Hello everyone.

One side of me believes that I have a legitimate (neuro)psychological problem, that has gone on for quite a while, shrouded by symptoms of depression and anxiety.

I am afraid that after I am diagnosed it would become an excuse, rather than an explanation. Medication may help, but my habits, upon my observation, seem so ingrained into my personality and speech mannerisms that it may be near impossible to change them.

Once again, I am only 17, and it is easy to blame a lot of my erratic behavior on immaturity and puberty, even though I am the only one who tends to act out. And I doubt myself, in that maybe if I tried just a LITTLE bit harder to control myself, I could. I feel "silly" often, I feel hebephrenic. I feel childish. I'm well aware that I will begin college next year and looking at the way I am progressing it looks like it will be difficult.

But it feels impossible to just "calm down". To "stop"...is effortless. I know it is a stereotype, but I can't get it out of my mind that AD/HD is a childhood disorder. If others were to find out about what I believe myself to have (and have been diagnosed in the past), I don't want them to get the cliche image of a kid refusing to do his homework and will only play videogames for hours on end. And yet, that is me. I'm well aware of the consequences and yet the hardest thing I will ever be able to do is get my s**t together, to be organized for once in my life. To be able to find my AP Government homework, that I actually did for once, among the decrepit papers and notations in the black hole I call my bookbag.

I'm sorry if I've offended anyone on my stereotype of AD/HD, it's just a recurring image for me whenever I bring it up. I know there are people here that are in their 30s and up, married with kids, that take their condition very seriously.

Thank you, and happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Taking your condition seriously and using it as your primary source of identity are two very separate things. Going for a formal diagnosis and/or treatment intervention(s) is a very individual choice, as are the results of taking any or all of those steps. You have a wonderful sense of insight and awareness of aspects of yourself you are considering addressing, and you also seem to have a good awareness that simply having a formal diagnosis and/or treatment are not, by themselves, assurance of the outcome you want. You, yourself have all the capabilities within you to meet your goals, professional intervention are a means to expedite that.
If possible, it may help to discuss your concerns with your parents or a school counselor, and maybe you can work together to help you meet your goals.

Hello everyone.

One side of me believes that I have a legitimate (neuro)psychological problem, that has gone on for quite a while, shrouded by symptoms of depression and anxiety.

I am afraid that after I am diagnosed it would become an excuse, rather than an explanation. Medication may help, but my habits, upon my observation, seem so ingrained into my personality and speech mannerisms that it may be near impossible to change them.

Once again, I am only 17, and it is easy to blame a lot of my erratic behavior on immaturity and puberty, even though I am the only one who tends to act out. And I doubt myself, in that maybe if I tried just a LITTLE bit harder to control myself, I could. I feel "silly" often, I feel hebephrenic. I feel childish. I'm well aware that I will begin college next year and looking at the way I am progressing it looks like it will be difficult.

But it feels impossible to just "calm down". To "stop"...is effortless. I know it is a stereotype, but I can't get it out of my mind that AD/HD is a childhood disorder. If others were to find out about what I believe myself to have (and have been diagnosed in the past), I don't want them to get the cliche image of a kid refusing to do his homework and will only play videogames for hours on end. And yet, that is me. I'm well aware of the consequences and yet the hardest thing I will ever be able to do is get my s**t together, to be organized for once in my life. To be able to find my AP Government homework, that I actually did for once, among the decrepit papers and notations in the black hole I call my bookbag.

I'm sorry if I've offended anyone on my stereotype of AD/HD, it's just a recurring image for me whenever I bring it up. I know there are people here that are in their 30s and up, married with kids, that take their condition very seriously.

Thank you, and happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Hello everyone.

One side of me believes that I have a legitimate (neuro)psychological problem, that has gone on for quite a while, shrouded by symptoms of depression and anxiety.

I am afraid that after I am diagnosed it would become an excuse, rather than an explanation. Medication may help, but my habits, upon my observation, seem so ingrained into my personality and speech mannerisms that it may be near impossible to change them.

Once again, I am only 17, and it is easy to blame a lot of my erratic behavior on immaturity and puberty, even though I am the only one who tends to act out. And I doubt myself, in that maybe if I tried just a LITTLE bit harder to control myself, I could. I feel "silly" often, I feel hebephrenic. I feel childish. I'm well aware that I will begin college next year and looking at the way I am progressing it looks like it will be difficult.

But it feels impossible to just "calm down". To "stop"...is effortless. I know it is a stereotype, but I can't get it out of my mind that AD/HD is a childhood disorder. If others were to find out about what I believe myself to have (and have been diagnosed in the past), I don't want them to get the cliche image of a kid refusing to do his homework and will only play videogames for hours on end. And yet, that is me. I'm well aware of the consequences and yet the hardest thing I will ever be able to do is get my s**t together, to be organized for once in my life. To be able to find my AP Government homework, that I actually did for once, among the decrepit papers and notations in the black hole I call my bookbag.

