[lifelesstraveled]

I am wondering if my "zoning out" and inability to focus at work is ADD/ADHD?? I am constantly zoned out at work and before I know it a whole day has gone by and I haven't gotten anything accomplished...I feel like there is constant chatter in my head(self dialouges, songs, thoughts and ideas to do lists etc), which I at first attributed to anxiety and depression...I don't recall having any issues relating to ADD/ADHD when I was younger. In fact, all of my teachers stated in progress reports, that although I was was a pleasure to have in class and got along well with my classmates, I was extremely timid and shy and quiet. I did well in school earning B averages in High School and College. I recently started to lose things more and forget things (I tend to and I find that I am "zoning out" driving on the hwy and talking to people). Is it possible to have ADD/ADHD present itself in adulthood rather than childhood? What is driving me crazy is the constant static or chatter.I wake up thinking and I go to bed thinking and fall asleep thinking. I am scared I am getting ready to go crazy. I know its bad, but I have resorted to drinking to slow it down or stop it. It's driving me crazy....or maybe this is something else all together...I think this something I need to bring up with my therapiston tuesday...Does anyone else have this problem of constant chatter and static? does it drive you crazy? Is it possible for me to have been a quiet calm child but still have ADD that went undiagnosed because I was quiet and calm?

[Simcha]

Originally Posted by lifelesstraveled

I am wondering if my "zoning out" and inability to focus at work is ADD/ADHD?? I am constantly zoned out at work and before I know it a whole day has gone by and I haven't gotten anything accomplished...I feel like there is constant chatter in my head(self dialouges, songs, thoughts and ideas to do lists etc), which I at first attributed to anxiety and depression...I don't recall having any issues relating to ADD/ADHD when I was younger. In fact, all of my teachers stated in progress reports, that although I was was a pleasure to have in class and got along well with my classmates, I was extremely timid and shy and quiet. I did well in school earning B averages in High School and College. I recently started to lose things more and forget things (I tend to and I find that I am "zoning out" driving on the hwy and talking to people). Is it possible to have ADD/ADHD present itself in adulthood rather than childhood? What is driving me crazy is the constant static or chatter.I wake up thinking and I go to bed thinking and fall asleep thinking. I am scared I am getting ready to go crazy. I know its bad, but I have resorted to drinking to slow it down or stop it. It's driving me crazy....or maybe this is something else all together...I think this something I need to bring up with my therapiston tuesday...Does anyone else have this problem of constant chatter and static? does it drive you crazy? Is it possible for me to have been a quiet calm child but still have ADD that went undiagnosed because I was quiet and calm?

I have ADHD, and I have lightening speed crazy thoughts about multiple subjects all at one time. It's very common in ADHD, and can be quite frustrating. It causes insomnia, as you can't shut your mind down. However, anxiety disorders can do the same thing, and to make it more complicated, it is VERY common for adults with ADHD who have gone untreated most of their life to have a comorbid anxiety or other disorder. Anxiety added to ADHD can be very crippling. As to ADHD only presenting itself for the first time in adulthood, the answer researchers (and the DSM-IV-TR) have is "NO". Some symptoms must be present BEFORE age seven. However, it is much more common than a lot of people realize, that an adult can discover that they have gone their entire life with ADHD, but that it wasn't recognized, and thus--not diagnosed and treated until something lead them to a professional who diagnosed them with ADHD for the first time. T

here is a common misperception that ADHD is characterized by hyperactivity (in the classic sense of the word), but that is NOT necessarily true. There are three subtypes of ADHD (and also ADHD "NOS"-Not Otherwise Specified): Primarily Hyperactive/Impulsive; Combined (hyperactive/impulsive co-dominates with inattentive symptoms); and Primarily Inattentive. All subtypes share a common theme based on the diagnostic criteria, but you are classified by the predominant symptoms.

I am "Combined Type", so I split between being primarily inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive. The treatments available are the same no matter what the type is. Another thing I should mention is that ADHD in children is going to look very different in adults. People always think of ADHD kids (albeit in a stereotyped way), and then attempt a comparison. ADHD also has to be diagnosed based on criteria being present in TWO OR MORE SETTINGS. Low grades or high grades don't really correlate to having ADHD, but it is common for VERY INTELLIGENT ADHD dx'd kids to get very bad grades and become a chronic underachiever or to be very inconsistent one moment to the next.

