I'm beginning to think I have Adult ADD. For awhile I just figured that a lot of what was going on was my bipolar disorder, but now that the bipolar disorder is stable I'm still having attention problems. I have the attention span of a gnat, I have to get up and move around a lot , I'm disorganized, etc. Yesterday I was reading (this is the fourth book I'm currently reading) and I was reminded of another book, my first impulse was to jump up and start reading that one. I managed to tamp that down for about 10 minutes before I gave in because I couldn't stop thinking about it.

I have no staying power when it comes to activities and I flit from thing to think always assuming that the next one is going to be better or more fufilling or more fun or more I get bored. I'll be starting back to school in the fall and I don't want to fail again because of this.

But I'm not sure where to start, currently I'm not seeing a therapist. I also worry that I won't be able to take medication because it might trigger a manic spell, but even if there's no medication I can take there are still skills I can learn, right?

Should I call my general practitioner and talk to her about this or just look in the phone book for therapists who specialise in ADD?

I thought I had ADD, but I suppose being able to play a video game for 8 hours straight kind of contradicts the claim, regardless of my inability to read an academic text for more than a page and a half without my mind wandering off.

Anyway, askye, unless you have reason to mistrust your gp on this sort of thing (and hey, some people do), I'd go to her first. That's what she's there for, I think.

Should I call my general practitioner and talk to her about this or just look in the phone book for therapists who specialise in ADD?

I'd start there, if only because your GP already knows your medical hx.

None of the USPS people who promised to call me back have called me back. Raise your hand if you're surprised.

Just, damn. Talk about bad breaks.

That's horrible. And I just sent out a hope that her health insurance will take good care of her.

Welcome back, Sox. The pictures were so pretty. I like the one with Iris lying on the sand flying the kite. I hate the ones of me, please to zap them out of existence, kthanxbye!

askye, I can't remember if you're currently on meds for the bipolar? If so, I'd talk to whoever's managing your medication (and if not, start with your GP if she knows your history): no idea if (or which) meds would be possible for you, but you want to be sure to go into it with someone who knows the whole picture, right?

And for the second question, even if meds aren't on the table for you, there are definitely things you can do without them -- Cognitive/Behavioral Therapy can be very helpful, as can things like better awareness of your time management, attention cycles, and all that fun.

And if it's not ADD, all that stuff doesn't exactly hurt.

(Actually, I'd say that the freaky hyperawareness that I've developed of my own mental processes has been the biggest help for me in dealing with the ADD; the meds are just what puts me at a baseline where I can get there.)

Emily! Check your email! Smooches!

Gah. I feel like absolute shit today. This is Not Good.

askye, you do have a lot of the stuff I recognise from StY and me as adult ADD. I'd talk to your doctor first, but therapy is going to be a big help. I know drugs have been a lot of help to lots of ADD sufferers, but therapy was a huge help with understanding *why* I do some things, why other things just sail on by my perception without my even noticing, or why I over-focus on some things. It's also given me lots of coping mechanisms, and helped me understand that some OCD behaviors originally started as me manufacturing my own coping mechanisms, but later on they'd habituated into liabilities, rather than being helpful, and aiding me in shifting away from using them so much.

Um, too late now, but the short answer? Both.

Also? Miss you.

I thought I had ADD, but I suppose being able to play a video game for 8 hours straight kind of contradicts the claim, regardless of my inability to read an academic text for more than a page and a half without my mind wandering off.

Actually, no. That's actually a symptom, being able to over-focus on an activity and shut out other input.

I thought I had ADD, but I suppose being able to play a video game for 8 hours straight kind of contradicts the claim, regardless of my inability to read an academic text for more than a page and a half without my mind wandering off.

Actually, no. People with ADD are often extremely good at video games, because they have the capacity for what's called "hyperfocus." I know two guys with ADD and/or ADHD, and both do this a lot.

eta: hyperfocus x-post!

(((juliana))). I hope whatever is making you feel like shit backs off and things go back to good.

I felt horrible as a mother, because when StY was young--beginning at age 5, long before the age real modeling clay is considered "safe," we could put him on the kitchen floor on a sheet of plastic, with bits of Lego and broken model cars and spaceships and his clay, and he would play for hours. And hours.

It was the hugest relief, that I knew where he was and what he was doing, that he was *safe* and happy. And he was a consumate sculptor, making cars and spaceships and phaser guns and blasters and dials for wall safes and things out of clay. We would never have allowed it, but by age two he was pulling paper out of the trash, chewing it until he had a squoogy mass, which he would mash and mold into recognizable shapes. We gave him Play-Doh, but it smelled like food to him, so he ate it. At least he never ate the clay, though he may have licked it a time or two.

But for a little boy who lived his whole life like a balloon propelled by escaping air, three hours on the kitchen floor was a respite both for him and for his parents. It was the only thing he focussed on that well until he discovered video games.