Poppy_x
08-09-07, 10:59 AM
I’m 15 years old, and have for at least a year now had strong suspicion that I do have ADHD – after previously declining seeing a professional about my problems a few years ago as my school suggested.Just to get you kind of introduced; here is a list of the some of the problems I have – the most severe ones that is.
Procrastination – this is most defiantly one of the worst problems I have, and it makes my life very troublesome. I am fully capable of getting A’s in all my subjects at school but, when I can’t do my coursework or hand it in 7 months late, it really diminishes my chances of getting the grades I want and need. I’ve tried loads of different ways to help with my procrastination, but nothing seems to work – if I do manage to get something started I very rarely finish it.
Forgetfulness, Memory problems & generally losing things – When asked “what did you do today” I’m struck with complete uncertainty. What on earth did I do today? It’s sort of like the memory is there but my brain can’t find it. Recently this problem has got a lot worse I find myself in a daze unable to recall how I got to a certain place or into a certain situation – and can only work it out by making logical assumptions. It seems that sometimes I can hardly remember my own name, but I can remember extremely futile things like; exact quotes from TV shows, lyrics to every song I know, etc.
Tics, fidgeting and “always on the go” – I am a perpetual fidgeter, and I become overwhelmed with anxiety/restlessness when asked to sit still, to stop tapping my fingers or fiddling with whatever I can find around me. There is not been a time in my life when I ever recall sitting completely still, I am always tapping my fingers or my toes, I especially annoy those around my by fiddling with everything I see. But one thing that worry’s me is that at least once every few minutes, I have an uncontrollable need to kind of…shake, or just generally make a movement of that sort…(it’s hard to describe). I also talk excessively – I can talk about anything, for hours and hours, it always gets me into trouble both at home at school and in social situations (although in some ways it can also be a blessing)
Anxiety, irritability and anger – I have frequent feelings of anxiousness – involving; quite prominently nausea, shortness of breath, hot flushes and dizziness. I often find my self to be easily irritated by minor annoyances, but I hardly ever am angry – I tend to avoid anything or anyone that is angry or any situation that involves confrontation or rage.
Distractibility - I am exceptionally easily distracted, even when I try my hardest to listen – I can’t. I have problems when reading things, I skip words out by accident, forget what I have just read, or seem to never be able to control myself enough to stop skipping to the end. It’s like when I read I take in every word separately and not as a whole sentence causing it to lose its overall meaning. I find this is slightly worsened when I am reading something that is either hard to read or of no interest to me. I also find it exams very hard due to this. I have to re-read questions about 10 times before it makes any sense. ;[ and even in classes I’m really good at such as science, I get really bad results, (well lower than I’m supposed to/I think are bad)
Compulsions, obsessions and “intense dislike of change” –Very frequently I find my self rearranging things – CD’s ,Books, anything of different colours, shapes or sizes, into some for of logical pattern and find myself extremely upset when these things are out of place. Through the past few years I have recognised that I hate change, especially positioning of myself, weather it being sitting position or the side in which I am standing to something – when asked to move seat, I tend to be extremely oppositional, anxious and annoyed. I also find it extremely to throw things away, and seem to believe that they have feelings of some kind.
Other problems:
Easily bored
Trouble staying on track
Trouble empathising with others
Sometimes over concentrate on things
Easily upset / “Thin skinned”
I also have trouble getting to sleep at night, my mum says think of nothing. But this is easier said than done in my case – I can’t simply think of nothing, there are permanently thousands of thoughts buzzing round in my mind, words pictures, and noises. The only way I’ve found I can sleep is by having the TV on in the background or taking sleeping tablets.
Caffeine can also make me feel tired, and seems to make some of my problems/symptoms better, but I tend to feel very nauseous after drinking coffee, and get hallucinations, and I am very very anxious. So I can’t really use it to help stop my symptoms
These are just a few of the problem I seem to face everyday, and they are really affecting my life as a whole and I fear that they will (if they already have not) ruin my life. I always have that dreaded “not living up to potential” speech, wherever I go and whatever I do. And these problems are not recent ones, although many have changed, and either worsened or in some cases got slightly better, they have been present for a long time, and yet I am still extremely wary of seeking help, filled with fear that I will be judged or scrutinised – and no-one will believe me, or that I’m just being.
I have a history of bad behaviour both inside school and out, lack of homework, inability to concentrate, forgetting to show up to detentions and talking way to much – all of which makes my school record look terrible and making it very hard for my to apply to collages etc.
Just to add; my mum has a history of depression and anxiety.
