ADHD and tics/habits?

[Dark Stranger]

I hope this is the appropriate place in which to discuss ADHD...

I have an adult friend whom was diagnosed as a teenager as having ADHD, and he was put on Ritalin in his teen years...but he quit it cold turkey because he said the pills made him feel like a zombie. He really doesn't seem to display any symptoms of ADHD, but he has a sort of tic that makes me wonder.

When he's doing things like checking an internet window, turning off his phone, putting a bottle cap back on, setting his alarm...just basic things, he will start counting "1, 2, 3, 4, 1", "1, 2, 3, 4, 2", "1, 2, 3, 4, 3", "1, 2, 3, 4, 4" and then go and do whatever he wanted to do afterwards. He told me he does this because he feels nervous if he doesn't, but the thing is I've known him for over two years and I've only ever seen him do this a couple of times since I met him. But he's been doing it many many times a day in the past month, for some reason.

Is there any reason why he'd start doing this so frequently all of a sudden? He's not extra-nervous over anything at the moment, and he hasn't done anything else that is peculiar. I'm asking because I'm a little concerned as to the cause of this sudden interest in the ritualistic counting...and it annoys me to some extent, and I know he can't help it, so I don't hold it against him (I have a mild form of autism and little things make me irate sometimes - go figure).

[rheanna]

Dark Stranger,

Some people with ADD have trouble concentrating when there is too much ambient stimulus (background noise or movement, for example) or too many decisions to make. Others have trouble concentrating when there is too little stimulus. If it's the first example, then it may be that his life has become unstructured in some way or there are too many distractions in his life, and he is trying to find a way to focus by distracting himself from the outside stimulus. If it's the second example, he may have too little going on in his life, and he's trying to introduce some stimulus in order to keep his mind from going nuts.

Just speculation. Have you asked him about it? You're a good friend for liking him in spite of his annoying habits.

--Rheanna

[index.html]

Counting like that, especially when done because "not doing it makes him nervous" is often a symptom of OCD (Obessesive Compulsive Disorder). Does he have any other compulsive behaviors?

[flintrock]

Let me add that his meds will increase this behavior also. It makes tics worse and OCD worse. He needs different meds

[Dark Stranger]

I apologize for dragging this back up - I only realized recently that I had actually posted it.

Thank you all for your help. To answer the questions asked, Friend's only other compulsive behaviors are that he often has a new deep interest every week. One week, he'll be all about Batman, and another week I'll be hearing and seeing nothing but the White Stripes. I don't know if this is more because of ADHD or if it's compulsive or something else entirely, though. He doesn't do anything like constant hand-washing, counting things in his dorm room, making sure everything is placed perfectly at a particular angle - he isn't that obsessive.

And yes, I have asked him about it. I think he might be doing it more frequently because he's going to be graduating in a couple of semesters and he's scared. He realizes he's doing it, but he often cannot stop himself. But he said that, until it starts interfering with his life, he's not going to get medication for it.