Anyone else sees ADD everywhere now that they "know"?

[Fortress]

I'm afraid to over and falsely diagnose people even if it's just in my mind but damn, ever since I know about ADD, hyperactive, combined, inattentive or SCT...

I see so many people now, around me or at work, who I am sure have a form or the other of ADD. Like that guy who always needs to move and has too much energy yet makes a lot of mistakes, and needs stimulation so badly that they repeat aloud every noises around them (yes, even the "ding" of the elevator that is ready).

Or those numerous ones who just seem to keep to themselves and are blatantly NOT idiots, but ALWAYS make inattentive mistakes and seem to forget things all the time, and either don't seem to care about much at all ever or have become very anxious people over time.

Or how a lot of people are judged "lazy" because they don't seem to ever want to do anything and are slow people who aren't really stupid or depressed but just keep to themselves.

I DON'T want to wrongly throw diagnosis' around but sometimes I get the feeling there is a much bigger fraction of the population that has some form of ADD than we think, since as you all know knowing you have the disorder and actually getting diagnoses can be very difficult and rare. Of course, it could be that I just ended up hanging around with people who have some form of ADD because we just got along better without knowing exactly why at first, and that I end up working in the same places as other people with some form of ADD (family is a given though, since ADD is largely genetic).

Or it could just be the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon
http://www.damninteresting.com/the-b...of-phenomenon/

Anyway, am I the only one?

[amberwillow]

You are not the only one.

[SquarePeg]

Here in Spain 97% of adults with ADHD are undiagnosed.

I have a friend in the UK who works with kids with ADHD, autism, aspergers etc and she always mentally ticks off the DSM IV list whilst talking to people, she can´t help it.

[stef]

yes, absolutely! a guy in our band; a colleague upstairs; MY BOSS...
sometimes you see someone in a store or something and you just *know*, I always feel like putting my hand on their arm and saying "I understand!"

[Plognark]

Absolutely.

However, given time, I've been able to calm down and really look at the people I know and get a clearer perspective on it.

I have two friends who absolutely have untreated ADHD. it's not even a question.

I have other friends who have traits of ADHD, but there are critical things that are off in the diagnosis. One friend has the ability to sit and work on miserably boring graphic design commissions for three+ hours at a time. I can't do that. He's scattered and presents as an inattentive in other areas of his life, but it turned out to be a serious vitamin D deficiency and crappy sleeping habits after he went to his doctor for a cold that wouldn't clear up.

I'm starting to realize that ADHD is both over and under diagnosed. I think people with high energy levels get overdiagnosed, and there may be other conditions going on. Inattentive or internalizing types get underdiagnosed. I'm a hyperactive, but I internalize it, so I don't present with obvious hyperactivity. It's all in the brain for me.

One of my two ADHD friends is happy to just be aware of it and work through it without medication. He gets a lot of physical exercise now, which does a surprisingly effective job and controlling his symptoms.

The other friend is still a work in progress. I only mentioned it to him a few months ago, so he's going to get evaluated once he gets health insurance again. It actually took over six months for all of his various personality quirks to click in my head, but when it did it was an uncanny fit. The final key was when he was describing his issues with his last job he got laid of from. Like me, he's probably an internalizing hyperactive.

[Abi]

Nope, I only see ADHD in one person that I know IRL; and that person is quite severely ADHD and was diagnosed as a child; and I was aware of their diagnosis prior to knowing much about ADHD or being a member of this site.

To be fair, I am diagnosed bipolar myself, not ADHD.

I *do* occasionally see bipolar in others. Including the ADHD person I mentoned above [who DOES have an official major depression diagnosis and IS "moody"] and a person who has a schizophrenia diagnosis whom I think is actually bipolar - 1 [HE thinks so too, and he did prior to meeting me.]

But as a general rule, I dont "see" bipolar or ADHD "everywhere".

I know many people do, and I think this has a lot to do with either self-projection or the desire to find "more people like them."

I think it's a good idea to join a support group for people with ADHD in your area, to meet more "real life" ADHD people. The same applies if you have other dx's like bipolar, autism, or whatever.

[Abi]

Postscript to the above: I do actually suspect ADHD in one other person - my father. I totally forgot to mention it because I have not spoken to him in years and have actively excised him from my mind and my life.

THen again with him, there have been Major Depressive Episodes, a probable PD [BDP or HPD] and maybe bipolar[?] - I must have got the genes from somewhere? So it's complicated.

[Plognark]

Originally Posted by Abi

Postscript to the above: I do actually suspect ADHD in one other person - my father. I totally forgot to mention it because I have not spoken to him in years and have actively excised him from my mind and my life.

THen again with him, there have been Major Depressive Episodes, a probable PD [BDP or HPD] and maybe bipolar[?] - I must have got the genes from somewhere? So it's complicated.

I went to a family funeral for my 98 year old grandfather recently. This was the first time I'd seen everyone together since my diagnosis.

ADHD runs rampant in that side of the family. Easily 30% of them have it; maybe more. I have seven biological aunts and uncles, and every single one is at least borderline ADHD. The stories about my Grandfather all point to a man who had severe ADHD and managed to come up with several effective coping mechanisms in his life.

