I know there are ways to help cope with the ADHD, but I’m fine with the way I’m living. I do well in school, but that’s mostly because I enjoy almost every subject (except economics, where I tend to daydream in class). I’m only 13 and have kind of just… Known that there was something about me. The only thing is that I tried talking to my mom about my suspision of me having ADHD, but she just shrugged and said “So what?”
Another thing. Is it normal to get agitated when a person talks to you? Not if it’s a friend that that you started talking to, but when it’s a person who starts speaking to you…

Two very good comments. Thank you.

I understand your concern with wanting to avoid professional diagnosis … there are very few prescriptions that do not have some sort of side effects. So there is reason to be hesitant about taking on new medicine. From the description you give of “your ADD,” I personally think you could benefit from reading the book I recommended, and/or from searching on Amazon for other books on ADD. You do not seem to have a debilitating case of ADD (if you have ADD … I am not a professional, so I can’t say whether you do or not).

I do know that the medicines that are prescribed for ADD, and for OCD (a different disorder but one that sometimes arises out of ADD) are generally considered to safe (minimum side effects), so you might be overly-concerend. That’s just a choice you have to make. Life is full of tradeoffs, and looking for a perfect solution before doing something to change your life for the better, could mean you have to settle for tradeoffs.

Good luck and thanks again for the comments, which no doubt will be helpful to others.

Bruce

Which makes learning new things incredibly hard for me. Not only that, but the feeling of under-achieving at anything makes me feel anxious and dampens my mood terribly. I’m attending school right now, and the pressures that come with it are very aggravating, which in turn makes me a complete mess. I’ve lived with this since I was young, and would of never thought that I had ADD if it wasn’t for my mother who tossed the idea at me.

I would go and get diagnosed, because I’m pretty confident that the results would come back positive for ADD, but I’m kind of cautious about taking pills or any kind of stimulant. To say the least, I have a pretty addictive personality, whether it’s video games, or creating stories in my mind. I feel that I could become addicted to certain things very easily, so I’ve done my best to avoid them throughout my life, and have been pretty successful at the process. That’s my point though, I’ve only done well because I’ve out right AVOIDED anything that I thought I might have a small chance of getting addicted at.

Which makes it hard to get diagnosed but then turn down so many different options that include drugs. I would try to do it naturally, such as some of the techniques you suggested; I fear that my impatience will thwart any attempt at something that doesn’t include a “Quick Fix.” I know, if I really wanted to, I could fix it myself with some of the remedies that you suggested. With ADD, is that ever true though? All cases can be different in their own ways, so when people tell me that if I REALLY wanted to I could change the way I act, or react to things, are they right?

I mean, can I really just make the change myself? Or is ADD powerful enough to make it very challenging to adapt to having it? See I’m not really certain about any of this, and I don’t think I will be unless I consult a doctor. I don’t want to just be handed pills and told to take them twice a day though. I’ve read some things about medications currently going around the market these days for ADD, and heard some pretty horrendous cases. It seems that everything out now a days only exists to get you addicted so that you keep buying the product.

So I want to be very clear to my doctor that I want something that could potentially STOP the symptoms of ADD, without creating any other unwanted side effects. However, with my schedule looking the way it is, it seems dismal at best that I will be able to accomplish anything naturally such home remedies for the symptoms. Any feed back on this, regardless if you cannot diagnose me professionally would be appreciated. I’m not asking you to tell me what to do, just wondering if this is something that all of you would consider taking to a doctor and if so, should I be open minded to any kind of medical treatment? Even if there’s the chance to get addicted to it?

Thank you also for mentioning meditation. I read a lot, and I see more and more articles that talk about how beneficial mediation (and mindfulness practice) can be. Not only to those with ADD, but to those with OCD and to those with no known disorder.

Again, I appreciate your openness and you taking the time to share your experiences and thoughts.

Bruce

I think that a mental disease could be many times deepened through autosuggestion, induced symptoms that might have not existed or too vague to be identified so, after we discovered – or a psychiatrist, physician diagnosed or a therapist did, no having time to check enough time to listen to our entire life and decide if it’s just tiredness or reactive depression or whatever Bruce and other valuable comments showed it might be.
I searched and read for years about ADHD and I am surprised that I didn’t find earlier this very good article and comments. I had had problems with my gifted child that exceeded the first “special needs” with on ongoing impulsivity and defiance, more with me, after being bullied in school. One of the best specialists in Canada diagnosed her with moderate ADHD, when she was 12. After a few days of Ritalin she refused to take any medication other than trying later, less than a week, Concerta. Being ashamed to have that diagnosis in school, she completely rejected that she might have ADHD and tried to perform better, at least when accompanied by me, to prove her point. The specialist tested me for ADHD as my daughter insisted that I was not perfect in that field either. The professor explained her that I was not the parent that transmitted that to her but I might have had symptoms that look like ADD from depression.
Sometimes it was very hard for me, single-handed, to deal with hours of talking, explaining, looking for or picking up mislaid stuff and be her secretary for almost anything. Assessed again at almost 15 it seems that ADHD was less visible –- but she still had some traits of defiance, initially diagnosed too. I do not know if my patient efforts counted or the fact that the child ignored the diagnosis and wanted to prove the contrary. She is still a high-functional child, with no behavioural issues, no matter last year we have had to pass through an ordeal and I had to accept to be “beneficial away” how outside “professionals” wanted, but sending her to a better place than the one they intended for her.
My ADD and even scattered brain problems developed, but now from a diagnosed anxiety with depression (I had to bury alive in my heart and detached from my last child, too) I prefer to think about neurogenesis and of those many neurons delivered daily by our brains and accept some disorganization until new circuits are formed and the information is recuperated, moved, sorted –avoiding the too painful bits that still circulate and might still kill some neurons – till the things will settle down enough.
The better antidote that I found against problems of memory, concentration even angry and impulsivity is Buddhist meditation, usually done beginning with a Christian prayer (I was born Christian) and after the Buddhist ones, including the prayers for the ones that unfairly caused me so much harm, I end with Amen.
I still read how to do and improve my 5-30 min meditation sessions and think thankfully of the below resources:
http://viewonbuddhism.org/mind.html
http://www.openbuddha.com/resources/way-of-wisdom/
http://realization.org/page/namedoc0/mipe/mipe_16.htm