IMO. That's more about insecurity than anything.
CaliGuy Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 As someone with ADHD, I battle with this constantly. The following in bold apply to me: - easily distracted - interrupts others in conversation - chronically late - gets quickly attached to others - trouble forming close relationships - very impulsive - gets bored very easily - excessive day dreaming - slow-reading abilities - often seen as 'weird' by other people - often very creative - hyperactive - easily frustrated - many times seen as having lots of 'potential' but not putting it to good use - process thoughts much faster than non-ADD people - constantly changing job fields Mine is not quite as bad as people with full blown ADD. I'd say I have a mid-level case of it. I actually take Ginko-Biloba and fish oil which are natural to help raise my attention span. Seems to work pretty good.
alphamale Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 - excessive day dreaming What do you day dream about CG?? girls and cars and electronix?
Author Mary3 Posted April 6, 2006 Author Posted April 6, 2006 Blue its so cool to get advice from you ! Now lately for 2 days I have not been calling him because I need time. I did call today and invited him to something and lets see if he calls back. I am thinking of putting him in the friendship zone but in all fairness if he calls me back I have some questions I need to ask. Would it be appropriate to ask him if he was ever tested for ADD ? Or if he has ADD ? I went out with another guy one time , quite handsome and successful ( at least real estate properties ) and he told me he had ADD. I was thinking of Tourettes Syndrome as I did not know about ADD. Well he too was acting strange . If you asked him a question you got a 20 minute response. Impulsive : 2 dates and he wanted to buy me a house ! As I am not a gold-digger ,I could have had a great opportunity but thats not my style and I discontinued seeing him. I did have another potential date a few months back who also admitted to ADD but I never went out with him. This one however, is showing the signs of something and I think we both agree its likely ADD. Oh, he also has terrible direction sense ( so do I ) and he wont take the freeway to get here which is straight shot. He instead takes surface streets which takes alot longer ( I too have done this but eventually try another route ). I dont know if we can link ADD to no sense of direction because that would not be fair. Just curious how yours is ?? Thanks and any more info.
jerbear Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 ADD... upon reading more about it and talking to a few of my friends. Most show minor signs. Most of them are highly intelligent, yet can't "focus" on boring yet needed things. Possibly demotivation? My friends (and his brother) are very creative in finding solutions to problems However they can't deal with to much structure from my observations and somewhat breakdown under stress. They find solitude to destress or other ways (ie games) I had to push and actually put psuedo blinders on him and get his gf now wife involved to get him to focus & push him. He would stall do other things, stall the inevidtable; forget things, I would remind him or tell him about long term stuff. They also can't really sit still for awhile his carpet literally has a path burned in.
Author Mary3 Posted April 6, 2006 Author Posted April 6, 2006 He is incredibly intelligent . But his attitude sadly is that he feels he is better than most, smarter than most , which I detest . Very politically outspoken ( nothing wrong with that ) but I am not that political . I have my own view of the government , which I don't pester others , just as in religion: I don't force my views on others .
blue16 Posted April 7, 2006 Posted April 7, 2006 Blue its so cool to get advice from you ! np. I enjoyed being the guinea pig in this experiment
Author Mary3 Posted April 7, 2006 Author Posted April 7, 2006 So I talked to him on the phone and said " Have you ever been diagnosed with a certain condition ? " He said " What condition ? " I said ADD ? He said " Whats that ? " I said : Attention Deficit Disorder . He quickly balked at that idea and said "What ? ":bunny: No " lol. Okay back to square one. hehe...
littlekitty Posted April 7, 2006 Posted April 7, 2006 Hmmm reading this is making me wonder. Both my SO's parents, and also now my SO and myself believed he may have a very mild case of Torettes. However reading this, it could perhaps be a mild case of ADD. Do ADD suffers have any sort of ticks? I'm not talking a physical movement tick, but rather something like sniffing, or clearing the throat? Hmmm I'm just bouncing ideas around here. Although he says he feels compelled to sniff, which would - I think - align more closely with Torettes?
blue16 Posted April 7, 2006 Posted April 7, 2006 Hmmm reading this is making me wonder. Both my SO's parents, and also now my SO and myself believed he may have a very mild case of Torettes. However reading this, it could perhaps be a mild case of ADD. Do ADD suffers have any sort of ticks? I'm not talking a physical movement tick, but rather something like sniffing, or clearing the throat? Hmmm I'm just bouncing ideas around here. Although he says he feels compelled to sniff, which would - I think - align more closely with Torettes? Certainly doesn't sound like ADD. I think Torettes is a closer label to what you're describing.
littlekitty Posted April 7, 2006 Posted April 7, 2006 Certainly doesn't sound like ADD. I think Torettes is a closer label to what you're describing. Yes, I think so blue... thanks! I guess there's some similar traits between the two conditions. It's not noticible in my SO unless you spend a whole heap of time with him and make a few connections. Aparently it was a little worse when he was younger, but they didn't made the connection back then. He's never been disgnosed, it's not really worth it as it's not a problem really.
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