Could you help?

Hi all,
I already suffer from anxiety and depression but I also have quite a short attention span, I fidget a lot. Always have to be doing something with my hands and sometimes find it hard to concentrate when someone is talking to me. I sort of 'zone' in and out. I am also very impatient and snappy at times. Now I don't want to be a hypochondriac or just decide to make up a new illness for myself but I did a few ADD/ADHD quizzes and scored pretty high. My question to you is this.... Is this related to anxiety and I'm just overreacting, or could there be some sort of adult ADD issues I've never come across before? And if so what's the best way to seek help or advice in this? Thanks in advance

It could be related to your anxiety and depression? ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder and is present in early childhood. In order to meet diagnostic criteria, I believe the cutoff for presence of symptoms is between 6 and 12 years of age.

I didn't get diagnosed until I was in my 30's. I had just developed coping mechanisms. I was actually shocked when the shrink told me and then I told my family and friends in disbelief. Each and everyone of them looked at me and said "DUH!! I could have told you that you were severely ADD." Hope this facts/myths helps answer some of your questions Unplugme. I found it helpful when I was first diagnosed.

MYTH: ADD/ADHD is just a lack of willpower. Persons with ADD/ADHD focus well on things that interest them; they could focus on any other tasks if they really wanted to.

FACT: ADD/ADHD looks very much like a willpower problem, but it isn’t. It’s essentially a chemical problem in the management systems of the brain.

MYTH: Everybody has the symptoms of ADD/ADHD, and anyone with adequate intelligence can overcome these difficulties.

FACT: ADD/ADHD affects persons of all levels of intelligence. And although everyone sometimes has symptoms of ADD/ADHD, only those with chronic impairments from these symptoms warrant an ADD/ADHD diagnosis.

MYTH: Someone can’t have ADD/ADHD and also have depression, anxiety, or other psychiatric problems.

FACT: A person with ADD/ADHD is six times more likely to have another psychiatric or learning disorder than most other people. ADD/ADHD usually overlaps with other disorders.

MYTH: Unless you have been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD as a child, you can’t have it as an adult.

FACT: Many adults struggle all their lives with unrecognized ADD/ADHD impairments. They haven’t received help because they assumed that their chronic difficulties, like depression or anxiety, were caused by other impairments that did not respond to usual treatment.

Source: Dr. Thomas E. Brown, Attention Deficit Disorder: The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults

Brain chemical imbalances such as dopamine deficiency can lead to depression and share symptoms with ADHD/ADD. Anxiety can also lead one to be forgetful or have difficulty focusing.

ADHD/ADD in and of itself is a neurodevelopmental disorder. While it may not be diagnosed until adulthood, symptom onset must begin during childhood. I just recently discussed this with the doctor when I went for ADHD counseling and when I enrolled in an ADHD genetics study.

I was diagnosed when I was a child BTW. My symptoms have been ongoing my entire life.

Thank you to you both. I think I should possibly get checked as although I never was diagnosed as a child, I was pretty much the same fidgety daydreamer that I am today, although I just thought I was just a child. It still could just be that but I was just curious to know because it is something that I never considered. To be honest I never really knew what ADD was really or how it affects people in everyday life. So I took the tests out of curiosity and that prompted me to ask this question. Thank you for shedding some more light on the subject for me.

Hello, I read up a lot on anxiety disorders vs. ADHD earlier this year, and my impression is that the symptoms can be pretty similar. After all, if you're bothered by anxious thoughts, you're distracted; when you aren't, you're worn out from them and still distracted. On the other hand, if you're very often late, so you set excessive alarms before every appointment and can't eat or sleep, that may be an ADHD 'cause' and an anxiety 'response'

While i was trying to figure out whether or not to get tested, heres some things i considered

• Do I think most of my worry comes from underperformance, or does most of my underperformance come from worry?
• What kind of ADHD symptoms did I have that aren't commonly associated with anxiety? Interrupting? Overreacting, but moving on quickly? Hyperfocus? Taking a long time to get to sleep, sleeping heavily, angry when people try to wake me?
• What about things associated with, but not a symptom of, ADHD? Bedwetting? Obsessive-compulsive behavior? Tics? Calmed by caffeine?
• Did I or others around me often feel like there was a vast difference between what i was 'capable' of and what i actually achieved?
• Did anyone express concerns about my behavior - relatives, teachers, classmates, doctors? This probably would be suggested to my guardian(s) and not me

I wouldn't worry about self-diagnosis, it's necessary for official diagnosis after all. The worst that happens is your doctor disagrees. I never knew what ADHD was except that my brother had it when he was young so I assumed it was being hyperactive and kind of out of control. (It turns out he was diagnosed with ADHD-PI, strangely enough! he probably still has it but doesnt want treatment.) About a year ago I made an appointment for what i described as a 'chronic mild depression', was diagnosed with GAD, and last month I suggested ADHD and was tested and diagnosed. It's pretty common for these things to get mixed up I think

Thanks stages. I thought similar things myself about getting it mixed up with anxiety. But thinking back. I avoided anything that took a long time to do. If I read a book I have to be completely alone and quiet or the page/paragraph I am reading just doesn't sink in at all and at the end I can't remember what I read. I've always skimmed things like this and always drifted off when trying really hard to listen to what someone is saying to me. And I've always fidgeted. My patience has never been great either. But I just put all this down to being a guy or just a kid at the time. So I don't know. It's all a bit confusing but it would make sense in some ways.

I think with the drifting off happening both during reading and listening to a person it definitely indicates inattention instead of just having a hard time reading or something. Avoiding things that take a long time i might agree can be a kid thing but if it still happens thats a sign too. actually a lot of these symptoms feel like basically not growing out of 'kid things' - i guess thats because all kids dont have good executive function until they grow up so thats when it gets more obvious adhd kids still do not have good executive function. (but i dont think enough people know what to look for for that, so they just attribute it to personality or moral failing.)

I read tons of fiction books as a kid but that was all i did. it was my high-stimulus hobby i guess! actually i would hide books inside my desk and read them instead of listening to the teacher. i only got caught a couple times strangely enough. on the other hand anything that i wasnt interested in like news or a math textbook felt more like you described. Kind of like swimming through mud

Whtether you decide to get checked out or not I hope you find ways to cope with your symptoms, After all even if you are "Adhd-like" and not "adhd" you still probably can benefit from adhd-friendly tips on time organization and stuff

I can't say whether or not it's add or adhd. I will say I have diagnosis of anxiety disorder and bipolar. When my symptoms of anxiety present I have similar issues with concentration as well as when I'm depressed. I can't focus on things I generally love to do such as reading or even focusing on a tv show. However that isn't to say you don't have add adhd. Symptoms appear in all different ways. See what your doctor says.