[Sillytimeticker]

I'm a teenager now, but looking back I guess I could see signs of it. The past couple of years I've been horrible mental wise. I can't seem to remember simple instructions or directions, which gets me yelled at.

I've always been a day dreamer and my main form of day dreaming is pacing. I just plug in my iPod and dream away. I often feel very stressed when I don't get to pace sometimes.

School work is very tough for me and I try to break it up by doing a little of each at different times, rather than all at once, but then it all goes to hell and i don't get anything done. I can't focus very much in class and have a really big procrastination problem.

I tried to tell my Dad, but he says i'm just being lazy and trying to find an excuse.

I don't know how to talk to anyone else about it. Whenever I have to talk about emotional things, or just things i don't want to talk about, I start to cry. For no reason at all and i can't stop it. I'm even crying right now and i don't know why.

Is there anyway for me to get tested without my dad knowing? Or a way to convince him? I don't want to get him into trouble.

Sorry for any spelling mistakes or choppy-ness.

[AniManiac]

Your school counselor or nurse might be able to help with this. Unfortunately if you're under the age of majority, and your parents won't take you to the doc for an evaluation, there's not necessarily all that much you can do (to my knowledge - maybe there are other ideas out there?)

Another tack to try with your dad is to take an online quiz (the long one) about Adult ADHD (you're close enough to adult to count for this purpose) and print out the results for him to see. Maybe that might help convince him?

Typically testing requires a visit to a psychiatrist. Sometimes they'll do a computer-based test (this is ideal since it's more "objective"). Either way, that's going to show up as an insurance claim (or cost you a ton out of pocket) and most of the time your folks will receive some notice that a claim was made, so if you went under insurance, even without their knowledge, they'd probably find out. And probably be less than thrilled about it.

Imagine the scenario where you go in, get diagnosed, and then what? Do you think your dad would be more understanding, or upset about the way you did that? My guess is you're best off trying to convince your dad first. One challenge is that this is often genetic, so if your dad has similar symptoms, your complaints may sound like "normal" stuff to him, whether or not it's considered "normal" by anyone else.

[Cammy Pattinson]

If you think you have ADHD, you'll need to be thoroughly evaluated by a psychologist or psychiatrist to confirm the diagnosis. ADHD has many symptoms. Some symptoms at first may look like normal behaviors for a child, but ADHD makes them much worse and occur more often. Have a look at this huge list of symptoms about ADHD, many teens who struggle with ADHD will exhibit some of these following behaviors. ADHD is one of the most common neurobehavioral disorders of childhood. It is usually first diagnosed in childhood and often lasts into adulthood.