Is it weird that there seems to be so many college age young adults getting diagnosed

[sarahsweets]

I'm not here to question anyones diagnosis. I don't know them, I don't live their lives and I haven't been in their shoes. BUT isn't it odd that so many people in college (18-22) that are getting diagnosed with adhd? I take no issue with being diagnosed as an adult. I was diagnosed about 8 years ago when I was 29 so I know that adhd is often not detected, ignored or downplayed by many people.

I was just trying to wrap my head around the amount of people diagnosed in college.

Is it because the workload becomes unbearable and the person realizes that all of the symptoms they've had their whole lives were actually do to a disorder? Is it because they want the performance enhancement that stimulants offer? Is it because the Internet makes diagnosing yourself far to easy?

I guess I'm trying to understand. Some people get diagnosed as children or much later post college when they've put the pieces together and realize they aren't defective. Some adults have suffered a lifetime of failure and take the huge step of seeing a doctor.

I'm not saying its necessarily easy to get diagnosed. There are so many ignorant a**hole doctors that don't know jack about adhd. I'm also not necessarily saying its overdiagnosed. I'm really just curious.

[SquarePeg]

I still can´t understand and perhaps you can explain. Can stimulants help a normal student without adhd concentrate and focus better (or just longer). I thought that if you didn´t have adhd then it would give you anxiety or palpitations. So what i´m asking is will it help everyone?

And then why isn´t it working for me boo hoo.

[Drewbacca]

Not odd at all, if you look at it as a spectrum. I've had evidence of ADHD my entire life but I managed to find ways to compensate. It wasn't until I got to the college level that my life started to unwind... it took the increased difficulty level of college to expose an underlying part of my personality that existed all along.

Of course, this is also in light of the fact that I've now been to like seven or so colleges, dropped out twice, and still have no degree... which probably makes me more of an exception than the rule re: college students being diagnosed.

Also, keep in mind that twenty years ago a college degree wasn't as necessary as it is for employment today. Many with ADHD might have gone into non-degree fields a generation ago but are now forced to go to college where they are at a significant disadvantage. I think that in general art/trade schools tend to be more ADHD friendly... but more and more often a college degree is what we find desirable in today's economy (in America at least... but I assume that it's the same in most western countries).

[Fuzzy12]

Everything that Drew said!!

I've always had problems with concentration and focus but I managed to get by in school. Primary school was a doddle because everything was taught to us through gplay and games. I loved it. I loved it more than Kindergarten, which I found incredibly boring (didn't help that I didn't have friends in Kindergarten). Secondary school was a problem but I still managed to get by because

1. I never did any homework or handed in assignments. I either didn't do them at all or did them (or copied them from a friend) 5 mins before start of the lesson.

2. Rarely paid attention during lessons but the teachers either didn't care or didn't notice (I always made sure I sat at the back of the room...)

3. I did very well in exams for which I didn't have to study (like English/German, etc.) but sucked at subjects where you have to study like history, social sciences, etc. So my average was ok.

4. I could study the day before deadlines (pulling all-nighters)

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that the problems always existed but everyone just thought I was lazy or careless, including me. I didn't realise I was that different. I knew that I just couldn't study anything I found boring but I always thought I was just not motivated enough.

Anyway, the story in college was very similar. I only realised I had a problem when I started working. I wasn't capable of self directed work. I couldn't work unless there was enough pressure (like a boss looking constantly over my shoulder) and I also couldn't ******** my way through anymore. In the working life, deadlines are deadline. You can't copy work or put together something in 5 mins (though trust me, I do that often enough...the reason why I probably still have a job).

And I also realised that it wasn't normal. In school, I just took it for granted that I was different but it's only as an adult that I started asking myself why was I different. Why did I struggle with things that seemed so easy for others. I realised that other people could focus even when there were bored. Others didn't fall asleep in every lecture or seminar and they could focus on an extended conversation or a monologue. I also realised that others don't constantly chase stimulation at any cost and are you know..content..more or less..

Anyway, I could go on and on but I'm struggling to focus on this post as well.

ANyway, thanks for asking so nicely Sarah. I know it's a controversial subject and there is a lot of mistrust and spite against college student with ADHD out there. I aprpeciate that you are really just trying to understand.

[fracturedstory]

I guess it has to do with the more demanding workload.

I never went to college/ university. I knew the work would be too much.

[TygerSan]

I think that what Drew said is incredibly relevant: college, at least in the US, is becoming the new high-school, in that a college diploma is becoming more and more necessary for employment of all types.

I know people who have never gone to college, who had excellent jobs in a variety of industries, including insurance, engineering, etc., who have either suddenly found themselves unemployable following a layoff (because they don't have a piece of paper that says they've been to college, despite a long and successful working history), or have found that they can no longer advance, or are being paid much less money than they should have because they haven't gotten a degree.

I think that society at large has, in a sense, become much less tolerant towards those who aren't as successful in the classroom. Therefore, there are more people seeking help to fit into an educational model that they wouldn't have had to deal with 10+ years ago.

[LaMbaL]

I can think of multiple factors that would help cause this situation:

- The discrepancy between potential and actual performance is almost nowhere more obvious than in college, which leads to many more potential sufferers getting themselves diagnosed

- The positive effect of meds on college performance is widely known, which causes a far larger percentage of the college population to be interested in obtaining them than in any other group in society

- College students are generally more motivated to realize their full potential, and thus will presumably sooner look for solutions to the problems they encounter, whereas I guess in other social groups undiagnosed AD(H)Ders may sooner simply accept their failings.

