first time poster with a question

[Anonymous]

i am new here, and am new to facing that i might have the attention-deficit only kind of ADHD. i was disgnosed three years ago, but then chose to do nothing about it because it was so difficult to accept. now i am trying to come to grips with the condition again, bit by bit.

one question i have is, how is it that i am both a very logical, methodical person AND have ADHD? they don’t seem to go together. what i mean is that i really love bringing order to chaos, setting out the confusing in a non-confusing manner, creating abstract and concrete systems, etc. my writing is so well ordered that my paragraphs tend to naturally come out the same length; i have never seen a run-on sentence i didn’t want to destroy. yet, while i do all this, my mind wanders like a hungry goat in a trash heap — i need to take a myriad breaks before i can go back to my well-ordered, methodical work. how does that make sense? bueller?

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[Anonymous]

I’ll try to answer your questions as best I can.

First of all, ADHD is a failure of the executive functions of the brain. It doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you cannot process things in the same manner as others. They’ve identified six functions as the executive functions in the brain and it is unlikely that any two given people with ADHD will have the exact same failures with each of those 6 functions. Some will be high in one or two areas moderate in a couple more and low in the other two. Some may be moderate in all six. It’s biology – everything is random.

When your mind wanders, it’s often because you are having difficulty prioritizing your thoughts. In the executive functions of your mind, everything has equal weight and deserves to be front and center – whether you want it to be there or not.

Believe it or not, I prefer an ordered world. In fact, when something is not behaving as it should, it makes me very upset. I tend to “hyper focus” on that task, I put my head down and immerse myself in finding a solution or “die trying.” Usually that’s when things get the better of me as the harder I try, the more futile the task seems to become. Instead of solving things, I get agitated. Only when I force myself to step back (no easy task), breathe (slowly, again and again) and maybe work off some of that excess energy (vexing tasks get my adrenaline up) do I manage to get myself calm enough to where I can trust myself to take another crack at it. Usually when I have managed to calm myself down do I realize that the problem was not the critical “do or die” one my fevered brain was making it out to be. I may still not have the solution, but without the hyper-focus tunnel-vision, alternative approaches do make themselves known.

Like I said, everyone is different. I hope you find something useful in there.

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[kc5jck]

I majored in Math, have a degree in computer science, two disiplines requiring logic and method . . . and I have ADHD.

As Gameguy says, ADHD affects the executive functions in the frontal lobes of the brain, the skills and abilities of a person reside elsewhere in the brain and are unaffected.

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[Tiddler]

Hi I’m another logical ADDer. My writing is also pretty good – I have an English literature degree. But I have trouble getting started, focusing on what I’m doing and I even walked out of my A level English exam an hour early because I just couldn’t concentrate any more and it had given me a headache. (I still passed, despite this thankfully.)

I also love creating order. It never stays that way though and it’s usually done when i’m supposed to be doing something else…

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[Anonymous]

Thanks. Those explanations are very consistent with my experience. However, all of this makes it harder to explain that I might have ADD to other people.

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[Anonymous]

First of all, who do you need to explain it to? Your doctor? Certainly. Your family? Most likely. Everyone else is on a need to know basis. You shouldn’t have to explain it to your employer unless it is getting in the way of you performing your duties and you need to ask for some accommodations – such as extra time or assistance with those things you don’t do well. Some have managed to ask for and get accommodations without revealing their ADHD. Other times, it is necessary so you can gain assistance through the ADA (assuming you’re in America). It really depends on your situation.

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[Tiddler]

If you’re like me you may want some kind of validation – understanding that you really DO try/work hard etc. I want the world to know I’ve got ADHD and that it’s not my fault.

I’ve had a pretty good reaction from most people. Some people suggest using a diary (PMSL) and some people don’t understand at first but ask questions that I’m happy to answer.

I haven’t really had a bad experience from telling someone yet, but if I did, it’d upset me but would ultimately be THEIR problem, not mine. You just need to tell them ADHD has nothing to do with intellect. You’re clever AND you have attention/impulse/memory/whatever problems. That’s all. If they can’t understand it, it’s not that hard, they can go jump!

In my humble opinion!

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