i was thinking about my ADD today. i cant really figure out why i have it (this is my only mental/health problem) other than the age of my mother. She is 60 now. she was 41 when she had me. my dad was 30 and is 49 now. i heard that having babies over the age of 40 can pose a risk to the child's health.

Another possible cause ive been thinking about could possibly be how you spend your childhood. Maybe your infant-toddler years, or your pre-teen, adolescent. Probably a combination of both. I was an only child, and spent most of my time playing with legos and such on my own. I had NO friends in elementary school. In middle and highschool i was fairly popular and was actually very popular in highschool......but obviously highschool doesnt count becauase i had symptoms as ....early as i can remember, even the small figments of memory in 1st grade i remember an "add" state of mind. thats hard to explain. throughout my early childhood i had this unique quality about me that made me somewhat anti social but very creative, my mom would call me lazy but very smart at the same time....when i heard of add in highschool it made SO MUCH SENSE! so ive had *extreme* add symptoms from 1st grade until now. so, I really think that at least, in some cases; ADD is a result of being alone for a long time in your childhood.

HI.

This is a hard thread to respond too... Because there is the potential for anyone answering to be thought as responding from an authoritative point of view. In my case, I AM NO AUTHORITY. So, take everything with a grain of salt.

I've not run across anything that specifically links the birth mother age and ADD in the baby. Certainly fetus problems increase with the age of the mother, but I'm not sure if that would produce ADD.

I think the childhood issues you mention are more likely the effect of your personality or ADD symptoms showing through, and not the *cause* of your add.

Just my $0.02.