In finally realizing that there is a name to my 'condition' and characteristics that define it, I feel a sense of relief. I don't feel as though I have to live in fear of the unknown that lurked in the shadows of my mind. I feel a burden lifted from my shoulders and know when my actions are those of ADD. It does not mean that I am crazy.

I feel as though I am at a meeting of Alcoholics Annonymous and admitting and believing for the first time that I am an alcoholic. By the way... I am an alcoholic with 11 years of sobriety. I think of how many of those 16 years that I drank that I was masking much of my "colorful ADD personality."

Is this how one feels when that moment of clarity hits, and they say, "I am 'so-n-so' and I am have ADD ." ? I feel reborn.

ADD/ADHD is a serious risk factor for chemical dependence. Having UNTREATED (emphasis on that word) increases the risk for chemical dependence by about five times the population norm.

Many persons with ADD self medicate with drugs or alcohol. Interestingly, being treated for the ADD/ADHD can have a huge positive impact on prognosis for those who are already chemical dependent. There have been cases described in some studies of people literally walking away from long standing addictions. If ADD is treated prior to chemical dependence becoming an issue the incidence falls back to the population norm.

Some studies have found unusually high frequency of ADD in individuals in treatment for chemical dependence and also in our prison systems (Where many of the offenders are there for non-violent drug related crime).

On a related note.... I have severe anxiety (which as it turns out is fairly common in people who have gone long periods with untreated ADD). I also suffer severe depression (also unusually common in those with long term untreated ADD). My experience in support groups with individuals who have anxiety is that most of them have not had a real DSM-IV screening with their diagnosis. I've suggested they get one, as many of them seemed to be classic ADDers to me (although I'm no doctor). Here's where it gets interesting... Of the ones who managed to get such a screening done who hadn't had one, the vast majority of them (over fifty percent) turned out to have untreated ADD, and like me, when it was treated their anxiety also became more responsive to treatment.

It makes me wonder just how much of this stuff is interrelated.

l DSM-IV screening with their diagnosis. Ok,I feel kinda dumb asking,but what is a "DSM-IV screening"?

The DSM-IV is the diagnostic criteria manual for mental health. General practitioners don't always use it, or perform a proper screening when they diagnose and, quite frankly, I think that ought to be treated as malpractice.

There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 370 ish specific disorders in the DSM-IV and only around 270 so distinct symptoms. Needless to say, there is a lot of overlap and mimicry from one illness to the next. ADD for example can be misdiagnosed (and often is) as Bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, and probably a few other things as well. To make it even more interesting many of these disorders can "Co-occur" in which case they're referred to as co-morbid disorders.

A proper screening can take weeks, but it does more than test for ADHD. It tests for pretty much the entire spectrum of mental health issues, verifies that they aren't looking at a case of one thing mimicking another, and identifies co-morbid conditions. All of this can impact treatment greatly. Quite frankly, no one has any business diagnosing this stuff without using the established diagnostic criteria (which incidentally are a bit different in europe from my understanding). A proper screening is just about as accurate a diagnostic tool as a diabetes blood test. This is why members of the american psychiatric community and neurologists as well don't believe there is an overdiagnosis problem with ADD. Because properly done screenings are quite accurate. Unfortunately there are a lof doctors out there who don't do them, and it's a real shame.