Hi ospreyguy, do you think it is ADHD? It could be other things too, even what they call Internet addiction. Do you have other symptoms of ADHD too? I'm also very distractable with the Internet and I do have ADHD so yeah, I sympathize! At work, I used to try behavioral tricks to get me to focus. Such as working for 20 minutes uninterrupted and then rewarding myself with something, like a trip down the hall, or drawing a picture. When I didn't absolutely need the Internet for the thing I was working on that minute (like a Word document or spreadsheet, for example), I would disable Internet access on my computer. It could be reestablished with a click, but somehow being disconnected helped me not be tempted. I also made lists of tasks I needed to do and rewarded myself by checking them off. If a task was too daunting, I would make a list of 20 minute increments on the task and give myself a check mark for every 20 minutes I spent on the project (or 10 or 15 or whatever works for you).

For finding a doctor, I would actually recommend starting with a therapist. It's true, the therapist cannot prescribe for ADHD, but the therapist can help you figure out what might be going on, because it might not be ADHD. It might be an Internet addiction, or a symptom of anxiety, depression, etc. Or it could be a combination of these. The therapist is also good at helping with behavioral modification. The therapist can also refer you to a prescriber who is experienced at ADHD if he/she thinks that would be helpful to you.

Primary care providers are suspicious of new patients who come to see them and want a stimulant prescription. They will suspect drug-seeking behavior and amphetamine addiction, because they have seen that so much. So having a relationship established with a therapist, who then refers to a prescriber, can give the prescriber confidence it is not just drug-seeking behavior. Also, the therapist will know who to refer you to who is familiar with diagnosis and treatment of ADHD in adults, It is usually not going to be your family doctor, but either a psychiatrist or a psychiatric nurse practitioner. I see the latter. She is great and treats many adults for ADHD, is very experienced with all the medication options, and skilled at distinguishing ADHD from other conditions. My family doctor does not have this expertise. Another option is to start by going straight to a skilled prescriber, but from what you describe, I think you could benefit also from behavioral therapy for your symptoms, and prescribers don't necessarily help with that. If you do go see a prescriber, do not be surprised if you are first prescribed a non-stimulant medication such as Strattera or Bupropion. These do help some people with ADHD and also help the prescriber see that you are not just seeking drugs for your addiction. If you give those meds a good trial, keep in touch with progress reports with the prescriber, and they determine it isn't helping as much as you need, then they may be more willing to prescribe stimulants. They see you are serious, truly wanting to help your symptoms and improve your life, and not just after drugs. It is common for a prescriber to start the patient on one of the non-stimulants and then never see the patient again because they were really drug seeking and just moved on to the next doc on their list. Sad, but true.

Best of luck.