Do I have A.D.D.? I'll describe some of my behaviors.

[Goodheart]

- I don't know how to sit around, relax, and do nothing. That's why I'm not a fan of beaches, I reckon. When I go to such I have to walk along the shore line, and not just lay there soaking in the sun.

- I have to be constantly entertained. I have a small TV next to the bathtub to watch a show when I'm bathing. I have a small TV under the kitchen counter to watch a show while I'm cooking or washing dishes.

- I can't bear to wait in lines. It raises my blood pressure. If I get caught in a long line, say at a grocery store, I've been known to just leave the cart packed and walk out.

- When I play board games I insist on timers. Analysis paralysis drives me nuts. It's just a game, not life and death, just play already!

- When I travel I hurry my meals, even at fine restaurants, because I want to go out and walk around the city.

I need a drug.

[Faux pas]

1. Don't

know about ADD, when I'm in a long line I use that time for day dreaming. Try it you might like it

[Tikki]

18. I rock back and forth a bit in a long line...usually listening to the music in my head...

either accompanied by ear buds and sometimes just from memory.


Tikki

p.s. I read recently (probably on DU) that music is in the brain as a survival strategy.

[Maraya1969]

2. Sounds more like an underlying anxiety to me. I've had ADHA in the past

Personally I think it tends to come and go, at least for me, and it made me forget appointments or go on the wrong day or the wrong time. I couldn't remember what I was doing or I'd start 15 different things and never finish anything.

But I've also had anxiety and that is what your description sounds like to me - I'm not a psychiatrist.

I've been practicing meditating for years now. I started with basic "follow you breath" kinds and now I am able to kind of just shut my mind off for periods of time - what a relief!

When you get like that stop for a minute, close your eyes and try and see where your next thought will come from.

[Peregrine Took]

5. Good advice. I try to tell myself that everyday

yet my many activities prevent me from slowing down doing what I need to do to un-wind.
I will try harder tomorrow.

[Phentex]

25. I'd say anxiety too...

and extreme impatience.

[Diamond_Dog]

3. I don't have A.D.D.

But I can’t stand lying in one spot on a beach all day long, either. Bo-ring....

[Peregrine Took]

4. I must be busy all day. Internet, chores, painting, exercise

(two types),podcast chat. In the evening I crochet while watching movies.
I have never adjusted to retirement.
I have to have the 9-5 part of my day fully engaged.
Even when I'm on the internet I've taken to lifting hand weights with my non typing hand.

As Jimmy Cagney would say "Its just the kind of hairpin I am!"

[abqtommy]

6. I can relate to your symptoms but I've never been diagnosed with ADD. I have been

diagnosed with Bipolar and when my meds are working right it takes the edge off my
nervousness and anxiety and I can actually relax.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

7. You could try to get an actual diagnosis from a doctor

who specializes in A.D.D.

Just a suggestion.

Although it just seems like you are a very impatient person. Which isn't the same as A.D.D.

[Skittles]

8. let me describe a REAL behavior

I need a paper towel, I'm out but I know I just bought some! I figure they must have escaped the grocery bag in the car. So I go out to my car. I SEE them through the window but I also see how absolutely filthy my car is! So I drive to the car wash. There's a couple of cars ahead of me but I cannot wait that long! While driving back home, I stop at the grocery store. I run into a neighbor who mentions she needs help moving some furniture! No problem I say, so we leave and go back home. I help her move a couch and a chair. Leaving her apartment, I see my favorite squirrel Chubby! So I run inside and open a cupboard to get some peanuts. But I notice how disorganized everything is so I start rearranging the food items! Then I notice one of the shelves has some kind of spill so I take everything out and wipe down the shelves! I drop a couple of the items and notice my kitchen floor could use a hosing, so out comes the Swiffer! While swiffering I think, oh dear, CHUBBY! so I run outside with the peanuts!

This keeps going but the gist of it is, the next morning I be like: WHERE ARE THE PAPER TOWELS?

[I_UndergroundPanther]

9. Story of my life..

Yes..

And another symptom...the hyperfocus

You decide to draw,so you start drawing.

And you draw straight for 5 hours,ignoring hunger, forget about the bathroom,about thirst..

Than get up when you gotta go so bad you barely make it, thinking I am so thirsty,hungry. But you go back to drawing...

now the sun is down..what the hell where did the day go..
Oh I'm so thirsty and hungry but I haven't a clue what I want to eat,or drink.

I am diagnosed adhd and take adderall. I don't get so stuck in hyperfocus as bad as I used to before meds.

It scared the fuck out of me when hyperfocus made me so focused that when I finally got up because I felt weird..and my blood sugar level was 44. After that happened a couple of times I admitted to my psydoc I need to go back on adderall.

Adderall literally saves my ass.

