Do you think I might have some form of ADD??

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Well... I'm becoming aware of some problems I have.I think i might have some kind of mental thing, cos I'm not exactly like.. Normal.I have a very short attentionspan, and I sometimes drift off even when Im in a conversation. I also have a very bad memory. I forget simple tasks. But one major thing is that I have a complete lack of motivation. Everytime I know I have to do something, I just don't. I'm starting to fear that I wont be able to realize my dreams and such, If I don't do something about this. The problem Is that I don't know what. my parents are the last people on earth I wanna talk with about this.It's just that I have no motivation for studying, going outside, being with my friends. If I try to study something, I forget almost everything I've read minutes after reading it... I also feel constantly tired no matter how much I sleep. I can't concentrate at school... My thoughts just drift off Do you think I might have something, or is it just me? I dunno who to talk with about this

In my opinion it is very normal to just drift off if you are not enjoying/interested in something so maybe either you dont enjoy your subjects or you dont understand them. You probably dont drift off if you are actually interested in what somebody is saying. Which i think is perfectly natural.
I personally think ADHD doesnt exist and people will naturally want to do something else if they find what they are doing boring. For example it is unreasonable to expect a child to sit still working in a classroom for hours on end if what they want to do is play around.
If a child is playing in a playground thats normal, if they are playing in a lesson they have ADHD.

ADD and ADHD do exist. I also think people are to quick to diagnose simple problems as ADD. It is human for your brain to wonder. You have to have more than one of the core symptoms to be considered as having ADD. My father when I was growing up thought like the person above and ignored my extremely obvious symptoms. I was finally noticed in high school by one of my teachers who also had ADD. I went through high school getting c's and d's and had a 2.0 GPA my first attempt at college. After the military I attended school full time and worked full time and my brain went bonkers. I decided to see a psych about the ADD and after his evaluation agreed that I definetly had it. While on my meds I achieved a 3.5 gpa. You do the math.

That was very well put. I have a friend who has two children with diagnosed ADHD. I was a bit skeptical about the meds they were on, but their father explained it the way you did, plus the fact that it's harder for kids who are really hyper to get along with the other kids, and he didn't want his own kids to be socially marginalized.Being treated (under the care of an apparently good doctor), they are both doing very well in school, and they both have friends and a normal home life. (In fact, they're both great kids.)

Well... it sounds to me like it's very possible you have some form of it. Your attention problems could be caused by adhd, but i'm not so sure about all the other ones. ADHD shouldn't necessarily be affecting your memory, except possibly your short term memory, which would explain your forgetting simple tasks. I've been diagnosed with adhd and i feel your pain with conversations, i had such a problem with keeping track of conversations, the only defense i had against it, which didn't even really work, was to stare only at the floor or a blank spot on the was and focus as hard as i could on what was being said. as far as forgetting what you've just read, that would feed into the whole not concentrating thing, because it's a fact that the more attention paid to something, the more it will be stored in memory, or maybe you just aren't spending enough time and effort on it; sometimes it takes any person adhd or not up to several readings to absorb something. Also, although some of these things are just part of being a teenager, adhd can worsen them, such as being tired a lot, not being motivated, and not enjoying school. My advice would be to, as painful as it may be, tell your parents that you want to talk to them seriously about some problems you've been having, and hopefully they'll listen. After that you should look into seeing a specialist or a psychologist who can do a "medical" diagnosis on you and tell you officially. If they tell you that you do, then there are treatments, if you don't, it's a load off of your mind. so it's win-win. personally, the medication i'm taking (by the way, if you're prescribed meds and they don't work, don't be afraid to tell the doc, it took me a few different ones to find one that works because the mind works in different ways, some of them had no effect or actually had negative effects). Regardless of what anyone tells you, i'm telling you straight shit when i tell you that adhd definitly exists and that you're no less of a person for having it. the apa (american psychological association) recognizes as a true disease of the mind, as well as many other reputable organizations, and has been proven through many different methods. one piece of advice i can definitly give you is don't freak out and make a big deal about seeing a psychiatrist, also don't go for all these alternative treatments such as the goldberg diet, he may recommend a medication or counseling, both, or something else entirely. medication may sound scary to some people because it's a stimulant but it's such a low dosage of stimulant that it rarely has any sort of negative effect on the body itself, and the benefits can be amazing. Best of luck.

hey bullydub, don't give the meds too much credit, they give concentration ability but the talent in school had to have been there already, or you'd just be an idiot who could concentrate on shit he just couldn't ever understand. They don't make you smarter, if they did, the president should be on them, lol.

I dont know much about ADD, but as somebody who has been treated for depression on and off for a long time I can say the symptons you describe sound very similar to my experience of depression: The constant tiredness regardless how much you sleep, inability to concentrate or focus, forgetfulness, extreme lack of motivation, even to engage in pleasant activities like spending time with friends, these are all symptoms you describe which match mine to a T.I also found significant fluctuations in appetite, sometimes I'd eat considerably more than usual, other times considerably less. You didnt mention anything about appetite, has that been different than usual? My advice would be to go to your doctor and describe your symptoms. He/She will be best placed to advise you from there, Good luck.

Well im british and we dont use the term gpa here but could it not be that you got a better grade the second time around because you were older so you knew more. Also it could be that you wanted to leard more the second time. Supposed ADD sufferers often find it easier to concentrate on things they want to do.

"GPA" = "grade point average". A 3.5 (on a scale of 4) means (basically) all A's and B's, which is excellent.Bullydub> I attended school full time and worked full time and my brain went bonkers. I decided to see a psych about the ADD and after his evaluation agreed that I definetly had it. While on my meds I achieved a 3.5 gpa.We don't know how long it was between the time he tried school and didn't make it, went on meds, went back to school, and succeeded. It nay not have been a long time. What would it mean if he stopped the meds and started doing badly? He did say that he was unable to focus, not that he couldn't comprehend the subjects.Why do you have such a deep belief in the non-existence of ADHD? As I've said, there are people who have been misdiagnosed, and the drugs available aren't for everyone, but some people really do succeed with them. Do you think that that's absolutely impossible?