Inattentive subtype with hyperactive symptoms?

[Anonymous]

I’m positive now I have the inattentive subtype of ADD, although it could be a month or so before I can get to a doctor for an official diagnosis. I have all the Inattentive symptoms except one, and I have them at a level that’s pretty debilitating at home and at work, and I’ve had them all my life. I feel sorry for my boss, who is a close friend and can’t fire me despite my mess-ups, because at the moment he can’t run the company without me.

I don’t have enough hyperactivity symptoms to fit the hyperactivity profile, and the ones I do have are not debilitating.

My question is, if I am of the inattentive subtype, are the few hyperactivity symptoms I have caused by ADD, or are they just a coincidence?

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[Fabulous]

Hi @fdavis47713. I like your question. The ‘subtypes’ can be useful but they can also create a lot of confusion because ADHD isn’t black or white. Most ADHDers have symptoms from each category. The subtype notion was invented because a lot of people have *more* symptoms falling into one category or the other. It helps you know your ‘flavour’ if you will.

But the symptom categories are not mutually exclusive, and in fact our predominant symptoms tend to change over the course of our lives (e.g., for most people hyperactivity settles down with age).

ADHD is global to our functioning because it is a disorder of executive function. One of the ways skeptics attack the validity of ADHD is by pointing to the disparity in symptom categories: ‘How can inattention *and* hyperactivity be part of the same disorder?’  The answer is clear when you recognize that it is a disorder of executive function. It affects the part of our brain that is at-the-wheel of self regulation, if you will.  Check out this website for more info: http://www.drthomasebrown.com/brown_model/index.html

 

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[MarieAngell]

Are you concerned that you will have difficulty getting a correct diagnosis because you don’t have sufficient hyperactivity?

I meet all the diagnostic criteria for the inattentive subtype, and have no debilitating hyperactivity symptoms (although I have some annoying, albeit mostly subtle hyperactivity).

 

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[Anonymous]

@Fabulous, Thanks for the thoughtful reply, and the link. That helps me understand things better.

@MarieAngell — I wasn’t really concerned about diagnosis. I was thinking that if there was a possibility that my small number of hyperactive symptoms were also related to ADD, I would know better how to handle them, and would know to include them in my overall plans for improvement.

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[Fabulous]

Happy to help, @fdavis47713. Would you say you had more hyperactive symptoms as a kid?

It is a long wait sometimes to get diagnosed.

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[MarieAngell]

@fdavis47713, ah, I see. It’s certainly likely that your hyperactivity symptoms are related to ADD, but I’m 100% on board with what @Fabulous said. For me, focusing on my areas of deficit in executive function has been an effective strategy.

A plan for improvement is great, but I definitely encourage you to focus on the things that trouble you the most.

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[Anonymous]

I don’t think I had any more hyperactive symptoms as a kid than I do now. I was always more likely to be off in my own world than to run around and talk a lot. Reading was my escape, and something I was often likely to get lost in. I was nicknamed “The Absent-Minded Professor” in 6th grade, even though my grades were all over the place.

I did have a tendency to fidget, and still do, and I pace when I think, and have a problem with impulse spending, which is why I was wondering if those might be related to ADD also.

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[Fabulous]

@fdavis47713, can I ask what tool you have been using to assess your symptoms?

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[MarieAngell]

@Fdavis47713, you sound a lot like me and what you describe sound very much like classic ADHD symptoms. Although I’m not much of a true fidgeter or pacer, I do some other things that are similar. I’ve also struggled some with impulse spending, and all of that’s definitely an ADD thing with me. Even though it has never been totally out of control, I don’t like it and have been working hard on eliminating that.

 

 

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