[Closed] Inattentive ADHD, talk at me...

There are a massive number of websites about this

Surely that can't help 😉

I'm really glad you finally got.......Oh! Look!... A Squirrel 😉

🙂

Evening bump.

Long suspected I have this.

Attention span of a goldfish. A mind that simply never shuts up. Fidget lots. Always trying to do 100 things at once.

Should really speak to the doctor

Why not Bob,see what they can offer for assessment and treatment.

Is light hearted piss taking welcome on this thread?

You're five hours too late with that question my simian frie.....Ooooh! There's a monkey. 😉

No rules here TGA.

Better late than never PP, and worth checking - I don't want a chemistry experiment thrown at me like what happened with an ADHD kid at school when I made a helpful suggestion.

In that case, at 48, aren't you a bit old to suffer from [s]naughtiness[/s] ADHD?

I have not done much naughtiness for a fair few years.

I am now looking for a [s]excuse[/s] reason for a lifetime of failing academically, in work and socially. It's pretty depressing to still be skint and lonely.

@neilwheel, I believe you & also feel for you.

In the prison service when a con says/shouts, 'Ive got ADHD!' The usual response from staff is, 'no you haven't, your just a nasty, manipulative ****'.

Which is sadly, usually the case.

Thanks.

There is an element of truth in what you are both saying. Someone who is capable of knowing what's right and what's wrong, and reaches the threshold of maturity, no longer has an excuse for being naughty. It does not necessarily mean that the problems have just gone away.

Hope the new job is going well.

I've never met an adult (as in a proper, rather than a technical, adult) with ADHD - just kids. Must be even harder when you think about it.

A couple of years older than you OP. I struggle. Always did. Did the online test a few months back as it became apparent to me in a (rare!) moment of clarity that Something Isn't Quite Right. Can't concentrate on anything for long. Was useless at school, have to follow my own train of thought to squeeze anything out of me and only then in fits and starts. Drift off constantly, have trouble determining social situations/am variously socially inept to the point of wanting to leg it to a quiet place.

Other times I just yammer away incessantly until I want to tape my own mouth shut. The list is almost endless when I think about it. Am hugely creative but pitifully disorganised and procrastinating. Manual work I typically stick at like a loyal and driven beast, always go the extra mile for employers in that respect. Stick a pile of papers/charts/numbers in front of me and I go into quiet meltdown and feel literally ill from the stress of it. It's a dichotomy.

Anyway, turned out with the test that I scored close to off the chart for adult ADD. The results recommended I speak to doc/seek pro assessment 'ASAP'. Haven't acted on it yet as have more pressing (personal) medical and family (medical) issues to attend to right now. A positive assessment for adult ADD might explain a lot but wouldn't heal me of 40 years of poor study/career achievements, broken friendships/burned bridges/unfulfilled emotional relationships. It's a bit scary at 50 tbh. We'll see. I can laugh at it. You have to really! Was that a small fly? Anyway back to the drawing board. Where was it...

My keys? Best get going. Have you seen them BTW?

OP ( and Malvern rider), rather than look to a possible pharmaceutical sticking plaster for your identified issues, mindfulness therapy may help you. Specifically learning to be in the Now.

Plenty of books, websites etc nowadays on this subject, including Buddhism for learning to quiet the chattering mind.

neilwheel - Member
I have not done much naughtiness for a fair few years.

I am now looking for a excuse reason for a lifetime of failing academically, in work and socially. It's pretty depressing to still be skint and lonely.

Sucks doesn’t it? 😥

That all sounds very, very familiar Malvern rider. I had my moment of clarity over 10 years ago, and have spent most of that time thinking I was somewhere on the Autism spectrum, after being assessed for that, they suggested that it was more likely to be ADD/ADHD and referred me to that service.

During that time I have also been on and off anti-depressants, currently off, and from what I've read it seems that those drugs are not best suited for someone with ADD/ADHD. While I would prefer to not be taking any medications, I would like to know what options are available. Although,I don't know what else you have going on in your life, if you were assessed and it was confirmed, there might be some help offered that you would like to take up, if you are not assessed then you'll never know. It can't change the past, but could make the future better.

So yes, I do see pill popping as a sticking plaster too, but right now I could do with some help and, yes, it sucks, big time, fat one.

OP ( and Malvern rider), rather than look to a possible pharmaceutical sticking plaster for your identified issues, mindfulness therapy may help you. Specifically learning to be in the Now.

Plenty of books, websites etc nowadays on this subject, including Buddhism for learning to quiet the chattering mind.

That's good advice thanks. It's something I agree with wholeheartedly (and have practised with some striking if short-lived results). Am not one for pills in the first order, so no matter what transpires from any pro assessment it's now apparent that I can't just ignore 'it' and will have to put proper time aside for this and begin turning things around.

The social/interpersonal stuff is equally damaging, like every day learning to swim over again from scratch after you thought you were swimming but find out that you've actually just been splashing around drowning. Or re-learning a native language long after you've settled with a barely intelligible slang/pidgin version. It just feels like I read things wrongly mostly of the time, yet being also hyper-aware/observant this just amplifies the mistaken assessments. At these points I often go into isolation for very long periods in an attempt to re-calibrate/effect damage control. Hectic.

Remember Jack Nicholson's OCD character bursting in his therapist's office in 'As Good As it Gets'?

The therapists reprimands him for the thoughtless disruption. To which Mr Udell (looking confused) responds:

How can you diagnose me as an obsessive-compulsive and then act like I have some choice about barging in?

I should be in N Wales an hour ago BTW Even us mentalists have inescapable duties! Keep us updated OP! Go easy on yourself. Bike time = therapy.

Could someone give me a link to the online test that's been mentioned? I had a quick look but none of them really looked legitimate and I haven't got the patience to trawl through them (obviously).

EDIT: Perhaps it's somewhat telling that after I wrote that, I forgot about it and went off looking at my billion other open tabs without posting, then only posted once I happened to come across this tab again!

Sort of a side-point to 'treatment' but all scatter-brained and disorganised people should try gettingthingsdone.com.
You can start with some short podcasts or youtubes (inc tedtalk) then get the book in paper / audio format. I have both.
I'm less distracted and better at putting my attention on my priorities than before....it doesn't make your life easier so much as give you a system to handle lots of themes competing for that scarce headspace.

Padkinson, there is a link at the bottom of this page, this is the test I was given by the NHS last year. (Taken from DSM IV which has now been replaced by DSM 5, I have not read up on if there are any substantial changes.)

[url= http://www.addadult.com/getting-help/screening-checklist/ ]Link[/url]

Thanks Digger, I will look at that site.

Hmm, have to admit it's not something I'd ever really considered, but just did an online test and it says I have symptoms of adult ADHD - TBH I got half way through and given the questions I knew where we were going. My biggest problems in life are a difficulty in getting started on difficult things and a tendency not to be bothered to finish things off. Interesting to also see difficulty in following conversations as a symptom though. Actually now thinking about it it seems really obvious - I've done a huge amount of different things (mainly sports, but also other hobbies, currently playing trumpet in a band) - which does seem to impress people given I tend to reach a decent skill level before I get bored and move onto the next thing, so can do a lot of things quite competently. I tend to describe myself as getting bored easily...

The strange thing though seeing comments about failing academically is that I did OK - and was doing really well until my last year at university, which is when I guess my issues with getting things done first hit in a major way. I couldn't say my life has been a complete disaster, but I always have the feeling I've underachieved horribly in my professional and personal life.