The symptoms listed here are often more complicated in women vs. men, and in adults vs. children. Here is a partial list for adult women who may be suffering from ADD of some "real life" scenarios to watch out for:
-Do you find your mind wandering at inappropriate times, such as when someone you love is telling a story? Has your partner noticed this, or shown frustration with you "not listening" or interrupting?
-Is it difficult for you to achieve orgasm because you are frequently distracted by other thoughts during sex? Has this caused intimacy issues with your partner?
-How do you make decisions? Do you procrastinate on difficult decisions until they become urgent? Do you make some decisions impulsively and then spend weeks/months/years making up for your poor judgement?
-How is your mood affected by your environment? Do you become more irritable when your clothes are scratchy, or when you're sitting in a disorganized room full of clutter?
-Do you find yourself lashing out at strangers/family/friends because you feel overwhelmed or frustrated by everyday situations (like waiting in a long line, getting stuck in traffic, or losing an important file at home or on your computer)?
-Do you find yourself telling "white" lies to hide your sense of incompetence as an employee/wife/mother/friend? Are you frequently making excuses for being late or forgetting to do something you said you would do?
-Does your life frequently feel unmanageable, overwhelming, or out of control? Has anyone ever commented that you seem to thrive on chaos, or that you might be a "drama queen"?
-Have you made poor financial decisions that have led to significant debt or lower than expected standard of living? Do you have a difficult time living with or developing a budget, balancing your checkbook, or paying bills on time? Do these tasks seem overwhelming to you?
-At work, do you feel overqualified for your current position? Do you have a hard time being consistent in your work? Does your productivity increase noticeably in relation to your interest in a particular work assignment, and decrease if you are not particularly interested? Has your boss ever talked to you about being late, being unorganized, or spacing out or fidgeting during meetings?
-Think back to a time when you were witness to someone being injured or involved in an accident. Were you one of the first people to respond to the injured person? Were you surprised at how long it took others to react and help the victim?
-What is the current state of your home? Is it completely disorganized, cluttered, and messy? Does it appear orderly on the surface, but every closet is literally bursting with clutter? Do you ever have anxiety about the appearance of your home or your failure to complete projects?
-Have you sought counseling or mental health evaluations and been diagnosed with depression, anxiety, mania, or another disorder? (Many of these are comorbid with ADD, they are also frequently misdiagnosed in people with ADD)
-Do your children, siblings, or parents have any of these symptoms or a diagnosis of ADD?
-Other important symptoms to consider: Many women with ADD were shy in school, daydreamed frequently, observed more than they participated, and felt inferior to their peers. As women with ADD mature, they are more likely to be involved in car accidents, more likely to experience a teen pregnancy, and more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol because of impulsive decision making.
I am not a doctor, just someone with ADD that wished I knew these symptoms years ago so I could have gotten help earlier. Please talk to your doctor if this sounds familiar.
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Add a Comment4 Comments
I have been on a quest for the last year. Have always felt that I was somehow different from my peers but could never put a name to it. When I started researching I found that ADHD sort of fit, but the hyper piece was not really accurate. This article accurately describes me to a TTTTTEEEEEE! After talking to a number of therapists who gave a diagnosis of bipolar which I always felt was not me at all, I can see now that I have ADD. At 35, now I can begin the process of finding how to best live and manage with it. Thanks for an insightful and informative article that many women need to read!!!!
June 30, 2010 - 4:12pmThis Comment
Anon - Sorry to hear that your quest took a year, but am glad that you found that article helpful. I hope you will also explore other articles on the site and that you will continue to move forward and enjoy your life. You can find more information in our ADHD section at https://www.empowher.com/condition/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd
June 30, 2010 - 5:39pmThis Comment
Anon, I, too, was diagnosed later in life with ADD (believe it or not, I first started getting inklings that I had it from a television show about a teenager trying to figure out why she had such difficulty completing simple tasks even though she was very bright. All of a sudden, all the symptoms she was experiencing sounded very familiar to me.)
There may be others like us out there, who have always had the wrong idea about ADD. I simply thought that Attention Deficit Disorder meant you couldn't focus on anything, and that was not the case with me. I can focus -- and even hyperfocus -- on things I am interested in. I am a bookworm and can read for hours. And I had accomplished quite a few things in my life. I had had the impression that ADD meant that you couldn't finish a book, apply yourself to a task or concentrate on a task.
The difference is this: The ADD brain shuts off the "focus" chemicals when we're not genuinely interested in something, or when it's a routine (paying the bills, putting away the clutter, making appointments). I would go late on my bills even though there was money in my account because I simply couldn't make myself concentrate on it. I would start a load of laundry, go back for a second load, then decide to organize the closet while I was at it, and somehow at the end of the day I would end up with: Three loads of finished laundry that needed to be folded, another dry load in the dryer, another wet load in the washer, and stuff all over the floor of the closet. It would be worse than when I had started, even though the project was invigorating at first.
Do you begin projects wildly interested in them and then never finish?
Do you "mean" to get back in touch with people and never do it?
Are there times when you look around yourself at your desk, your house, your office and wonder how it got in that condition?
Do you constantly think that all you have to do to get it all under control is to work harder, try harder, stop being so lazy, etc? (This is common ADD-adult self-talk, conditioned by years of being told what we needed to do to "get over" our seemingly willful problem.)
Here's the good news: You are creative, you are intuitive, you are smart. If you have ADD, it will be with you always, but you can learn to manage it (and you can replace that negative self-talk with a bit of understanding about why you do what you do).
Here are a few of the ADD books that helped me the most:
http://www.amazon.com/Driven-Distraction-Recognizing-Attention-Childhood/dp/0684801280/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234888855&sr=8-2
http://www.amazon.com/ADD-Friendly-Ways-Organize-Your-Life/dp/1583913580/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234888919&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Healing-ADD-Breakthrough-Program-Allows/dp/0425183270/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234888984&sr=1-4
February 17, 2009 - 9:45amThis Comment
Anon, thanks so much for sharing. Was wondering if you would share with us how you manage your ADD? I know others will find your questions beneficial. Thank you! Some other resources to consider are:
Natural remedies for ADD/ADHD
and
ADD -- There are six different types
February 16, 2009 - 2:49pmThis Comment