I am new to ADHD and I am trying to get a handle on which are ADHD symptoms and which are just my personal quircks.

For example, I can't sit and watch a one hour TV show, but I can sit and flip channels non-stop for at least an hour, or more.

I rarely go to bed before midnight. My body may be tired, but my brain isn't.

I empathize with whoever is talking to me. I may seem to be easily swayed by others, or may even seem hypocritical as I agree with first one side, then the other. It is simply that I genuinely understand more than one point of view.

How about you? What unusual characteristics do you have that you attribute to ADD/ADHD?

haha I do all three of those. Its not just with TV that I have to keep flipping channels, its also the radio. I have all my buttons preset in my car and I press them almost constantly..drives my family crazy. It takes all my strength to not press them when they are in the car.

a few others:

I don't stand still when I talk to someone one on one, I saw, bounce, walk back and forth, do other things...haha or somethimes just leave

I often think with a very confused look on my face...people often ask why I have that expression on my face..

drink tea about 50x faster than normal people

randomly come out with "lalalalala" and not even notice

QUESTION: I have this habit which I would like to know if anyone else does...I have done it my whole life but I really picked up on how wierd it is when my other ADHD friend went crazy over me doing it..
Do you ever pour yourself a glass of water/juice/milk/ or whatever, take like 3 sips of it and then put it in the fridge for later? I have done it my whole life and I dont even notice until someone complains I have about 5 half full glasses taking up space in the fridge.

I don't stand still when I talk to someone one on one, I saw, bounce, walk back and forth, do other things...haha or somethimes just leave

drink tea about 50x faster than normal people

Do you ever pour yourself a glass of water/juice/milk/ or whatever, take like 3 sips of it and then put it in the fridge for later? I have done it my whole life and I dont even notice until someone complains I have about 5 half full glasses taking up space in the fridge. i never stay still when talking...and medication hasn't stopped me from fidgeting at all...waking back and forth...i love doing that...it's so natural...but drives other people crazy

smiling constantly 24/7 is my fidgeting fix...get some facial muscle moving

i drink everything 50x faster than normal people...i eat fast too...

but how did u d that? u physically put the glass back into the fridge? so next time u can just grab the glass and drink it again

i think i do the same thing as u...but with coke...i open the can...drink a few sips...and leave it on the table and forget about it...usually until the end of the day...then i remember the can of coke...but it's all flat and i can't drink it anymore...so wasteful...

i hate buying chips and ice cream...they r gone anyway...i get to eat them only on the first day...afterthat i forget about their existences...2 wks later i remember my chips but it's all gone...my family eats them all...

You know that could just be the querks of your personality. It could have nothing to do with AD/HD.

I have a habit of just walking into a conversation uninvited and I love to say random things. Eg. people are talking about who is going out with who then I pop in and say " I forgot to clean my teeth thismoring,

that pretty much describes me in a nutshell, "random" out of the blue things I think of in response to something said last week, or a joke I just "got" or just something occurs to me that never had before in the middle of a great conversation on the history of Greeks which I could go on and on about, never mind,

tee hee! I rarely finish a cup of tea-I leave the cups everywhere and everywhere!

How bout projection? That's a biggy for me. I tend to project problems in advance way before they may or may not happen. It drives everyone nutz, including myself. I'm trying to work on that one. I also tend to lose small things around the house like my keys. I have some other tendencies that I have learned to overcome most of the time. I try to listen better and think before I speak out. I totally stink at picking up certain kinds of jokes. I hate when I'm the last one to get it. Some of the good things are that I am into music and the arts. I love to sing, write songs and poetry and draw. I am also a very emotional person. When I experience things, I experience them much more then surface. I don't know if it is like this with lots of other ADDers but I find that I am a multi-dimensional person. I am introspective and I see things with more depth then some people. This can be a good thing but also not so good. I am also MAJORLY unorganized. Something else I am working on. Oh and the tea thing, boy does that sound like me. Drives my husband nutz, cups on my night table half finished all the time. The worst nightmare was when I went to shut off the alarm and forgot about the half finished cup of tea I left on top of the clock. When will I ever learn? :)

I know this topic may have already been discussed but I wonder if other ADDers are terrible sleepers like me. I sleep very light, get to bed late and also get insomnia. I have to watch TV at night to help shut off my brain or I'll be up all night. It drives me crazy. Anyway, I could write all day about my unusual ADD symptoms. Just thought I'd mention a few. My life hasn't always been easy, but for sure it's never been boring. :) Dee

I have to always be moving to actually think clear, shaking my legs (doing it now) Moving my fingers, going back and forth on my legs, shaking while I'm sitting well not really shaking just squirming a lot.

I HAVE to always chew gum...if I don't I freak out. This may be apart of my Eating Disorder or both I'm not sure.

People sometimes wonder if I'm mad at them cause I guess I when I'm thinking about something hard I get an evil look on my face :D

I suck down my drinks, anything...coffee (I have to drink it warm cause I burn my throat on it)...water, vodka & cran...everything can't sip it.