Either way, ADHD or not, it seems you are battling with some anxiety issues stemming from the uncontrollable internal dialog in your mind. You definitely won't help yourself by drinking it away; I'm sure you've noticed that it hasn't helped so far. Drinking actually makes your sleep very shallow and isn't restful, not to mention the addictive potential. Don't mess with that--it won't work, I know because I tried that too when I developed Generalized Anxiety Disorder. It stands to reason that you SHOULD tell your therapist about everything you told us here.

I am only confused if you are talking to people that aren't there, and if so, are you having psychotic symptoms by being unable to distinguish a real person conversing with you, or something in your mind. Or---is it that you mean you talk to yourself? I wouldn't be too worried, but see your T as soon as you can so that the symptoms don't snowball. I was a "pleasure to have in class" too--about 70 percent of the time. I graduated HS on honor roll. It's not hopeless for you, and I guarantee that you are not alone.

Here is a good link for you: http://www.help4adhd.org/

[lifelesstraveled]

Originally Posted by Simcha

I have ADHD, and I have lightening speed crazy thoughts about multiple subjects all at one time. It's very common in ADHD, and can be quite frustrating. It causes insomnia, as you can't shut your mind down. However, anxiety disorders can do the same thing, and to make it more complicated, it is VERY common for adults with ADHD who have gone untreated most of their life to have a comorbid anxiety or other disorder. Anxiety added to ADHD can be very crippling. As to ADHD only presenting itself for the first time in adulthood, the answer researchers (and the DSM-IV-TR) have is "NO". Some symptoms must be present BEFORE age seven. However, it is much more common than a lot of people realize, that an adult can discover that they have gone their entire life with ADHD, but that it wasn't recognized, and thus--not diagnosed and treated until something lead them to a professional who diagnosed them with ADHD for the first time. T

here is a common misperception that ADHD is characterized by hyperactivity (in the classic sense of the word), but that is NOT necessarily true. There are three subtypes of ADHD (and also ADHD "NOS"-Not Otherwise Specified): Primarily Hyperactive/Impulsive; Combined (hyperactive/impulsive co-dominates with inattentive symptoms); and Primarily Inattentive. All subtypes share a common theme based on the diagnostic criteria, but you are classified by the predominant symptoms.

I am "Combined Type", so I split between being primarily inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive. The treatments available are the same no matter what the type is. Another thing I should mention is that ADHD in children is going to look very different in adults. People always think of ADHD kids (albeit in a stereotyped way), and then attempt a comparison. ADHD also has to be diagnosed based on criteria being present in TWO OR MORE SETTINGS. Low grades or high grades don't really correlate to having ADHD, but it is common for VERY INTELLIGENT ADHD dx'd kids to get very bad grades and become a chronic underachiever or to be very inconsistent one moment to the next.

Either way, ADHD or not, it seems you are battling with some anxiety issues stemming from the uncontrollable internal dialog in your mind. You definitely won't help yourself by drinking it away; I'm sure you've noticed that it hasn't helped so far. Drinking actually makes your sleep very shallow and isn't restful, not to mention the addictive potential. Don't mess with that--it won't work, I know because I tried that too when I developed Generalized Anxiety Disorder. It stands to reason that you SHOULD tell your therapist about everything you told us here.

I am only confused if you are talking to people that aren't there, and if so, are you having psychotic symptoms by being unable to distinguish a real person conversing with you, or something in your mind. Or---is it that you mean you talk to yourself? I wouldn't be too worried, but see your T as soon as you can so that the symptoms don't snowball. I was a "pleasure to have in class" too--about 70 percent of the time. I graduated HS on honor roll. It's not hopeless for you, and I guarantee that you are not alone.

Here is a good link for you: http://www.help4adhd.org/

Thanks for the link and your experience and knowledge! I am not talking to people who arent' there. I dont hear voices and don't answer back. I know what's real and what's not real. Its more I am talking to myself and trying to anaylze things. I am a huge introvert, so I do a lot of introspection not to mention I have social anixety so I am always trying to plan out things I am going to say if and when the time comes and I believe I have general anxiety too. My T said I have had anxiety issues since early childhood.

I always have anxious intrusive thought has crossed my mind that I might be psychotic and it scares me to pieces when i think about it and makes my anxiety allll the worse. I get this thought quite frequently. Everytime I end up giving myself anxiety attacks for almost a week to the point where I think I dissociate leaving me more in a state of panic thinking I am going to end up hospitalized and feeling like everything around me isn't real and leads to me thinking, well is everything around me real or not? and I end up driving myself into more of a panic and wonder why I can't stop focusing on that thought...you know the deal. Eventually the thought leaves, but it always comes back out of the blue.