I'm sorry if I've offended anyone on my stereotype of AD/HD, it's just a recurring image for me whenever I bring it up. I know there are people here that are in their 30s and up, married with kids, that take their condition very seriously.

Thank you, and happy Thanksgiving everyone.:D You sound just like me, except you can put it into words a LOT better :p As you get older you will learn to settle down, and it will become who you are...I learnt organization, sorting things, filing things after years and years of being messy, and then embarassed trying to sort it all out. I got caught out many times with the wrong or no paperwork etc etc..
I am still *silly* but now I can control myself a lot better :faint: Some days I just want to be "me", so those days I am med free, and play silly games with my nephews etc...my 10year nephew old often says to me "I love you because you can be such a child!"

anyway, I'm not sure of my point, except I liked your post, and you will get it together..even though it took me 40 years, I doubt it will be that long for you, becasue you actually know where and what you are doing, and that's not what you would like:D (Tracy rambling again LOL)

Well fishmael a tendancy to be child like should not be confused with being childish. . . childish is inmaturity and few 17 years olds even consider the notion they are inmature (which to some one my age they are) so from what I see you are already ahead of the game in the insight department. . .being child like isn't necessarily a bad thing as tracy points out in her post above.

Now the ability to control your focus is a common ADD issue that may be helped by medical treatments and maybe some form of behavior therphy or coaching.

Few conditions effect childhood alone even those that are aquired strictly during childhood - they are some I am sure but there are a rare few most things that affect one during chilhood will also have some impact on adulthood as well.

ADD being strickly a childhood condition well if you are born with brown hair, green eyes and meduim complexion does reaching adult hood change that?. Being ADD has to do with the way the brain works although many of us learn to cope with this we do not out grow it any more than we did our other genetic traits.

I never outgrew my glasses either Sis ;). I still need them and I am still loaded with PI ADHD (occasionally showing the old combined DX when my frustration pushes my impulse threshold) and I am 40 years old, OP!

I am terribly silly...on and off my medications. I talk nonsense for sport and sing advert jingles. If nobody listens, I converse with my cats :D. I dance to Muzak in the grocery store. I don't have a clue what this "adultishness" thing is after all these years, and I doubt I ever will. Looks pretty boring to me anyway!

You know, in reading the responses here, there is something to be said for seeing the world and living your life with the eyes and heart of a child. In my experience, people seem to enjoy those of us who bust out into random dances while walking in the grocery store, press every button on every toy just to hear the cool sounds, and are not afraid to maneuver ourselves to fit on a kiddie ride at the amusement park. For those of us with ADD and ADHD, thats often simply who we are and we thrive on having that unbridled ability to make others (and ourselves) laugh. We don't take everything so seriously, maybe because we realize that would take away a part of us that sometimes keeps us going when things get tough. I say to anyone who, because of the rigidity of others, feels a need to "grow up", pay them no mind, be who you are and never lose that part of you. :o



I never outgrew my glasses either Sis ;). I still need them and I am still loaded with PI ADHD (occasionally showing the old combined DX when my frustration pushes my impulse threshold) and I am 40 years old, OP!

I am terribly silly...on and off my medications. I talk nonsense for sport and sing advert jingles. If nobody listens, I converse with my cats :D. I dance to Muzak in the grocery store. I don't have a clue what this "adultishness" thing is after all these years, and I doubt I ever will. Looks pretty boring to me anyway!

Every stage of the evolution of man - I believe - is seen in the process of egg meets sperm ~to~ adult vanishing off the Earth at, hopefully - a ripe old age.

In this scenario - we've an egg and a sperm cell - very much like prokaryotic organisms and intermediate stages which run through primates and human evolution - developing a mind (as such) - at around the age of 3 or 4 - notable because this is accompanied by a sense of time ... and then after a few years ... mid-30's appears to be about the threshold - time sense is lost - and the older ADDer displays similarities with the younger ADDer.

Immaturity - in all the best ways - and none of the pejoratives.
No sense of time.
A sense of wonderment.
Desire to have fun.

A new sense of purpose.

Of course - the mid-30's and beyond ADDer has a mind - and we're not kids - though the similarities are notable.

I believe that the pattern which is being described in this thread is identical in principle to the Stabile idea of evolution of mind - passing through the key stages at birth, 4 or 5 and then 34-35 ... the three stages of man ... 3, 4, 13 ...

... 4 representing the 4 or 5 year old - who gains the fourth dimension.

And then the shift towards 13 dimensions which emerges in our 30's ... ... ...
the anchor to the fourth is lost in the process.