[Ocelot II]

17. That sounds like me.

I get up and walk toward the kitchen to get some frozen chicken out of the freezer to defrost for dinner, but on the way I discover a blob of cat puke on the floor, which I have to clean up right away, so I get some paper towels but discover that the roll is almost used up, so I get out another roll of paper towels, clean up the cat puke, throw it in the trash and notice that the trash can is pretty full, so I take it out to the trash bin in the alley, and on the way back to the house I see that the bird feeders are empty, so I fill them, go back inside, remember that the mail has probably come by now, so I go back outside to pick up the mail, bring the mail in and throw most of it away except for an interesting catalog which I sit down to read, see an item I'm interested in, look it up on the Internet, decide not to buy it but get distracted by other stuff on the Internet, including DU, which reminds me to turn on the TV because something interesting is happening; eventually it's time to make supper and I find that the chicken I was going to eat is still frozen because I never made it to the freezer to take it out. So I have chips and dip for dinner.

[yellowdogintexas]

22. This is why I can't get my house decluttered or complete many of the

tasks in my life.

My laundry schedule: Washing: 20 minutes Drying: 20 minutes Folding and storing: 7 to 10 business days.

One of the hardest things for me is focusing on one task until it is finished.

I am also a professional procrastinator.

[Skittles]

23. omg yellowdogintexas

I CONSTANTLY battle with clutter. I am not a dirty person - I keep my fridge, oven, toilet, tub, floors very clean indeed but it's EVERY freaking table top or counter space - it just fills up. I have taken to making rules like they must be cleared before I go to sleep. But I am constantly putting stuff away. I don't seem to realize I am doing this cluttering. I often wonder if it is a reflection of my mind, cluttered with too many thoughts at the same time.

I too procrastinate but oddly enough, I have never had a problem with laundry - folding laundry while watching TV just seems natural to me.

[Phentex]

24. I fully relate...

I have to keep a list of nearly everything I want to get done. For some it might seem overwhelming but for me, it keeps me attempting to stay on track. I have had to tell myself STOP! Stop starting the new thing! Go back to what you were doing and add the new thing to the list, lol.

[Skittles]

26. I have lists too

but I forget about them

[Duppers]

10. You sound like my mother.

She even ran a lot of red lights!!

She could never sit & watch tv or listen to music. (I do wish I had her energy though.)

Yes, she was ADD & I don't know how she ever made it thru school w/o Ritalin.

Ever try just reading on your phone when in a line? It helps me endure long waits.

[Goodheart]

11. I certainly don't wait at red lights when nobody else is at the intersection.

LOL

[Duppers]

13. Makes sense to me. 😉

But the cops sure don't think so.

I've a (bad?) habit of cautiously approaching stop signs, slowing down, then coasting thru if I don't see anything coming. This drives my rule-obeying, law-abiding hubby crazy. "The law is you must come to a complete stop."
Horse-hockey, don't care, says me. Yep, we're polar opposites.

[Harker]

12. I don't know about ADD...

but I'm pretty certain you'd find me irritating.

Something for your consideration - sitting still, watching the clouds change shape, listening to the chickadees and nuthatches, feeling the sun's warmth - isn't doing nothing!

[Duppers]

14. That's a lovely feeling.

"Smelling the flowers," appreciating nature & just being. Folks who can't do that need to try some good weed. It sure helped me.

[Harker]

15. +33. n/t

[Duppers]

16. Zen. nt.

[Harker]

19. For some, every moment is a 'moment of Zen.'.

I can barely manage 'worked up', let alone 'frantic.'

[Duppers]

20. Lucky!! How I wish...

Try having an ADD 2yr old empty a bottle of Wesson oil all over your kitchen & family room.

He wasn't diagnosed with ADD until he was entering 3rd grade & his teacher requested a conference. She only confirmed what I'd been telling my dh for yrs. He still wasn't convinced until our son was examined by a well-respected pediatric neurologist who prescribed Ritalin. That med got the kid through the next 20yrs of his education. (B.S., UVa; PhD, JHU).

That pediatric neurologist, btw, was Dr. Ralph Northam, current governor of Virginia!

Sometimes we just need some chemical intervention.

[Harker]

21. I'm all for what works.

For me, one of Buddhism's most persistently challenging instructions pertains to welcoming and appreciating difficult people (and situations) as treasure troves of opportunity for practicing acceptance and loving-kindness.

The Wesson Test, I think it's called.

You have my respect.

[Duppers]

29. Thank you, kind sir.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

28. I was diagnosed in 3rd grade too in the early 70's

was started on ritalin.Still have it.
Take adderall these days.
And yeah I got clutter too. Keep telling myself to organize my art room. It's taken months.

And I do the list thing.

I list 3 to 5 things to do in 24 hours.
Some days I failto do them. And appointments they are hell for me to remember.

[Phentex]

27. Sounds like you just aren't patient...

you may just need relaxation techniques.

[luckone]

30. Neurodiversity you may be some type of combo and I have read there are different forms ofAD

You can almost sense that by the varied replies
?fit=scale

Different types
Classic ADD. Symptoms: Inattentive, distractible, hyperactive, disorganized and impulsive. ...
Inattentive ADD. ...
Over-Focused ADD. ...
Temporal Lobe ADD. ...
Limbic ADD. ...
Ring of Fire ADD (“ADD plus”) ...
Anxious ADD.