If I leave my grin behind, remind me that we're all mad here
Inattentive-type (ADHD-I) Hyperactive/Impulsive-type (ADHD-H) In children:
- Forgetful during daily activities
- Easily distracted by extraneous stimuli
- Losing important items (e.g. pencils, homework, toys, etc.)
- Not listening and not responding to name being called out
- Unable to focus on tasks at hand, cannot sustain attention in activities
- Avoids or dislikes tasks requiring sustained mental effort
- Makes careless mistakes by failing to pay attention to details
- Difficulty organizing tasks and activities
- Always asking for attention
- Fails to follow-through on complex instructions and tasks (e.g. homework, chores, etc.)
In children:
- Squirms and fidgets (with hands and/or feet)
- Cannot sit still
- Cannot play quietly or engage in leisurely activities
- Talks excessively
- Runs and climbs excessively
- Always on the go, as if "driven by a motor"
- Cannot wait for their turn
- Blurts out answers
- Intrudes on others and interrupts conversations
- Procrastination
- Indecision, difficulty recalling and organizing details required for a task
- Poor time management, losing track of time
- Avoiding tasks or jobs that require sustained attention
- Difficulty initiating tasks
- Difficulty completing and following through on tasks
- Difficulty multitasking
- Difficulty shifting attention from one task to another
In adults:
- Chooses highly active, stimulating jobs
- Avoids situations with low physical activity or sedentary work
- May choose to work long hours or two jobs
- Seeks constant activity
- Easily bored
- Impatient
- Intolerant to frustration, easily irritated
- Impulsive, snap decisions and irresponsible behaviors
- Loses temper easily, angers quickly
Ok, so this is the chart of ADHD behaviors from Wikipedia. I chose that one in specific because I wanted the chart style, the more professional website didn't break down the differences in childhood and adult behaviors. I have italicized the things I remember doing and do currently. I think the only person who reads this who knew me as a child is my mother. So Mom, feel free to comment on anything. Also, I kinda wish I had my grade cards and things from school, especially pre-7th grade as I don't remember those as well. I know there were remarks from teachers about some things.
Forgetful during daily activities
I think the easiest way to go through these is just down the list. I don't think I was forgetful during activities, I found having any sort of schedule made things easier. I kept track of time once I was taught how to. Frequently, in school keeping track of time made it easier to get through the boring parts.
Easily distracted by extraneous stimuli
Maybe this is part the next one - easily distracted by extraneous stimuli? I know for certain, if I was reading something particularly involving, at school I would have a hard time focusing on school work and would prefer to read. Once, I realized most teachers didn't care if I read in class as long as I got my work done and my grades were good - I read far more than participated.
Losing important items (e.g. pencils, homework, toys, etc.)
Losing important items - happened frequently - though mostly with little things - pencils, trinkets, I would lose things for a week or so and then find them again. Library books were a problem for a while, though not for long. Books were too important to misplace.
Not listening and not responding to name being called out
Not responding to my name being called or not listening? Doublecheck. Any of the actvities I was doing while someone called my name was usually so engrossing that I either didn't hear or didn't care to hear someone trying to get my attention. And given that my name is so pervasive in my age group (most popular baby girl name from 85-90 and again from 93-95), it was always likely they were talking to me. Well, except at home.
Unable to focus on tasks at hand, cannot sustain attention in activities
You know, I wasn't sure about this one until I brought up the reading in class. If something wasn't interesting or entertaining, you can bet I found something else to do, either read, doodle, or write. I haven't done much of the latter since college. But in high school there was Milliways, and fanfic.
Avoids or dislikes tasks requiring sustained mental effort
Underlined because I'm unsure how to deal with this one, since my default "this is boring" bode switches to reading which is a sustained mental effort. But I dislike complex math for similar reasons.
Makes careless mistakes by failing to pay attention to details
This happened mostly in math classes. Dyscalculia meant if I flew through a math test, like i did other reading based tests, that I would have numbers flipped in my calculations, negatives instead of positives. I had to learn to go back through and double check every thing to make sure I didn't have those mistakes. When I was in an math class that was basically myself due to a scheduling conflict in 9th grade, I didn't care enough to go through the double check and my grades and math skills suffered. And the more I read on Dyscalculia, it seems that it affects far more than just my math. But maybe more on that later.