I think I just need to do some mediation and start journaling.

[chaotic13]

lifelesstraveled

Some of your symptoms sound very similar to mine with regard to the racing thoughts, constant chatter, inability to get stuff done, leaving work at the end of the day feeling exhausted but realizing that you really haven't accomplished anything. This could be anxiety, it could be ADHD, it could be a little bit of both. When I reflect on my case, I realize that although the symptoms above have appear frequently throughout my life they were (are) not always there. In MY case I believe they are more related to anxiety than ADHD. However, I believe ADHD is either a predisposing condition or amplifying condition that leave me vulnerable to these anxiety episodes. I don't know if the ADHD affects way my brain processes stimuli and this leads to anxiety or if the anxiety developed because of my childhood environment. It may not be possible to separate the two conditions.

One difference that I do see between what you describe and how I see my pathology is your recall of your childhood symptoms. As an adult when I first heard about the ADHD dx, I thought jokenly "I had that as a kid." It really didn't occur to me that it was a life long condition, or that it could still be impacting my life as an adult. It was only after my life stresses started to spiral out of control again, I slipped back into a dysfunctional state and I sought help this time that I realized that ADHD was not something you have and grow out of. Once I seriously considered the ADHD diagnosis, I went back into my childhood memories and the red flags started to appear. Elementary report cards every year with loads of double digit comment codes. American parents....you know what I mean... #19: difficulty with independent work, #20: distracts others,...inability to stay on task...blah, blah,blah. There were no ...Pleasure to have in class comments. Honestly, even as knowledgeable as I am now about ADHD...if my kids came home today with report cards like these I would want to beat the crap out of them too. My parents didn't know...

Life....You might consider working on the anxiety issue first. A lot of the things you can do to understand and manage the anxiety will also be helpful in manageing ADHD symptoms. If you can avoid getting caught up in the mental noise loops, you will have more cognitive resources to use in getting your work done. If you can get a handle on not microanalyzing yourself in social situations, you may find that your more aware of and able to better respond to others. Maybe...as the anxiety issues become manageable, it might become more clear if you have a subtle form of ADHD playing out in the background.

[chaotic13]

lifelesstraveled

Some of your symptoms sound very similar to mine with regard to the racing thoughts, constant chatter, inability to get stuff done, leaving work at the end of the day feeling exhausted but realizing that you really haven't accomplished anything. This could be anxiety it could be ADHD it could be a little bit of both. When I reflect on my case, I realize that although the symptoms above have appear frequently throughout my life they were (are) not always there. In MY case I believe they are more related to anxiety than ADHD. However, I believe ADHD is either a predisposing condition that leave me vulnerable to these anxiety episodes..(maybe because it affects way my brain processes stimuli) or if the anxiety developed because of my childhood environment. It may not be possible to separate the two conditions.

One difference that I do see between what you describe and how I see my pathology is your recall of your childhood symptoms. As an adult when I first heard about the ADHD dx, I thought jokenly "I had that as a kid." It really didn't occur to me that it was a life long condition, or that it could still be impacting my life as an adult. It was only after my life stresses started to spiral out of control again, I slipped back into a dysfunctional state and I sought help this time that I realized that ADHD was not something you have and grow out of. Once I seriously considered the ADHD diagnosis, I went back into my childhood memories and the red flags started to appear. Elementary report cards every year with loads of double digit comment codes. American parents....you know what I mean... #19: difficulty with independent work, #20: distracts others,...inability to stay on task...blah, blah,blah. There were no ...Pleasure to have in class comments. Honestly, even as knowledgeable as I am now about ADHD...if my kids came home today with report cards like these I would want to beat the crap out of them too. My parents didn't know...

Life....You might consider working on the anxiety issue first. A lot of the things you can do to understand and manage the anxiety will also be helpful in manageing ADHD symptoms. If you can avoid getting caught up in the mental noise loops, you will have more cognitive resources to use in getting your work done. If you can get a handle on not microanalyzing yourself in social situations, you may find that your more aware of and able to better respond to others. Maybe...as the anxiety issues become manageable, it might become more clear if you have a subtle form of ADHD playing out in the background.