Regardless if it is a little bit here and there that some. As I am aware it can depend on how severe it is in different people. I constantly try to understand my add by observing others and how they do thing and contrast that to how I would do those same things.

It scares me to think that I had a shrink who basically thought every one she saw was bipolar and put them all on lithium. I was and it did nothing for me.

It was supposed to balance out the chemical effects in my brain. In people who are ADD I think their is more of one type of chemical or something than the other and more of this chemical would make you more of a creative type of person.

I am now on dexidrene which to me seems like it simply boosts that creative chemical so you can use it? Does this make sense?

Anyways..
Not comparing just looking at the differences. I hope this makes sense. But it makes me wonder. I know a lot about my condition but I am still not completely understood on what is actually happening my:eyebrow: brain. I know some of it but I think I need to understand more.

I am not quit sure exactly what you are trying to understand. I Have been having a pretty bad string of duh moments where I am unusually thick. . . .reason un-known.

I guess one of the major problem you are having is trying to fine the nice neat definitive line between a mental condition and a temperament variation . It would make life easier if this line were like the country line where one side of the street is county “A” and the other side is county “B”.

I am sure many metal health care professionals would also find their jobs much easier. Several things make things like this more confusing. . . .we not only have a biology but the genetic biology we were born with reacts to an external environment. . . . we are not the sum total of neuro-biology or genetic but a combination of experiences, temperaments, environments, that interact with our biology.

ADD is easiest for me seem as a temperate variation that doesn’t “mesh well” with specific environmental demands. An example is my male partner and I, oddly enough we have many of the same ADHD traits. I choose to change my brain chemistry so I could function in the non-ADD world. Medications help me be able to sit longer {so I can do boring paper work} and I am able to monitor my expressions and words more closely {I am able to fake or cover my feeling better}

He choose to modify his world to suite his individual style. He does no take medications and he could not function in the NT world however he has arranged his life in a manner where he doesn’t have to {he worked for himself and has no bosses} Both methods are effective it is individual preferences and goals that determine the difference.

If I missed the mark I apologize and feel free to correct or clarify.

I just had a thought about this....but suddenly lost it,maybe it's a bit late :)) Sorry,will try to post tommorow,good night:)

I am not quit sure exactly what you are trying to understand. I Have been having a pretty bad string of duh moments where I am unusually thick. . . .reason un-known. ditto :faint: I was confused...

I know a psychologist who didn't recommend meds for his creative patients as he felt they inhibited creativity in some people. I know people who hare creative on and off meds.

I am both ADD & BPDII. Not sure which one makes me more creative?
Maybe both. Although in my highest hypomanic states I was extremely creative.
But then again, in a black depression I was too?
I was afraid being on meds would dampen this. Although I have lost the hyperfocus and the insomnia and extreme moods that drove it on a more regular basis...I have found I am no less creative than I was before. Just not as often if that makes sense.

I totally understand what Tammy is saying. Although I too am wondering if you are asking a multiple question , question?

I mean just because we are ADD doesn't mean we are so different you see hoards of us in groups and go yeah there is an ADDer or group of them?
Like a city of Lepers or soemthing that obvious? You can work right next to one and never know? And it's not that everyone is sooo different from us, it's just the extremes we go to that make us "different" ?
Just can't fit the square pegs in a round hole? That is why I loved the analogy of one of the first books I read as an ADDers year ago, which was the
Hunter / Farmer Theory on ADDer's. Interesting theory and at the time, made sense to me enough to understand why I might not fit in, and that is was okay. That I just needed to either do what Tammy said, which was "alter" myself back to what we call NTer's or create a world around me so I could stay the way I was, happily. I have done a combo of both.

I can say if you feel you are surrounded by ADDer's we do tend to gravitate towards each other, probably because we understand each other, and don't find each other as boring as others? I don't know if I have hit the nail either, but there is what I kinda see you asking?

What brought up this subject matter is that I have seen many people with traits of ADD and I don't know if it is because I am looking for it. I am always trying to profile people in general but you know how everyone says - things like " oh everyone does that, everyone has that problem etc." I don't know if it is a matter of how severe the add can be or what.

I can say if you feel you are surrounded by ADDer's we do tend to gravitate towards each other, probably because we understand each other, and don't find each other as boring as others? That is exactly what my AD/HD phsrink told me! :eek:



:D

It also helps to remember that symptoms of ADHD are symptoms all people share; the difference is a matter of frequency and intensity.

It also reminds me of an analogy here...

Ever notice when you own a certain type of vehicle...that all of a sudden you "notice" how many of them are on the road too? Well I do that anyway.

I bought a Chevy Venture Van last year..and never noticed how many were on the roads until I owned one...I even notice that many of them seem to be the exact color as mine, must have been a very popular factory color..

But maybe that is why you are noticeing more of , not only obvious ADD people but also the tendencies? Because you are more intuned now?

I relate it to being pregnant Pregnant people always notice other pregnant people. . .

Being aware of ADD traits can make them more noticeable in those around you. What makes ADD a "condition" is that these normal tendencies like loosing stuff is more frequent and sever enough to interfere with our ability to function properly or reach our potential.

The example is my thick phase. . .every one had times when they fail to grasp the simple however when one has a week of this it can interfere with ability to function.

Hope this helps.

as one of my classmates said, "EVERYONE has ADD! it's such b______t!" (eyes rolling) (an unfortunately late-night session indeed...as she started off being a pretty cool person prior to that...owell)

i have a friend who kept saying "that's me, too!" whenever i talk about my symptoms....until i grilled him on his academic history. i was rather hopeful, too, that he was like me, but his pre-college experience just didn't match mine (or the other stories i've read in various books, and from people here).

he's been dx'd as bipolar...=T

gee, i wonder why i don't really notice anyone who's add-ish except my dad, though i do notice a lot of people who have "add moments"...is that the same thing? =)

Ok, let me simplify things here.... ;)


Everybody has a bit of ADHD inside them. :D

Those without ADD have a single thought at one time.
Jeez, how boring would that be?
I'd pass out from the boredom!!!:D

In this day and age it's difficult not to show some adhd traits. The world is a more complex and fast paced place. Adhd behaviors fall along a continuum, when you end up on the adhd end you get the diagnosis.

Unfortuneatly many times the diagnosis is missed.:(

If someone didn't show adhd traits at times, you might want to take a second look, they might be a robot.:D