Obsession part of ADD or not?

[InattentiveType]

I’ve been meaning to look into it more, I’ve purchased several ADD related books, I just keep forgetting to read then

A big problem I have is that not only do I get side-tracked away from more important tasks, but I tend to dwell/obsess about topics.

When something grabs my interest I can’t stop thinking about it. Any time my mind has a free moment it will jump back to whatever topic I’m stuck on currently. This week it's been 802.11x security vulnerabilities. Last week I was obsessed with installing a micro-Linux distrobution on an old laptop I'll probably never use. The week before that I was replacing all of the light bulbs in the house with compact florescent bulbs and relishing in all of the wattage I was conserving.

The given subject will cycle it seems every week or two, occasionally longer. There are main interests areas I have and eventually I come back to them and dwell again for another cycle.

This is a huge problem because not only do I deal with the fact that I’m easily distracted and forgetful, but when I do remember something that I have to do often I push it aside because I’m obsessing about something that isn’t actually that important, just more interesting.

It's easy for me to be unproductive because I'm never really bored, I'm always dwelling on something.

I do exhibit some signs of OCD, but not to the extent that I generally think of an OCD person doing. For example, I often feel the need to touch corners, or if I’ve touched something with one hand I’ll feel the need to touch it with the other hand, etc. Also, I’ve had Tics / physical habits for as long as I can remember. (squinting, rubbing my eyes / nose, cracking my neck, looking to my side, etc)

I’m most concerned about mentally dwelling on subjects since this a productivity killer. Is this due to ADD or is it OCD, or something else?

I intend on asking my doctor, but I’m not very good about verbalizing this kind of thing.

Thanks.

[tudorose]

Hi,

I've been diagnosed with OCD as well as the ADD. The things that I have trouble with are my thoughts - I only have one compulsion and that is compulsive researching. I have difficulty switching from one task to another, and I have obsessional, perseverative thinking. My doc says I'm "Asperger's like" in some ways so I'm not sure how much of my difficulties are from the OCD or the Asperger's thing.

The things you say seem to come across like you can't control your thought - as in they take on an agenda of their own regardless of what you want. My suggestion would be that you speak to your doc about it. I'm now on a combination of Dex, Luvox and Amisulpride and I can finally let things go. I can be more flexible and I feel a lot more free.

[Tara]

I think there is a fine line between AD/HD related hyperfocusing and obsessing. The dwelling on things is quite often related to anxiety and OCD is actually classified as anxiety disorder. Many people have said that medications like Celexa have decreased obsessive thoughts.

[joanrdtobe]

Inattentive: ADD and OCD, although having some similar traits, do have their own sets of symptoms and are totally separate diagnoses....Having said this, I have to say I would agree with Tudorose....speak to your doctor....you say you have trouble verbalizing what you want to say....your best bet is to bring a copy of your post above...it's all written out quite succinctly. I too have a diagnoses of OCD as well as ADD and like Tudorose have been on the Luvox...it has helped my symptoms in the past.....

[LostandFound]

Ditto here. I guess I have never really thought of them as being obsessions. Something will interest me and I will spend a great deal of time learning everything I possibly can about it - having the internet now makes this a great deal possible because before I would spend long and lenthy trips to the library

For instance, I have spent this week learning about bumblebees after finding a nest of them underneath our house. I found them quite fascinating and needed to know eveything about them that I could. Prior to that it was peaches. My dad gave me a sack of peaches he picked from an orchard and they were delicious - I had to know everything about them.

The problem is! - most of the things I am interested in have little or no value to my life or are of no interest to the general population!!!

Also, this intense interest or focusing does not apply to anything I am not interested in. Usually the opposite occurs - when someone is explaning something to me at work, especially in a meeting, I feign interest and am lost in my own thoughts. Even when I try to listen and understand - it just doesn't process and I don't usually retain the information. Lost and found

[why]

I like to think that all these "trivial" obsessions, when I'm learning about things are really non-trivial. Oh sure two-stroke engine tuning isn't something that going to help me succeed today, but who knows what happens later in life. I have already experienced a number of times when a combination of my obsessions resulted in synergies that allowed me to succeed by coming up with novel solutions. I like to think that sometime in my old age the cumulative effect of all this knowledge will allow me insights into the world that very few people will ever experience. Perhaps I will not be a beneficiary of this knowledge - but hopefully I can impart it on my children and grandchildren and they can be better off as a result.

