How would you go about identifying whether you have ADHD or not ? Any tips ? I really really suspect I have it but I have never talked to anyone about it.
If you want to know if you have it or not you should go get tested by a professional. If you suspect you have it then either you have it and they can help, or you don’t but they can help you improve whatever it is that makes you suspect you have it.
> I really really suspect I have it but I have never talked to anyone about it.
Please let me add another to the voices saying that the advice you take on a medical matter should not be that of a random internet stranger. Please do talk to a professional about it!
Work with a professional. From numerous anecdotal stories, if you do have ADHD, taking medicine such as Ritalin or Adderal will radically alter you (in a good way). 15+ years ago, I had a psychiatrist who insisted I had ADHD. I took Adderal for a couple years. It did absolutely zero for me. Not one iota of change. I know others who swear by it. There was another comment in the thread about anxiety and hyper vigilance being a problem with similar symptoms. After much work, it's safe to say this was more my issue. There's a book called "Driven to Distraction" that is decent as well.
There are several different manifestations of the disease, so be aware of that. Some that present with hyperactivity, some that don't. Look up the symptoms and see if they ring a bell, then go to see a specialist.
I don't think looking at outcomes is a fair assessment at all.
I academically excelled, have a successful career, an early employee IPO exit, and a spate of really interesting side projects.
Yet I struggle with leading a normal life, prioritizing, sporadic and extreme hyper-focus, and frequent loss of interest. (If something doesn't interest me, I just won't do it. I have to pay people to do taxes, and I sometimes wish I could pay people to do my job or parts of it.)
Anecdotal, but I think your characterization could be misleading.
Without ADHD you would probably have an even more accomplished career. I remember a study that showed that the higher the IQ the older you are on average when diagnosed with ADHD, also high IQ masks some of the executive dysfunction. Anyways, as you said, you have a problem with intention, and this is precisely what can lead to underachievement compared to your peers without ADHD. Hyperfocus is really Perseveration, which might have some superficial benefits but the inability to switch from an interesting task to a boring one that has a delayed reward / penalty (i.e
taxes) is usually a net negative in life and can have catastrophic consequences in your life.
Yea I agree. I am actually reasonably accomplished in my life and career but I procrastinate like hell and there are times when I am just not doing anything. Perfect example is today. Been browsing HN so far when I have a few tasks to complete for my business. My own business where I know this will be make an impact but I am just not doing it.
See the point is that you can be reasonably accomplished thanks to your talents, interests and intelligence, but let's take the very same you and remove some of the procrastination. It is reasonable to expect that it would be an even more accomplished version of you (even though you might pick up some tangentially interesting stuff that might be useful when browsing HN). To people who do not understand ADHD, your behaviour will be looked at through the lense of "if they just applied themselves...", "they are really smart but just so lazy...". That's what I mean by "unexplained underachievement". It is a useful signal for caretakers. If Johnny is so smart, then why does he end up doing everything at the last minute, inviting stress in his life that will probably shorten his lifespan by 5 years?
