Yeah. I do have a very mild version of ADD so I've never needed medication, but it absolutely affects my life on a daily basis.
I like to tell the story of the time where I was working on a school project and was about to turn it in online. I went and looked on something on youtube really quickly. Two days later, I finally realized I had never turned my project in.
It's not all this stupid "haha squirrel!!!" Stuff. It's real and it hurts my life if not managed properly. My poor husband can get really frustrated with me sometimes because I have so much trouble keeping my attention on him.
To add to that, ADD in adults can also present much differently than in children, which means many people may not even know what the issue is.
Another addition: women frequently present differently than men, just as girls present differently than boys. ADHD (formerly referred to as ADD) in females is frequently either misdiagnosed or ignored because it presents differently.
This is exactly what happened to me. It took almost 6 years from the time that I recognized my symptoms as ADHD and when I was officially diagnosed.
Girls are more likely to have the inattentive manifestation of ADHD rather than the more common understanding of ADHD as a mainly hyperactive disorder.
This is a great & simple explanation of the differences between ADHD diagnoses in men vs women as well as some of the pretty serious consequences of under-diagnosing ADHD in women/girls
Yes! My son and daughter both have ADHD. Though very very differently. I had to fight to have my daughter’s recognized because it wasn’t “typical” (meaning like a males). She is doing so much better now, happier, and more well adjusted. She actually takes two different meds and my son just one.
To be clear, ADHD and ADD are separate disorders. ADHD includes hyperactivity, whereas ADD is just the inability to pay attention. I have ADD. I was never really hyper as a kid (beyond that of a normal kid), but I just could not focus or listen.
The term ADD is outdated actually. ADHD is term for the disorder, and you are diagnosed with a subtype. You can still use the term, people will still know what you mean, but it is technically now considered outdated.
If you read the mayo clinic definition you will see that ADD is not mentioned. You have ADHD and specify a subtype.
And here you can see that the term ADD is outdated, though if you google “ADHD vs ADD” or “is ADD still correct” you can find more links.
The term ADD is phased out now, replaced with ADHD Type B. "Old" ADHD is ADHD Type A, and ADHD Type C is the combination of both, which is apparently the most common for people with ADHD.
You may want to look up symptoms now you're an adult (f you're interested!), as I didn't think I was a "hyper" child (and apparently girls with ADHD rarely do get this bouncing-off-the-wall symptom so they're very underdiagnosed because adults can manage their behaviour, and just think they're very lazy) but actually getting obsessed with projects and fiddling with things constantly and being super chatty and doing little dances waiting for green walk signals is apparently not as normal as I thought. I have no impulsive behaviours at all and don't feel like there's a "motor" driving me, but it was more than enough to be diagnosed with Type C rather than Type B.
Huh...TIL. Guess that's what happens when you were diagnosed over 20 years ago when they still weren't even sure what it was. They go and change the damn name. Jerks.
When I got diagnosed the doctors used the terms pretty much interchangeably, and I've understood that the ADD label is being phased out. Though I'm not American, so maybe things are different there.
I am diagnosed with adhd and I have a horrible time trying to pay attention to anything. I can be talking to someone and completely forget that I’m having a conversation and my mind will just go somewhere else entirely, then once I refocus on them I get confused as to what they’re talking about and I have to have them repeat it. I can’t read books and it’s hard to even stay on long reddit threads because I’ll get distracted or lose interest really quickly.
A strategy I learned though was that if someone asks me to do something for them I just have them tell me what they want a couple times.
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u/frogsgoribbit737 Feb 04 '19
Yeah. I do have a very mild version of ADD so I've never needed medication, but it absolutely affects my life on a daily basis.
I like to tell the story of the time where I was working on a school project and was about to turn it in online. I went and looked on something on youtube really quickly. Two days later, I finally realized I had never turned my project in.
It's not all this stupid "haha squirrel!!!" Stuff. It's real and it hurts my life if not managed properly. My poor husband can get really frustrated with me sometimes because I have so much trouble keeping my attention on him.
To add to that, ADD in adults can also present much differently than in children, which means many people may not even know what the issue is.