APD or ADD in adults

Subject: APD or ADD in adults
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 05:54 AM

I have been thinking for a while that I have either Addictive Personality disorder or Attention Deficit Disorder so I looked them both up and found the former could be a symptem of the latter anyway! Just look at the following and see how many of you may be suffering the same -

Adult ADD Symptom Test:

If you experience more than 10 points on this adult ADD self symptom test, Attention Deficit Disorder is likely present.

An internal sense of anxiety
Impulsive spending habits
Frequent distractions during sex
Frequently misplace the car keys, your purse or wallet or other day-to-day items
Lack of attention to detail
Family history of ADD, learning problems, mood disorders or substance abuse problems
Trouble following the proper channels or chain of commands
An attitude of "read the directions when all else fails"
Frequent traffic violations
Impulsive job changes
Trouble maintaining an organized work and/or home environment
Chronically late or always in a hurry
Frequently overwhelmed by tasks of daily living
Poor financial management and frequent late bills
Procrastination
Spending excessive time at work due to inefficiencies
Inconsistent work performance
Sense of underachievement
Frequent mood swings
Trouble sustaining friendships or intimate relationships
A need to seek high stimulation activities
Tendency toward exaggerated outbursts
Transposing numbers, letters, words
Tendency toward being argumentative
Addictive personality toward food, alcohol, drugs, work and/or gambling
Tendency to worry needlessly and endlessly
"Thin-skinned" - having quick or exaggerated responses to real or imagined slights

I had 17! Go on - be honest. How many do you have?

Cheers

DeG

Subject: RE: APD or ADD in adults
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 05:55 AM

Sorry, should be in the BS section. See - lack of attention to detail:-)

Can a Mudelf please correct.

Ta.

Subject: RE: APD or ADD in adults
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 07:10 AM

'M I bovvered!!!

Subject: RE: APD or ADD in adults
From: Smedley
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 07:23 AM

I think a lot of people suffer from MUD syndrome - Made-Up Disorder.

I think they call themselves, erm, Mudcats ? Would that be right ?

Subject: RE: APD or ADD in adults
From: GUEST,Ed
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 07:30 AM

It's a list of being human. The Barnum Effect in other words.

Me? All of them.

Ed

Subject: RE: APD or ADD in adults
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 07:45 AM

Mudcat disorder? Being Human? Barnum effect? My god! It is worse than I thought:-(

:D (eG)

Subject: RE: APD or ADD in adults
From: GUEST,Ed
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 07:54 AM

My god! It is worse than I thought:-(

Don't worry Dave, we're all in the same boat, and we still have the hills!

Kinder and Bleaklow are still out there.

Subject: RE: APD or ADD in adults
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 08:02 AM

Oooooh - Well said, Ed. Ingleborough in about 5 weeks if I am fit enough. That'll sort me out if anything:-)

Subject: RE: APD or ADD in adults
From: Cuilionn
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 09:47 AM

Aye, David...

I have ADD (moderate, but highly annoying) and only got diagnosed after I'd (barely) finished college.

I've read a fair amount on the subject-- Drs Hallowell and Ratey, I believe, are some of the best writers on Adult (and child) ADD-- and I have come to see that this difference in brain wiring can, if well-managed, become just as much a gift as a liability.

My mind tends to do a lot of leaping--I suspect that messages try to make their way through the "usual" channels but can't do so efficiently, so the nervous impulses do a hop, skip & jump to get around by alternate routes. This means I can be tremendously creative, though not always on anyone's preferred schedule!

Finding a blend of medical and non-medical approaches and coping mechanisms can make a huge difference. I take some medication on an as-needed basis and employ a lot of non-medical tactics like "The Ohio Method." (OHIO is an acronymn for "Only Handle It Once," meaning that you should try to not put a project down until you've accomplished what needs to be done with it. An example: when you bring in the mail and see a bill, carry that bill right over to the desk, write out the payment slip and the check, get out the stamp and envelope, put them in the payment envelope, and put the payment into the mailbox instead of setting the bill in that gargantuan stack of things "to be dealt with later.")

