Was just diagnosed with ADHD and I don't believe it

[footballer010]

Hi. Here's my story. I was battling some depression after graduating undergrad, so I went to a primary physician and was prescribed effexor. When I mentioned some anxiety, he referred me to a psychologist. I finally met with the psychologist last week. Hilariously enough, I was diagnosed with ADHD.

I always procrastinate and am very disorganized, but its never hurt me academically because I can focus on a subject so intensely that I score above average on every test. But I can only study attentively the night before a test or 2 nights before that if its an important midterm/final. If I try to study a week before an exam, I just will not get anything done. I've tried it and it doesn't work for me.

But this type of last-second studying is torture. I have to constantly pull all-nighters for things that should have been started days beforehand. In fact, the only time I will study with days to spare is when I'm in a group and forced to participate.

My methods of studying are not healthy nor efficient, but they work for the most part. To say I have a learning disorder... it just doesn't seem possible. I'm not rejecting the diagnosis but I'm not really buying it.

The psychologist told me that my potential was "through the roof." He also told me that one of the tests he performed (consisted of him reading numbers and having me recite them) showed a below average score, which apparently doesn't match my processing speed or potential, as he termed it. Is that the proper way of diagnosing ADHD? It doesn't sound scientific at all. I realize few things in psychology are definitive, but is that really any way to diagnose this disorder? How were you guys diagnosed?

School is only gonna get harder from here on out, so I don't want anything hindering me from performing at my best. I will definitely start whatever ADHD medication I get prescribed and see how much it helps my organization and concentration in the fall. If the difference is noticeable, I will have to look into coaching or some form of ADHD support at the university.

Another question of mine is about laziness and ADHD. How do you differentiate between the 2? If I were doing a venn diagram of the 2, I'd have one circle.

Thanks for reading this. It was mostly to get my thoughts arranged. If anyone can take the time to answer my questions, I would appreciate it.

[spunkysmum]

LOL, you may not believe it, but with every line of your post I found it more and more believable. Your description of your experience is pretty much textbook ADHD. I'm not a doctor, mind you, but clearly the guy who IS a doctor got the same impression I did.

[Targaryen]

Originally Posted by spunkysmum

LOL, you may not believe it, but with every line of your post I found it more and more believable. Your description of your experience is pretty much textbook ADHD. I'm not a doctor, mind you, but clearly the guy who IS a doctor got the same impression I did.

What she said. I would also check out the more attention less defficiet podcast by Dr. Ari Tuckman. I started listening to them lately and have really been enjoying them, they have been really helpful for me.

[shamrock]

Originally Posted by footballer010

1 I was battling some depression...

2 I mentioned some anxiety,

3 I always procrastinate and am very disorganized, ....I can focus on a subject so intensely that I score above average on every test. But I can only study attentively the night before a test or 2 nights before that if its an important midterm/final. If I try to study a week before an exam, I just will not get anything done. I've tried it and it doesn't work for me.

4 But this type of last-second studying is torture. I have to constantly pull all-nighters for things that should have been started days beforehand. In fact, the only time I will study with days to spare is when I'm in a group and forced to participate.

5 My methods of studying are not healthy nor efficient, but they work for the most part.

Ok. I cant tell you whether you have it or not but a few things might interest you.

1 Untreated Add often ends in depression.

2 Anxiety is the most common co morbid disorder that occurs with Add.

3 procrastination and disorganisation are textbook symptoms.

4 People with Add often cant get moving without a shot of adrenaline. Without realising it we allow ourselves to leave things to the last minute to get that badly needed shot that helps us to move. Its really common in the undiagnosed. I did it all my life until someone in the forum kindly pointed it out.( Anyone got a link to this?)

5 They do work. Thats why we do it!

I cant say its Add because other things could cause these symptoms but the idea isnt outlandish.

How do you feel when you read the symptoms? Have you read much in the forum? I got really shaky when I read about Add PI. It was all the thunderbolt/whole life falls into place etc etc thing you hear about.

Thats why Im not great with the "Do you think I have Add?" posts.

I read them as " Do you think I have ever had an orgasm?" posts ie if you have to ask... etc etc but its a spectrum disorder and everyone is different.