'The trick is to never work on one thing for more than an half an hour to an hour. Keep yourself busy with a multitude of tasks. When you tire of one, just move on to the next. You'll be blessed with a variety of work.'

ADHD is primarily a genetic, heritable condition. The chance is about 40% of you having it if one of your parents has it; it jumps to near 80% if both have it.

I have ADHD on both sides of my family, and severe BPD on my mother's side. Fortunately I only got the ADHD. BPD and ADHD also seem to have some genetic overlap, and BPD is also partially influenced by genes.

[Flory]

not particularly tbh, there are a few people I know with a dx already, theres a few people i think might be mildly add but it doesnt seem to impact upn them to much

[ana futura]

Not just ADHD, I tend to want to diagnose everyone with a psychiatric disorder now.

Also- "Baader-Meinhof phenomenon"?! I have never heard that term before, but I am very familiar with Baader-Meinhof. I imagined a completely different phenomenon- like once you learn about capitalist oppression, you want to blow everything up! Such an odd choice of name.

[DvlsAdv0c8]

Not sure how true this is without research, but I ran across this explanation for the naming of the Baader-Meinhoff Phenomenon...
http://wikibin.org/articles/baader-m...henomenon.html

The "Baader-Meinhof phenomenon" was coined by a reader of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Terry Mullen. The Minnesota newspaper runs a daily column called "Bulletin Board," for which readers, using pseudonyms (in this case it was 'Gigetto on
Lincoln'), submit humorous or interesting anecdotes. The term was coined when Mullen submitted a story around 1986, about how he first heard about the terrorist group known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang and then heard about it again a short while later from a different source.
Readers suddenly piled on with their own versions of the phenomenon, which quickly came to be known as the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. Today, all similar stories are published in the St. Paul Pioneer Press Bulletin Board under the heading "Baader Meinhof Phenomenon."
Editors of the section distinguish between "Baader-Meinhof" and "Joy of Juxtaposition," as related categories. A B-M, as it's popularly named, requires that the item not be seasonal, e.g. two references to St Nicholas in December, and not be especially commonplace. Technically, a B-M occurs in a 24 hour space, although there can be some leeway on this requirement. When readers submit a possible B-M, the editors rule on its acceptability. Their ruling cannot be appealed.

And, yes, once I learned about ADHD, EVERYONE seemed to have it. But I don't see it so much now. Although, after my recent dx, my 68-year-old dad told me that he knows now that my sister and I got it from him. No wonder I always got along better with my sister and dad than my mom.

[dopestep]

Originally Posted by stef

yes, absolutely! a guy in our band; a colleague upstairs; MY BOSS...
sometimes you see someone in a store or something and you just *know*, I always feel like putting my hand on their arm and saying "I understand!"

i remember when i first started reading everything i could about adhd. my previous knowledge was that adhd was just spazzy kids(typical stereotype). when i learned all the actual symptoms and got diagnosed i remember looking around me and noticing atleast a third of my friends have very similar symptoms and lifestyles.

[dopestep]

Originally Posted by Abi

Nope, I only see ADHD in one person that I know IRL; and that person is quite severely ADHD and was diagnosed as a child; and I was aware of their diagnosis prior to knowing much about ADHD or being a member of this site.

To be fair, I am diagnosed bipolar myself, not ADHD.

I *do* occasionally see bipolar in others. Including the ADHD person I mentoned above [who DOES have an official major depression diagnosis and IS "moody"] and a person who has a schizophrenia diagnosis whom I think is actually bipolar - 1 [HE thinks so too, and he did prior to meeting me.]

But as a general rule, I dont "see" bipolar or ADHD "everywhere".

I know many people do, and I think this has a lot to do with either self-projection or the desire to find "more people like them."

I think it's a good idea to join a support group for people with ADHD in your area, to meet more "real life" ADHD people. The same applies if you have other dx's like bipolar, autism, or whatever.

it may be different for you but alot of people with adhd tend to gravitate towards others with adhd. we tend to have similar interests or habits. social stratification is most likely partially the reason. alot of people with adhd dont like small talk and will tend to have more in depth technical discussions. in a group of NT's you have to watch what you say more and keep on subject and it gets mentally exhausting to do that if you are adhd.

[rockydaydreamer]

I see ADD in some kids at church and there are two professors at my college that I suspect have ADD too.

LOL, Ana Futura, I do that too, like wondering if a person on the news is a psychopath

[Zevispaz]

I have a couple people I know that I would actually bet real money on having ADHD.

But I really only see it in a few people that I interact with on a constant basis. Most of my friends have symptoms and signs of ADHD, but I wouldn't necessarily say they had it. I am friends with a lot of very intelligent and/or creative people and those types of people think off the beaten path anyway. They have the fun ADHD quirks, but none of the negative or frustrating traits that go along with it.

I know for sure my dad has it undiagnosed, which would explain why me and him were buddies growing up (still are). It was pretty cool having a dad that got in trouble with mom with me. My mom had some other mental illness going on, but it explains why my brother, the only NT person in our family was kind of the odd one out growing up.