[MightyMouse]

You may also want to try talking to your doctor about a diagnosis of Obsession-Compulsion Personality disorder. This is a lesser version of OCD. OCD causes a high amount of anxiety and generally centers on thoughts and compulsions. OCOD does not. if you want a good reference for comparing go to the library and ask for a DSM IV-TR OCOD is 301.4 pg725-729, OCD is 300.3 pg456-462. This is the exact criteria we would use to diagnose a patient.

[MightyMouse]

in my previous post please replace OCOD with OCPD. Sorry guys! my fingers got away from me while typing this.

mightymouse

Originally posted by MightyMouse
You may also want to try talking to your doctor about a diagnosis of Obsession-Compulsion Personality disorder. This is a lesser version of OCD. OCD causes a high amount of anxiety and generally centers on thoughts and compulsions. OCOD does not. if you want a good reference for comparing go to the library and ask for a DSM IV-TR OCOD is 301.4 pg725-729, OCD is 300.3 pg456-462. This is the exact criteria we would use to diagnose a patient.

[joanrdtobe]

Mightymouse: Thanks for info about OCPD....never heard of this....And an FYI for you: You can generally edit your own posts....(within a certain amount of time)....Just click on "edit" below the post you wish to make an edit on -- and the system will bring you back to that post and you make your edit.....and then click "save changes"....("save changes" instead of "submit reply" when doing an initial post)

[MightyMouse]

Thanx joanrdtobe!! I did not know that. It makes my life a lot easier, my wrists a little looser, and my fingers much less sore.

MightyMouse

[smooch]

First, let me reiterate the above adivce--talk to your doc, and I agree with the idea of taking your post in. I've written out stuff while I'm in the center of whatever emotion, feeling, train of thought, etc., and just handed it over to him....

Secondly, reading about all of us and our little obsessions/ hyperfocusing cycles just makes me smile. I smile because I feel "normal" around y'all. I smile because it is comforting to understand why I do some of the things I do. And I absolutely love adding to my treasure box/pile of potentially useless knowledge on everything from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (my 16 year old cat died from it a year ago this Monday, 8/18) to why Bill Bellis left his weatherman position in Houston.... rAnDDom, and I LOVE IT!!!

[Jonathan]

Sorry I've no new advice... just wanted to register my agreement with, well all of you really. I suppose that whilst full-blown OCD is clearly a different syndrome, the kinds of obsession or "obsessing" you describe are anyway very much native to AD/HD. I think an important distinction (going out on a limb here) between the OCD obsession and the ADHD one may be that the ADHD person experiences it as their own wilfulness/impulsiveness - they are serving or indulging themselves, if rather perversely (ie non-constructively), whereas the OCD person often feels compelled to do things to alleviate fears ('appease the gods') (the anxiety Tara mentioned). There is no doubt a grey zone between these poles though (the touching with both hands Inattentive refers to, etc).

Some of my "researches" please me; others don't (restrospectively). Frankly, the compulsive element to it is a bit of a pain, and one usually knows anyway that the "method" of research is neither systematic nor genuinely leisurely, but the compulsion (if not the degree of it) is ultimately inseparable from the interest, which we wouldn't necessarily wnat to do without. As why and smooch said, even if this knowledge is not directly useful (and sometimes it does turn out to be) it makes conversation, grandfatherly (or -motherly) wisdom and is fun (for us at least). This all makes me smile too, smooch.

Jonathan.

[waywardclam]

InattentiveType, the book I mentioned in the Books area - Healing ADD by Dr. Amen - divides up ADD into 6 different subtypes, one of which is Overfocused ADD. You might be interested to read it to see if it rings true with you or not, as he recommends DIFFERENT treatments for it than for standard ADD or ADHD (for example, his nutrition advice is totally different).