Subject: RE: APD or ADD in adults
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 19 Jan 10 - 10:25 AM

It's that 'hopping about' that set me off thinking in the first place so thanks for the input, Cuilionn. It was in particular reference to playing music oddly enough. I can get tunes out of all sorts of instruments - Guitar, Anglo Concertina, tin whistle, mouth organ, accordian, mandolin - basicaly most types but I have never mastered a single one well enough to consider my self a player:-( I am pretty sure it is because I cannot seem to focus on the practice long enough to master it:-(

I cannot, for the life of me, meditate and I have an extemely low boredom threshold when faced with a single task. Oddly enough I can read for hours on end and I can happily multi-task or multi-thread at work and home. Just wondering if it is a condition or just me!

Cheers

DeG

Subject: RE: APD or ADD in adults
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 20 Jan 10 - 03:59 AM

Now we are in our proper below the line place does anyone else have any experience of this?

Subject: RE: APD or ADD in adults
From: Ebbie
Date: 20 Jan 10 - 12:57 PM

I've noticed that in times of extreme stress it is difficult to concentrate on anything else. Does that qualify?

Subject: RE: APD or ADD in adults
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 21 Jan 10 - 04:07 AM

Any advice on how to concentrate on the task in hand? Or how to focus on a single thread?

D.

Subject: RE: APD or ADD in adults
From: Ebbie
Date: 21 Jan 10 - 11:17 AM

You know, I felt bad about the flippancy of my response so here is a resurrection. I don't have Attention Deficit Disorder but I do have an Obsessive/Compulsive bent. It is almost like I am trying to create one for myself.

For instance, especially when I am out walking if a syllable occurs to me, I have to see how many words can be made by adding a single letter in front.

If I happen to think of 'ard', I go down the list: bard, card, hard, lard, pard, ward...

Or 'ere': here, mere, sere, were...

And then I remind myself that 'w' usually changes the vowel sound from that of the others.

When I get tired of it, I am able to stop. However, I don't know why I do it in the first place.

Subject: RE: APD or ADD in adults
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 21 Jan 10 - 05:08 PM

Consider that some of the greatest people in history are thought to have had ADHD - J.F. Kennedy to da Vinci. You can google for a list and feel in very good company!

Subject: RE: APD or ADD in adults
From: Ruth Archer
Date: 21 Jan 10 - 05:28 PM

Yeah...googling for those lists is kind of like googling for people who had learning difficulties, or dyslexia...Fact is, they were never tested in their lifetimes, and the application of certain labels to their "symptoms", sometimes decades or centuries after their deaths, is speculative at best and misleading at worst.

The Barnum syndrome is a particular symptom of the internet - people stumble across lists of symptoms and self-diagnose all the time. Suddenly they self-identify as dyslexic or whatever without ever having been properly tested. It's actually quite insidious - you wouldn't dream of diagnosing yourself with a medical condition based on a description on the internet. You'd go to the doctor and get them to check it out. If you have serious concerns, D el G, that's what I'd do.

Subject: RE: APD or ADD in adults
From: Bert
Date: 21 Jan 10 - 05:33 PM

14 or 15, isn't that kinda normal though?

Subject: RE: APD or ADD in adults
From: Ed T
Date: 21 Jan 10 - 05:57 PM

Could it be "the Halo effect" or "Herd mentality"....just wondering?

Subject: RE: APD or ADD in adults
From: Folkiedave
Date: 21 Jan 10 - 06:01 PM

You should also take a look at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppositional_defiant_disorder

I think I know of a case which is not a child - normally they are the only people recognisable with this.

Any thoughts Dave?

Subject: RE: APD or ADD in adults
From: ragdall
Date: 21 Jan 10 - 09:24 PM

All but three. How many are there?

What was the question?

Subject: RE: APD or ADD in adults
From: Donuel
Date: 22 Jan 10 - 04:47 PM

I have 43, just kidding. I may have had a fair number of those symptoms but they have all but disappeared.

Recently I am a lot better. Perhaps I have passed a healing threshold after being struck by lighting 4 years ago or I am coming out of a pesticide exposure poisoning incident.

Whatever the reason I enjoy the wakefullness while it lasts.