I can't go to sleep very well..I'll lay down and be so tired but won't fall to sleep till after 12am or so...I have to get a grip on my mind to make it stop thinking!!!

I don't like listening to commercials on the radio, TV or anything else...

I zone out when people talk to long, I'll walk away from people and forget they are talking to ME!! (yikes!!)

okay so my list is long...but thats a lot of them!! :eek:

I hear you sister, everything you just said, I AMEN loud and clear, the cups of coffee for me are everywhere, and why even try to sip when you can gulp!!!You get more for your money-that is why I like expresso, it gets the job done quicker!!No cups lying around for some misguided organized soul to take to the dishwasher before I was finished, that one irks me.

My interests are so varied also and random and I have to get to the heart of them, I can't settle for what someone tells me, I have to KNOW and find out for myself,

I could go on, time is another problem-I lose track of it, like where did the day go?

Okay thanks I know I am not alone anymore.

I don't like listening to commercials on the radio, TV or anything else...
:D
I think that one is also shared by non ADHDers,flygurl,especially considering how long and annoying they are now. :D
-In the UK,it is common knowledge that the BBC(who do not show adverts in favour of paying an annual licence fee) have been getting increasing number of viewers because the advert revenue reliant channels have refused to stop constantly showing the 'crazy frog' ringtone advert-they've had so many complaints about it.

Sometimes I get so fed up of having to change channels everytime an advert comes on a music channel,that I just put a CD on instead.


I've got nothing new to add to whateveryone else has said already,i've know idea what parts of me are in relation to ADHD,and what isn't.

Well, here's the #1 seemingly quite confusing thing about myself that I might connect with ADD symptoms.

Relevant Symptoms:

Forgetting meaningless details
Being generally asocial
Annoying Problem: Excluding family, good friends, and my teachers, I tend to remember NOBODY's name. It's hard enough just to remember it a minute after they've told it to me.

Cause of Contradiction: At the same time, I'm somehow pretty great at learning my vocabulary, typically getting 100% on the test.



I empathize with whoever is talking to me. I may seem to be easily swayed by others ... I genuinely understand more than one point of view. This certainly happens with me to some extent. However, we surely know that this is an important trait to try to keep (after all, there's nothing more important in politics than seeing things from both sides):).

Originally Posted by takemeaway
... "random" out of the blue things I think of in response to something said last week ...I think I know the feeling, although I'm constantly suppresssing the tendency to say anything with "bad timing". I really don't want to hide it, but it's hard to convince myself that anyone will want to listen to my random thoughts.:(

I have to always be moving to actually think clear, shaking my legs (doing it now) Moving my fingers, going back and forth on my legs, shaking while I'm sitting well not really shaking just squirming a lot.


I can relate. I think my best while walking (pacing around usually). Unless I am hyperfocused, I am often squirming around, rocking back and forth in my chair, especially if the environment has more than a little auditory stimuli. I cannot think very well when someone is speaking to me.

Annoying Problem: Excluding family, good friends, and my teachers, I tend to remember NOBODY's name. It's hard enough just to remember it a minute after they've told it to me.


Who is NOBODY? ;)


Cause of Contradiction: At the same time, I'm somehow pretty great at learning my vocabulary, typically getting 100% on the test.


Reading vs. Hearing? Visual vs. Auditory, perhaps?

Being asocial isn't really a symptom of ADD, its a side effect. Well, unless you are hyperfocused most of the time; in this case it could be considered such.

I can relate to the name issue. I tend to remember people by appearance and vocal tone than by name. When I was attending college, there were people who I had conversed with for several years that I had never know their names.

A related issue is with people referring to other people by first name. Generally, this works well, but when an environment is populated by more than one person with the same name, social interaction becomes a little hairy for me. I would believe that the way this ambiguity is resolved is through non-verbal communication (mostly with respect to eye-contact, anyway), which I am not always responsive to. I tend to impulsively respond to those who call my name without even considering that someone else could have the same first name. While it seems like anyone could have this problem, most people seem to handle the aforementioned situation in a more graceful manner.

I was interested to hear that you all seemd to unaminously agree that you leave your cups of tea half empty on the table. I'm making a website on ADD and I would like to no more on this.

Do you guys also always leave part of your meal even though you're not that full?


Hugh

how abou15 to 20 short flashes of things that have happened in your life playing over and over and over and over, well you get the picture. this goes on constantly in the back of my mind even though i am doing something else. i mean i can be splitting lanes in rush hour traffic, watching for cars that are getting ready to change lanes in front of me, and i see that movie in the back of my head.

My interests are so varied also and random and I have to get to the heart of them, I can't settle for what someone tells me, I have to KNOW and find out for myself,

Oh, I have to laugh about that one! I used to be so bad, if I asked my husband where a package was sent from, and he told me, I still had to go look in the trash for the address label to see for myself. Drove him nuts.

I am an auditor, and a good one. Why? Because I have to see everything for myself!

i drink everything 50x faster than normal people...i eat fast too...
Interesting. I drink pretty fast - Diet Coke by the gallon, but I eat verrrrry slooooowwwwwly. I am usually the last one done, or don't get to finish at all. I think it is because I talk so much.