[CheekyMonkey]

I'm ADHD and have an almost identical story to yours! Wish I was diagnosed sooner, it would have made college a LOT easier.

[footballer010]

Originally Posted by shamrock

How do you feel when you read the symptoms? Have you read much in the forum? I got really shaky when I read about Add PI. It was all the thunderbolt/whole life falls into place etc etc thing you hear about.

I've been reading this forum for a couple days. A lot of people's experiences seem to match mine. I'm paranoid enough that I won't lose a lot of things and I don't like disappointing people, so when I get told something it'll get done (even if at the last hour).

Guess I'm glad I went to see the psychologist. I actually blew off the first appointment. But for some reason, I made another appointment and went to that one. And now I find out that I need to take speed whenever I want to function properly. Woo...

[AbsentMindProf]

Originally Posted by footballer010

Another question of mine is about laziness and ADHD. How do you differentiate between the 2? If I were doing a venn diagram of the 2, I'd have one circle.

ADHD is not laziness. When I was in college I was unable to follow the professors' lectures for more than 10 or 15 minutes. I couldn't even focus well enough to take decent notes. I wasn't diagnosed yet at that time, so I didn't understand why I was having so much trouble but I got good grades anyway by giving up virtually any social life and devoting huge amounts of time to learning the material on my own.

In graduate school I sometimes had to record the lectures on tape and work 100+ hours a week to get good grades despite my disorganization and poor attention. Does that sound like I'm lazy? Or does it sound like there is a legitimate disorder there that took a great deal of effort to cope with?

[ADDinHDefgHi?!]

I still don't believe it at times and I was diagnosed three years ago. However I find that every period of time I manage to forget I have ADHD ends up in a disaster of some sort because I wasn't managing my ADHD symptoms. Those damn consequences come around and remind me.

And then I remember that ADHD is real, unfortunately if untreated it can really turn your life upside down if you're like most. I wasn't diagnosed as a child because I wasn't loud in class and was considered intelligent.

However the second the structure in my life began to lessen I found myself in more and more trouble, I'd do great at whatever I was really into but I'd fail at everything else.

Anyway, I agree, you sound ADHD to me, I could have written most of your post myself and I'm sure many others will say the same. It's good you are being treated you will save yourself alot of trouble (potentially anyway, I swear I look for trouble just to keep things interesting at times and never realize it till after the fact)!

[CrushCrush]

Well since everyone else here is giving their opinion of whether or not they feel this person has ADHD I might as well do the same. From the sounds of it heck no you don't have ADHD. I'd be more interested in your childhoos t just from what I read you sound like a normal student in 2012 except your grades are better than the others. I've never met a student in my life that studies a week in advance. Everyone studies the night before exams.

I studied probably 30 hours just for a test (not even an exam) and studied days in advance and got my typical 60%-65% grades no matter what I did. Everyone else studied the night before. Especially the gifted students. They were actually so gifted, they were able to stay up all night and study in one shot. Simply impossible for me.

I have ADHD and have trouble focusing. I can take notes on a whole page of text and look like I'm studying, and not even realize tha I have no idea who I just wrote down or read because I was drifting off.

Intelligence and IQ is one thing. Studying and testing is another and from the sounds of it, in my opinion you don't have ADHD by a long shot. That's just my opinion though like everyone else did above this post they gave theirs so hey why not join in the form discussion like everyone else.

[sarahsweets]

Originally Posted by CrushCrush

Well since everyone else here is giving their opinion of whether or not they feel this person has ADHD I might as well do the same. From the sounds of it heck no you don't have ADHD. I'd be more interested in your childhoos t just from what I read you sound like a normal student in 2012 except your grades are better than the others. I've never met a student in my life that studies a week in advance. Everyone studies the night before exams.

I studied probably 30 hours just for a test (not even an exam) and studied days in advance and got my typical 60%-65% grades no matter what I did. Everyone else studied the night before. Especially the gifted students. They were actually so gifted, they were able to stay up all night and study in one shot. Simply impossible for me.

I have ADHD and have trouble focusing. I can take notes on a whole page of text and look like I'm studying, and not even realize tha I have no idea who I just wrote down or read because I was drifting off.

Intelligence and IQ is one thing. Studying and testing is another and from the sounds of it, in my opinion you don't have ADHD by a long shot. That's just my opinion though like everyone else did above this post they gave theirs so hey why not join in the form discussion like everyone else.

