Is it possible I have ADD? - ADD / ADHD Message Board

Guest502 · 03-03-2005, 12:28 PM

Hi there, I'm 16/f (11th grade) and wonder if it's possible I have ADD. But of course the big thing right away that people I guess are going to say is that I have had to have it since I was little, and I didn't start noticing anything till about 7th grade.

I started having trouble paying attention in school and my grades (test grades but not report card grades) started dropping.

Now I still have trouble paying attention in school. But maybe because that's all because I find it so boring? But I don't know, a couple of my teachers have mentioned how I'm so spaced out. My grades are slipping, and lately I've procrastinated so much I haven't gotten all my assignments done.

Am I just a procrastinator?

Any replies are appreciated, thanks.

index.html · 03-04-2005, 08:04 AM

Hi Guest502! It would be impossible for any of us to diagnose you, especially based on the little we know about you, but here are some thoughts for you.

As far as the having to have ADD when you are young thing: technically, the symptoms of inattention/spacing out must have been there since you were young (age 7 is used as a cut-off). HOWEVER, it isn't at all uncommon for people to have the symptoms but compensate for them in such a way that the inattention doesn't become a problem until they get to a more challenging environment (sometimes its junior high, sometimes high school, sometimes college, sometimes its a new work environment).

On the other hand, you have probably hit the nail on the head when you say it might be because it is boring. It's hard for anyone to pay attention when they are bored.

Depression can also cause problems with attention.

Another possibility (although I don't know if it fits you) is that you are not an auditory learner. It may be that you started having problems once you started having to get most of your new information from lectures rather than from worksheets as in lower school. Do you learn significantly better when you read something rather than from when you hear it?

To sum up, ADD would be a possibility but there are alot of other possibilities as well.

Guest502 · 03-04-2005, 12:11 PM

Hi thanks so much for the reply and for not just cutting it off as not being ADD. It was really helpful.

Hmm.. Imay be an auditory learner, I didn't think about that. Interesting... because I do tend to space out more in History and Math and it's mostly lectures (I mean they do write notes on the board which we copy but still..)

Well, thanks again very much for your reply, I really appreciate it!

Jess75 · 03-04-2005, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guest502

Hi there, I'm 16/f (11th grade) and wonder if it's possible I have ADD. But of course the big thing right away that people I guess are going to say is that I have had to have it since I was little, and I didn't start noticing anything till about 7th grade.

I started having trouble paying attention in school and my grades (test grades but not report card grades) started dropping.

Now I still have trouble paying attention in school. But maybe because that's all because I find it so boring? But I don't know, a couple of my teachers have mentioned how I'm so spaced out. My grades are slipping, and lately I've procrastinated so much I haven't gotten all my assignments done.

Am I just a procrastinator?

Any replies are appreciated, thanks.

I wish I discovered this at 16! I would definitely talk to a professional about this cause from what I'm finding out, you don't necessarily have to bounce off walls to have add! You can be the daydreamer type that needs extra stimulation in order to learn like me, and ritalin seem to be the only answer for ME right now. I've tried eating organically, gave up wheat and alot of sugar, exercise, green tea, fish oil, flax(still do all this stuff btw) and I STILL don't feel like I can function right...I really don't want to take meds but anyways, some people have postive effects on the previous things I mentioned. In the meantime, go see a professional so you don't struggle any longer than you have to, don't wait until it's too late. And also in the meantime, check your diet and activity level which can have an effect on the mood and concentration. Unfortunately, that doesn't do squat for me.