Difficulty organizing tasks and activities
4-H projects, sewing done at the last minute. Chickens and rabbits neglected for reading or tv or bumming around the back field daydreaming. Chores done haphazardly, Dexter half-trained to hand signals. Knowing my room needed cleaning but being overwhelmed by the idea of organizing and figuring out where to put things.
Fails to follow-through on complex instructions and tasks
I would think that this falls in with Difficulty organizing tasks and activities. At least for me, the inability to organize made it very difficult to follow through and finish the tasks. Homework didn't get finished until the last minute in high school, unless there was time in class to do it get it over with , and then get back to reading/socializing.
There wasn't anything I could verify enough with myself on the ADHD II side of the chart as a child. I was known as a quiet child and compared to my sister and my youngest brother who does have ADHD II, that is certainly true.
Ok, *deep breath* I 'm gonna take a little bit to clean and reset my brain before moving on to the Adult side of things
So, here we are again. I will conquer you yet Table! It is now Sunday night, since yesterday's cleaning turned into putting my phone back together, belated Hanukkah with drama and then today was dress and shoe shopping with Mom time.
Procrastination
Yes, oh definitely. Between, finding other projects or things to work on while ignoring the one I should be working on to being on the internet far too long being unproductive. Procrastination, I has it.
Indecision, difficulty recalling and organizing details required for a task
I spend a lot of time in my head going over the organizing details of a project - how should I put together this dress, what was that place we ate dinner at that we'd like to go to again while I'm looking over the dinner options for a work trip. I also, when faced with a bunch of little tasks that aren't necessarily related, tend to have difficulty deciding which one to do first. At work, this can mean that small repairs don't get done immediately or costumes don't get put away as they are dry.
Poor time management, losing track of time
If I'm on the computer or reading, I don't pay attention to the time. Now, I've coping skills to deal with this some, get up every so often, pay attention to the time. Be a stickler when it comes to getting to places on time. Be early, on time means you are already late. But the procrastination shows in my household cleaning, in putting together a dress that should take half the time it did because I spent half the time on the internet, deciding what movie/music I was going to listen to. Doublechecking the one technique that I wanted to try to the point that I should know how to do it without referencing the website - but I do anyway.
Difficulty initiating tasks
These last few symptoms are so wrapped tight together that it feels like I'm writing about the same things over and over again. I'm trying to use different examples. Hopefully it's coming across. I really dislike paperwork. I will frequently wait until it's the last thing I have to do. It doesn't usually take more than a few minutes, but the amount of steps I have to go through for one reservation can be daunting. Or if the tasks are set by someone else and they aren't very clear, I get nervous about messing it up and so I will stall until I can get clearer instructions which can be difficult itself.
Difficulty completing and following through on tasks
At last count, I have at least four unfinished sewing projects, countless others still in design stages and even more hiding in buried lists on my livejournal and other places. This doesn't count the quarterly reports at work, the small tasks that aren't repairs but are things like "make headsocks", go through the costumes for maintenance, clean out the desk drawers.
Difficulty multitasking
I currently have seven tabs on Firefox open. I visit them as I need to when I need a break from writing this. Somedays though, I think I use multitasking as a way to distract me from the things I should be working on. I will switch to another tab when I need a break from processing shipping or emails.
Difficulty shifting attention from one task to another
And again, I think I use a shifting attention to keep myself distracted from the projects and goals I need to finish. Though I know this it true when I am reading/watching something engrossing while trying to do something else
So there we are.....I'm fairly certain I have ADD, my husband and my mom agree with me. Now, because of the stress of the holidays and my sister's wedding, the weather being very strange....it's gotten out of hand. I'm not accomplishing much at home or at work. I'm exhausted all day and not sleeping well - I hate seeing 4:30 for who knows how many nights in a row. I fall asleep - generally around 11:30 - 12 sometimes later but toss and turn and like clockwork wake up at 4:30 overheating even with our apartment set at about 72/73. I get cold sitting in the living room and our bedroom is much colder being the outside two brick and concrete walls. Pyr suggests trying to treat the depression and the ADD should settle down and my coping skills should kick back in. We go to the doctor tomorrow for our physicals so I should have a more clear plan of action after that. This entry was originally posted at http://textileowl.dreamwidth.org/118163.html. Please comment there using OpenID.