Many peole with adhd cram at the lst minute as a form of copmpensation ot a coping mechansisim it doesnt nit indicate whether someone has dhd or not.

[CrushCrush]

Originally Posted by sarahsweets

Many peole with adhd cram at the lst minute as a form of copmpensation ot a coping mechansisim it doesnt nit indicate whether someone has dhd or not.

ADHD is all about scrambling at the last minute which Barkley says doesn't work. A coping mechanism is to seclude yourself from others and study in advance which is wha I did.

But I suffered ADHD induced impairments that resulted in poor grades no matter what I tried. If I would have scrambled at the last minute, I would have failed out of school. Only the normal and smart kids could cram and get good grades. It means you can take in the info and recall it later on. You can comprehend the lessons. You can spend hours focusing.

It's almost impossible for me to do that. I actually coppied and cheated on almost all of my hand ins and assignments. If I didn't I would have failed out of school.

So heck no I don't think she has ADHD at all lol.. Not a chance lol..

[Fortune]

Actually, I would say that Barkley doesn't say it doesn't work. He says it doesn't work as well as it does for NTs. Similarly, you're not required to get poor grades 100% of the time, and it is in fact not unusual that students with ADHD actually get better grades under certain conditions or when studying subjects they enjoy.

I'd say getting good grades on some conditions and being able to cram for tests is no more likely to rule out ADHD than being able to work the same job for three years or receiving excellent performance reviews.

[Fortune]

I actually relied on the whole last minute cramming thing to get my contracted writing done. I couldn't manage to start it and remain focused until the last minute, and got it all done over a few days. I'd usually be a couple of days late, but that was usually not a problem. The writing itself was generally accepted as fairly good but I know my writing while I was taking ephedra was significantly better, and not just because of additional practice.

[CrushCrush]

Originally Posted by Fortune

I actually relied on the whole last minute cramming thing to get my contracted writing done. I couldn't manage to start it and remain focused until the last minute, and got it all done over a few days. I'd usually be a couple of days late, but that was usually not a problem. The writing itself was generally accepted as fairly good but I know my writing while I was taking ephedra was significantly better, and not just because of additional practice.

Yeah but that's not memorization and testing. You're comparing apples and oranges.

Workplace duties are also or reading and memorizing for tests.

If you can cram and get good grades while having ADHD, well then.. Wow.. you know the rest of what I'm going to say.

[Fortune]

Originally Posted by CrushCrush

Yeah but that's not memorization and testing. You're comparing apples and oranges.

Workplace duties are also or reading and memorizing for tests.

Are you actually suggesting that ADHD does not impact job performance like it impacts academic performance? You are the guy who has to give every single person who posts about diagnosis a personal assessment on why he thinks they either have or do not have ADHD is actually saying that ADHD does not impact job performance?

If ADHD did not impact your work performance, how can you claim to have ADHD?

http://www.sagie-ls.com/Sites/ziva/c...e/hashpaot.pdf

Objective: The prevalence and workplace consequences of adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are unknown. Methods: An ADHD screen was included in a national household survey (n 3198, ages 18–44). Clinical reinterviews calibrated the screen to diagnoses of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition ADHD.

Diagnoses among workers were compared with responses to the WHO Health and Work Performance Questionnaire (HPQ).

Results: A total of 4.2% of workers had ADHD. ADHD was associated with 35.0 days of annual lost work performance, with higher associations among blue collar (55.8 days) than professional (12.2 days), technical (19.8 days), or service (32.6 days) workers. These associations represent 120 million days of annual lost work in the U.S. labor force, equivalent to $19.5 billion lost human capital.

Conclusions: ADHD is a common and costly workplace condition. Effectiveness trials are needed to estimate the region of interest of workplace ADHD screening and treatment programs. ( J Occup Environ Med. 2005;47:565–572)

Are you really sure you have ADHD?

If you can cram and get good grades while having ADHD, well then.. Wow.. you know the rest of what I'm going to say.

Why are you lying about what I've said? I have repeatedly stated that I had poor grades in school. I never claimed I could cram to get good grades. I stated that I could study for tests and pass them. This is not a subtle distinction that would be easily misunderstood.