I don't think you understand the extent of the problem. It's possible that you actually don't exhibit these symptoms to any great extent.

The way I describe what goes on in my head is that it is like a swirling fog in there. Occasionally something comes into focus and that is what I can do that day. I can walk past a simple job a hundred times and not even see it. A friend talked to me about Alzheimer's last week. Two days later I told him the same story. I remembered the story but forgot who told it. Things slip into and out of my attention like they were greased and on a slick surface. I pick up my guitar to play and decide to do that every evening. Two weeks later I realize that I haven't touched the thing since. It isn't that I had no interest. I simply forgot what I wanted to do.

This happens all the time. I have no consistency in my life. My wife has to remind me that I need to leave for work. I KNOW I have to go but I forget when I have to leave. Simple regular appointments slip out of my mind. I make an appointment and then forget that I have even spoken to anyone about it.

I have almost no memory of my childhood. Some events, special or particularly difficult events, flash to the surface but they are disconnected from anything else. They could have happened to someone else.

I understand that there are people out there who are absent minded. But this is deeper than that. One of the difficulties that psychologists have in making people see the disorder, and it IS a disorder, is that too many people do not realize the extent of the problem.

Consider a small business owner. There are many details to attend to when you own a business. Where would he be if he simply forgot to go to the store every so often, if he failed to order stock because the process was overwhelming, if his bills didn't get paid because he didn't remember to put money in the account. You may poo-poo that idea but that is what this is like.

I can sit here and write about it simply because it is my interest du jour. But even though it is my interest it took me three weeks to remember that I wanted to research the problem. I was not diagnosed recently. It was a month ago. But every time I sat down at the computer it slipped my mind and I did something else.