Ahhh, love that analogy and i'm excited at the prospect of continuing to nurture the child within. Maybe its also rooted in gaining perspective as one gets older. So, this means I no longer have to be a closeted Wallace and Gromit fan? ;)



Every stage of the evolution of man - I believe - is seen in the process of egg meets sperm ~to~ adult vanishing off the Earth at, hopefully - a ripe old age.

In this scenario - we've an egg and a sperm cell - very much like prokaryotic organisms and intermediate stages which run through primates and human evolution - developing a mind (as such) - at around the age of 3 or 4 - notable because this is accompanied by a sense of time ... and then after a few years ... mid-30's appears to be about the threshold - time sense is lost - and the older ADDer displays similarities with the younger ADDer.

Immaturity.
No sense of time.
A sense of wonderment.
Desire to have fun.

A new sense of purpose.

Of course - the mid-30's and beyond ADDer has a mind - and we're not kids - though the similarities are notable.

I believe that the pattern which is being described in this thread is identical in principle to the Stabile idea of evolution of mind - passing through the key stages at birth, 4 or 5 and then 34-35 ... the three stages of man ... 3, 4, 13 ...

... 4 representing the 4 or 5 year old - who gains the fourth dimension.

And then the shift towards 13 dimensions which emerges in our 30s ... ... ...

... of course ... just down ~wear~ the wrong trousers ... :-) ...

oh! ... go on then ...

... but only if you can put your hand on your fluffy toy spider and swear that it'll be fun ...

:-)

Spiders are icky and they walk funny, but this one I got on this piece of paper? It is bound to go down the back of somebody's shirt any minute now :D....

my dad still watches Sesame Street and he's 53...

Good for him, he's got the right idea! Heck, I can't walk past the toy department without pressing all the buttons on the toys, creating a symphony of sound effects as I skip on my merry way. :)



my dad still watches Sesame Street and he's 53...

hey bert

I never outgrew my glasses either Sis ;). I still need them and I am still loaded with PI ADHD (occasionally showing the old combined DX when my frustration pushes my impulse threshold) and I am 40 years old, OP!

I am terribly silly...on and off my medications. I talk nonsense for sport and sing advert jingles. If nobody listens, I converse with my cats :D. I dance to Muzak in the grocery store. I don't have a clue what this "adultishness" thing is after all these years, and I doubt I ever will. Looks pretty boring to me anyway!LOL, I'm coming to play with you one day hehehe :D :D

the psych who diagnosed me said its common for ADHDers to have the responsibility level that is 2/3 their chronological age. so i'm 18, so he said my responsibility level is that of a 12 year old (which really offended me, btw). he said that i probably won't have an adult responsibility level til i'm 30 (2/3=20 years old). this thread makes me feel waaay better, i don't think i'm THAT irresponsible, i just think i don't worry about things that most people my age would make a big deal over.

I don't have a clue what this "adultishness" thing is after all these years, and I doubt I ever will. Looks pretty boring to me anyway!

Yep growing up doesn’t look like any thing I want to do either. . . I can be very child like but I am rarely childish . . . okay maybe when I show Gary my stomach when I am hungry and ready for lunch . . .




I converse with my cats

Little shhh stinker likes to annoy me . . .I have fun annoying him back . . .

Ever turn an empty laundry basket over and put it over the cat to see what it would do. . . ever see a cat try to get under a couch while still under the laundry basket?

A piece of clear tape on a paw can be almost as entertaining as cable. . . no commercial interruptions no harm to the cat either. . . but it does annoy them. . . . :D


the psych who diagnosed me said its common for ADHDers to have the responsibility level that is 2/3 their chronological age. so i'm 18, so he said my responsibility level is that of a 12 year old (which really offended me, btw). he said that i probably won't have an adult responsibility level til i'm 30 (2/3=20 years old). this thread makes me feel waaay better, i don't think i'm THAT irresponsible, i just think i don't worry about things that most people my age would make a big deal over.


Child like should not be mistaken for childish, although fun to me is a rubber snake under the right pillow or plastic turds on just the right desk . . .I took on responsibility very early in life . . . Despite being ADHD and un-medicated . . .by the time I was your age I was charging floors and passing medications to patients . . . the paradox of my life at 18 I could be responsible for a drawer of narcotics but I was too young to go into a local bar and have a drink with the people I supervised. . . . I am as ADHD as they come and I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 29, it didn’t stop me from being responsible when I needed to be !

So yes do be offended, you have every right to feel the way you do, you can even be offended for me while you at it. Okay?

Then get the best rubber vomit you can afford or procure one of those jumping snakes in a can and show the psych what ADD is really all about – :p

Seriously

Do only if doc is humorous please don’t really get your psych major mad at you or any thing though. . . but snakes in a can, cats under a basket dancing a jig to Mozart is really what being ADHD is all about right along with getting an education, so you don’t have to work for minimum wage and being responsible to learn about how ADD effects you both the good and bad traits along with the neither/ nor. . .
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