I don't know if it is like this with lots of other ADDers but I find that I am a multi-dimensional person.
Multi-dimensional? How so?

I think I am actually multi-talented. I did vocational/career testing while in high school and ended up with a plethora of potential career choices. I had so many interests and good potential for doing well in such a variety of things that I had a hard time choosing a career path. I actually kind of envied the kids that had one obvious interest or talent. Is this the kind of thing you mean?

I know what you mean about being ultra-emotional though. I seem to soak up other people's emotions, or feel such strong empathy that I almost feel as if whatever happened to the person I am feeling for, that it could have happened to me. My imagination is vivid and powerful.

I zone out when people talk to long, I'll walk away from people and forget they are talking to ME!! (yikes!!)



Yeah, me too! I sometimes feel a little bad that unless they are talking about me, I am really not very interested.....:o Seriously, unless people can get to the point quickly, they will lose me. A lot of the time, the strong feelings of empathy I mentioned in another post result from a news story or something I saw on the internet. That is kind of wierd isn't it, that impersonal things could arouse a stronger emotion in me than a real live person right in front of me?

I never thought of that until just now!

Albino Fox - I said this:

I empathize with whoever is talking to me. I may seem to be easily swayed by others ... I genuinely understand more than one point of view.


This certainly happens with me to some extent. However, we surely know that this is an important trait to try to keep (after all, there's nothing more important in politics than seeing things from both sides):).

Your response cracks me up - I have actually been told I would make a good politician, but I am not sure it was a complement.... :o

how abou15 to 20 short flashes of things that have happened in your life playing over and over and over and over, well you get the picture. this goes on constantly in the back of my mind even though i am doing something else. i mean i can be splitting lanes in rush hour traffic, watching for cars that are getting ready to change lanes in front of me, and i see that movie in the back of my head.
Are these traumatic scenes? Do you have post traumatic stress disorder? Or do you mean more like random memories with no particular or obvious relevance?

My mind roams all over the place, flashes of memory, replays of conversations or events (or alternate versions of same!), things to put on my to do list, things I should have done, but haven't, plans for the future, scenes from a movie I saw or from a book I read, or a magazine article, stories I make up as I go along, scraps of songs, etc. A lot of it is repetitive, but nothing in particular is over and over and over and over, like you describe.

exactly procrastn8r, i am not good at explaining what i am thinking, as you replied, is axactly what happens. as for leaving half full or empty, i bring home a case of bottled water home, and within a week l have managed to leave half full bottles of water everywhere, the kitchen, cumputer hutch, all the cars, bathroom, bedroom, garage, patio, i mean i find them in places and wonder who put that there.

People sometimes wonder if I'm mad at them cause I guess I when I'm thinking about something hard I get an evil look on my face
Ooooo, FlyGurl! My daughter is always saying that about me.

"Are you mad, Mom?"

"No, I'm thinking."

"Well you LOOK mad."

I think I am actually multi-talented. I did vocational/career testing while in high school and ended up with a plethora of potential career choices. I had so many interests and good potential for doing well in such a variety of things that I had a hard time choosing a career path. I actually kind of envied the kids that had one obvious interest or talent. Is this the kind of thing you mean?
met too, procrastN8R. Sometimes this feels like a curse to me. I can see the positive side of having so many interests, but I crave that "one thing" that I'm interested in. Feel like I leave a lot of projects by the wayside...things I started out passionately interested in, then got bored with.

On the other hand, there is a definite patter to my interests over the years...mostly music, writing, and ecological stuff...but I lack the focus to develop any of these thing. The writing gives me the chance to explore those things I have interest in but will ultimately get bored with. I wrote a novel about desert Kangaroo Rats (well, not JUST about k-rats). Was waaayyy into K-rats for awhile. Now I could care less. How weird is that! :)

Ok, I am not yet diagnosed ADD ... that will be next week.... but these are a few of my symptoms:


1. My husband tells me that "I'd loose my boobs if they weren't attached to my body"

2. I will open up a propel bottle guzzle it half down, leave it in that room... go to the fridge and grab another one 10 minutes later...forgeting I had got one in the first place.

3. My husband tells me consistently that "he already told me that yesterday"... or maybe even 10 minutes ago.

4. I feel like my mind won't quiet down so I can LISTEN to other people. I think of a hundred other things when people are talking to me. My husband finds this extremely frustrating and embarrassing.

5. I too, have walked away from people when they were talking to me. Or mind jumps around and I seem zoned out....like that ADD commercial.

6. I eat and drink very quickly also.

7. I can't finish a book, but magazines jump from article to article so it better holds my interest.

8. I hate doing long term projects... I need variety to keep me from growing bored.

9. Instead of doing a 20 minute session of cardio, I do 10 minutes before weight training and the other half after. I also have to constantly change my music on my MP3 so I don't get bored during my cardio...then productivity slows when I get bored with anything.

Again, I haven't been diagnosed yet, but don't y'all think that kind of sounds ADD?