.
I’ve taken a number of the online tests available, and all state that there is a high probability that I have ADHD – I was wondering how reliable these results actually are.
Procrastination – this is most defiantly one of the worst problems I have, and it makes my life very troublesome. I am fully capable of getting A’s in all my subjects at school but, when I can’t do my coursework or hand it in 7 months late, it really diminishes my chances of getting the grades I want and need. I’ve tried loads of different ways to help with my procrastination, but nothing seems to work – if I do manage to get something started I very rarely finish it.
Forgetfulness, Memory problems & generally losing things – When asked “what did you do today” I’m struck with complete uncertainty. What on earth did I do today? It’s sort of like the memory is there but my brain can’t find it. Recently this problem has got a lot worse I find myself in a daze unable to recall how I got to a certain place or into a certain situation – and can only work it out by making logical assumptions. It seems that sometimes I can hardly remember my own name, but I can remember extremely futile things like; exact quotes from TV shows, lyrics to every song I know, etc.
Tics, fidgeting and “always on the go” – I am a perpetual fidgeter, and I become overwhelmed with anxiety/restlessness when asked to sit still, to stop tapping my fingers or fiddling with whatever I can find around me. There is not been a time in my life when I ever recall sitting completely still, I am always tapping my fingers or my toes, I especially annoy those around my by fiddling with everything I see. But one thing that worry’s me is that at least once every few minutes, I have an uncontrollable need to kind of…shake, or just generally make a movement of that sort…(it’s hard to describe). I also talk excessively – I can talk about anything, for hours and hours, it always gets me into trouble both at home at school and in social situations (although in some ways it can also be a blessing)
Anxiety, irritability and anger – I have frequent feelings of anxiousness – involving; quite prominently nausea, shortness of breath, hot flushes and dizziness. I often find my self to be easily irritated by minor annoyances, but I hardly ever am angry – I tend to avoid anything or anyone that is angry or any situation that involves confrontation or rage.
Distractibility - I am exceptionally easily distracted, even when I try my hardest to listen – I can’t. I have problems when reading things, I skip words out by accident, forget what I have just read, or seem to never be able to control myself enough to stop skipping to the end. It’s like when I read I take in every word separately and not as a whole sentence causing it to lose its overall meaning. I find this is slightly worsened when I am reading something that is either hard to read or of no interest to me. I also find it exams very hard due to this. I have to re-read questions about 10 times before it makes any sense. ;[ and even in classes I’m really good at such as science, I get really bad results, (well lower than I’m supposed to/I think are bad)
Compulsions, obsessions and “intense dislike of change” –Very frequently I find my self rearranging things – CD’s ,Books, anything of different colours, shapes or sizes, into some for of logical pattern and find myself extremely upset when these things are out of place. Through the past few years I have recognised that I hate change, especially positioning of myself, weather it being sitting position or the side in which I am standing to something – when asked to move seat, I tend to be extremely oppositional, anxious and annoyed. I also find it extremely to throw things away, and seem to believe that they have feelings of some kind.
Other problems:
Easily bored
Trouble staying on track
Trouble empathising with others
Sometimes over concentrate on things
Easily upset / “Thin skinned”
I also have trouble getting to sleep at night, my mum says think of nothing. But this is easier said than done in my case – I can’t simply think of nothing, there are permanently thousands of thoughts buzzing round in my mind, words pictures, and noises. The only way I’ve found I can sleep is by having the TV on in the background or taking sleeping tablets.
Caffeine can also make me feel tired, and seems to make some of my problems/symptoms better, but I tend to feel very nauseous after drinking coffee, and get hallucinations, and I am very very anxious. So I can’t really use it to help stop my symptoms
These are just a few of the problem I seem to face everyday, and they are really affecting my life as a whole and I fear that they will (if they already have not) ruin my life. I always have that dreaded “not living up to potential” speech, wherever I go and whatever I do. And these problems are not recent ones, although many have changed, and either worsened or in some cases got slightly better, they have been present for a long time, and yet I am still extremely wary of seeking help, filled with fear that I will be judged or scrutinised – and no-one will believe me, or that I’m just being.
I have a history of bad behaviour both inside school and out, lack of homework, inability to concentrate, forgetting to show up to detentions and talking way to much – all of which makes my school record look terrible and making it very hard for my to apply to collages etc.
Just to add; my mum has a history of depression and anxiety.
.
I’ve taken a number of the online tests available, and all state that there is a high probability that I have ADHD – I was wondering how reliable these results actually are.