- Because of the high percentage of diagnosed AD(H)Ders among college students, undiagnosed AD(H)Ders are more likely to be detected by their peers

I could probably come up with a few more reasons if I wanted. Point being, it doesnt seem strange to me at all that AD(H)D diagnoses are so prevalent among college students. And although this may partly be attributed to 'unrightful' diagnoses of those who are simply trying to obtain study-improvement-drugs, it also seems perfectly logical that true AD(H)Ders simply have a much higher chance of getting diagnosed in college.

[SpaceBaby]

When I entered college, my professors started demanding that I write papers, so I guess ADD becomes more obvious when you have more demands in your life.
My first semester of college was the first time I ever failed classes... and the ones I failed involved alot of theory crap/critical analysis and/or research.

[dogluver358]

i'm going to play devil's advocate. I know that a lot of times people can compensate and only find out in college. However, I know of people who would abuse the system and get "diagnosed" by reading stuff online and reciting it to get drugs to study. They may have had some of the symptoms but so does most of the population. They just wanted to improve their performance, or they had some symptoms but it didn't really meet the DSM criteria of an "impairment".

[Retromancer]

No I do not find it weird at all. I do find it weird however that forum members that have more severe symptoms, that are also dealing with comorbidities, that are attempting to cope with unemployment and underemployment continue to return to a place that daily becomes less and and less relevant to them. "I'm 23 years old and my sheltered middle class life is over unless I can get a diagnosis and a scrip ASAP!"

[stef]

(I haven't read this whole thread)
For people living off campus: I think it's the harder classes PLUS living away from home. both distractions and responsibilities...

Even if you were fairly independent in high school, well if you're living at home and you've had a bad day you can usually just find some dinner or a snack or whatever, watch some tv in the living room... it's a reassuring and familiar enviornment.

[donaldsl]

Coming from a student who was diagnosed in my 3rd year of University there is defiantly a large change in subject matter and style in teaching between high school and college/university.

In high school I could skate by just doing the minium and get a high 70. And if I didn't I would work a bit more until I did. It was hard work, but I managed to get through and into university. When I moved out of my house and away from my parents, I lost a great support structure. I moved into residence and lived away from all parental influence for the first time in my life. I struggled with the motivation to get to classes and with getting work done on time. Through out high school, this had been compensated by work time in class... as well as my mother being obsessed with me getting my HW done before anything fun was to happen.

Through out my first 3 years I struggled and got kicked out of school twice. The second time I looked at everything and decided it was time to take things into my own hands and look into getting tested for some sort of learning disability. I have always had troubles in school and thought this might be the reason. I went to my center for students with disabilities and they sent me off to a psychologist (i think thats the right word) for a psycho-educational assessment. The results showed that I had ADHD-C (more so the inattentive aspect, but the hyperactivity was there as well).

I don't often tell other students or teachers (TAs, profs, etc) about my ADHD because of the generalization that most college students just want it to get the medication. And because they dont need to know! When I was first diagnosed I told my boss at the time and he told the entire company (there were only 10 of us) and everyone thought it was a big joke! So I am much more careful now!

Just to add, my teachers in grade school had thought something was up all the way through. My parents just refused to get me tested. Looking back now I can see what the teachers saw and really regret my parents not testing me.

I hope that helps with the conversation.. I could be totally off topic... but we shall see!

[Rebelyell]

I think alot of them get diagnosed so they can abuse or have access to stimulants

[Phoenix Ash]

I think it makes total sense that a lot of folks get diagnosed in college. I am sure a lot of diagnoses are due to students trying to game the system to get their hands on meds they don't have a legitimate need for. But I am also sure that even more of these diagnoses are legitimate, because college brings together a whole host of factors that really ripen the field. Frankly, I'd be surprised if there weren't a greater number of diagnoses during that time than any other phase of life.

- College is more challenging that anything most college students have experienced before. Pre-existing coping mechanisms are no longer as effective.

- Many college students are away from home for the first time, away from the support and structure that used to help. Problems start cropping up much more severely and at a more alarming rate.

- College also tends to broaden the mind. What might not have been considered before suddenly becomes a possibility.

- Fellow students with AD/HD are a rich resource of information and identification. Many people suddenly discover like minds for the first time in their lives and it starts to dawn on them why they relate to this group of people so much more easily.

- Lots of their fellow students have access (legitimately or otherwise) to AD/HD medications. Inevitably some students will try them and discover symptom improvement beyond the expected 'street' effects.

- Students find they now have access to medical resources they didn't before, and the independence and privacy to pursue them. So they may have known or suspected they had AD/HD before, but not been able to do much about it due to their home situation. Now they suddenly can.

[salleh]

A slight bit OT here, but I simply had to stand up for art school ......there are art schools and there are art schools........

In the US I know that there are 8 that have been around for quite a long time, including San Francisco Art Institute, where I went, and I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts.....BFA,.....It wasn't a trade school.....as a matter of fact, anything that smacked of commercialism was frowned upon .....quite the ivory tower college.....

I WISH it had been more commercial, then maybe I could have gotten work as a commercial photographer, but I was trained to be a fine artist .....and we all know how lucrative that is !.....but I didn't know at the time that I would end up not being a celebrated and famous photographer....that was my goal ! Life had other plans....

...It is a 4 year college, with specific requirements that must be met ...I had 2 years at a junior college when I started there and a whole year of my classes didn't transfer, and I had to take 3 years of required subjects to get my degree....


......I was in the 99th graduating class, in 1976, so SFAI had been around for 99 years at that point, and it still is educating artist today, to it has now been around for ....131 years if my math is correct.....


......So, when someone says they have been to art school,.....they could be from a trade school, taking a year or 2 of classes, or they could be like me with a genuine Bachelors degree.....