Does everyone have a touch of ADD?

Being distracted is to ADD like having a hangnail is to a broken limb.

You cannot comprehend how the mind of someone with ADD works (or doesn’t work) if you don’t have it. Imagine never being able to concentrate. Imagine constantly being bombarded by random thoughts.

I know people whose lives have been changed by medication.

I sort of resent your casuallly ignorant throwing out of this question. If you genuinely wanted to know you could have done some research.

It’s mainly about scale.
Almost no one is focused on the right task 100% of the time. People with attention disorders (like myself) are so unfocused that it interferes with their lives in a pervasive way and on a daily basis.

ADD is not losing your keys. ADD is not asking someone to repeat themselves, or having a messy closet or dishes in the sink. It is not walking into the kitchen and forgetting what you got up for. It is a disorder leading to the kind of disorganization in thoughts and behavior that interrupts all aspects of daily life.

Everyone has a touch of ADD. And Bipolar. And schizophrenia. And no accountability.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard If everyone has something, it’s not a disorder. It’s human nature. The things you mentioned in their true form are not adaptable to every day life.
Call it an accountability issue if you will. If you or someone you know has a disorder, you’ll eat your words.

DSM-IV qualifications for any mental disorder includes: Must significantly impair the individual’s life/daily function.

Many people might share characteristics with certain disorders. Certainly, some folks have posited that some few of the more common disorders are personality quirks written large. Maybe that’s true. Still, most people still manage to get on okay. Therefore, they don’t have the disorder.

If you really think you’re a little bipolar or ADD or whatever, you should visit a mental health facility to see how people who have been actually diagnosed get on. You’ll see that you might be a little drafty between the ears, but that’s very very different from being impaired enough to have been diagnosed with something.

@Likeradar, I had depression for over 7 years. I’m not referring to people who actually have issues. I’m referring to the rampant self-diagnosis of mental disorders that seems prevalent in today’s society. (which is not intended as a smear on the asker, either). Maybe I could have phrased it differently, I apologize for any misunderstanding.

@marinelife , i don’t really know anything about it…that would be why I asked…don’t get saucy.

ADD doesn’t exist.

squirrel!

Without getting too far into the technical, ADD medications typically help one who has ADD to narrow his focus. Many of them act as a substitute for dopamine, if that helps.

* whaps @silverfly with a bat*

I have POV.

Point of View.

I think what you are asking is fundamentally a really good question. Is there a qualitative difference between attention problems in someone with ADD and someone without? Or is it just a matter of scale?

As a non-expert, I personally lean toward the latter explanation. I don’t see any evidence for a qualitative difference.

@Nullo: At the risk of being pedantic, the meds don’t substitute for dopamine. They increase the release of dopamine and decrease its degradation.

I have ADD.
I had a flyer some years ago when i was diagnosed with it, which stated 10 symptons which come with having it (don’t ask me them, i only know one of them: forgetfullness.) to help me explain my disorder to people around me.
Almost everybody said, when i told the symptons, that “they then also had ADD”.
That annoyed me, but it’s in the same time very understandable, cos almost everybody does have/recognize these symptons.
To have them all and them “significantly impair the individual’s life/daily function” (@elenuial) is another matter all together.
It sucks.
Sucked.

I’m ADD and its like you’re watching TV and a two year old stole the remote and won’t stop flipping channels, it sucks. I can’t afford the drugs and whatnot so I just have to deal with the fact that I won’t be able to concentrate for very long at all…I can be mid-conversation and suddenly forget what I was talking about…but yeah. I manage to get by with my grades in school…barely though for classes where there is lots of memorization >.<

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard Thanks for clarifying. :)

Having taught elementary school for years, I can state that NOT everybody has a bit of ADD. I had tons of kids who were calm, even tempered and got their work done without undue angst.

But every once in awhile there were a few who just couldn’t focus for more than a few seconds no matter how highly motivated or how hard they tried. These were the ones who benefitted from medication in addition to behavioral management.

Unfortunately, there has been a horrendous increase in over-medicated kids, in my opinion.

There is a tremendous amount that can be done with behavioral modification techniques which are totally being overlooked in favor of popping a pill, to the long term detriment of many children.

There has also been an enormous increase in teenagers abusing and/ or selling their ADD meds (most of which are stimulants related to Ritalin, aka “speed”).

I’m certainly not begrudging adequate medication for those who truly need it to function. I just think that many adults are taking the easy way out and settling for popping pills instead of trying other measures first. If other things fail, there’s plenty enough time for resorting to the big guns of pharmacology. But lots of people have it backwards resulting in a nation of undisciplined, over medicated kids.

That’s my opinion from having been in the trenches. There are a host of other coping strategies from diet to behavior mod which can be tried first with far less damage and fewer side effects.

The average overworked pediatrician who sees the child infrequently is the one most frequently doing the prescribing based upon the teacher’s and/or parents insistence.

True ADD is a neurological disorder which should be diagnosed by an appropriate medical specialist, not a teacher or parent.

But the drug companies are making lucrative profits and doctors are bombarded with advertisements and so it goes..

If a teacher wants your child medicated, you should settle for nothing less than a diagnosis made by at least TWO specialists whom you yourself choose after your own research not a recommendation by a doctor who just wants him to rubber stamp his opinion.

If your kid truly has ADD and needs these meds in order to function it will be obvious to all the specialists consulted. These kids stick out quite prominently.

If there is any doubt, try all other avenues before settling for pills.

The best way I know to describe my ADHD is this: an innate inability to filter out information.

It is not that all shiny things and squirrels (@hawaii_jake you made me laugh loudly!) distract me, it is that I am aware of everything and automatically screening things out does not come natural to me.

In the example you give your friend might not be trying to change the conversation, they may simply be hyper aware of everything happening around the conversation, including what’s in their head, down the street, what happened last thursday, and that damned squirrel carrying a bagel up the tree outside, while not instinctively screening it out and staying focused on the topic at hand.

No.

DSM-IV Criteria for ADHD

I. Either A or B:
A. Six or more of the following symptoms of inattention have been present for at least 6 months to a point that is disruptive and inappropriate for developmental level:
1. Often does not give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, work, or other activities.
2 Often has trouble keeping attention on tasks or play activities.
3. Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly.
4. Often does not follow instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace (not due to oppositional behavior or failure to understand instructions).
5. Often has trouble organizing activities.
6. Often avoids, dislikes, or doesn’t want to do things that take a lot of mental effort for a long period of time (such as schoolwork or homework).
7. Often loses things needed for tasks and activities (e.g. toys, school assignments, pencils, books, or tools).
8. Is often easily distracted.
9. Often forgetful in daily activities.

B. Six or more of the following symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity have been present for at least 6 months to an extent that is disruptive and inappropriate for developmental level:
Hyperactivity:
1. Often fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat.
2. Often gets up from seat when remaining in seat is expected.
3. Often runs about or climbs when and where it is not appropriate (adolescents or adults may feel very restless).
4. Often has trouble playing or enjoying leisure activities quietly.
5. Is often “on the go” or often acts as if “driven by a motor”.
6. Often talks excessively.
Impulsiveness:
1. Often blurts out answers before questions have been finished.
2. Often has trouble waiting one’s turn.
3. Often interrupts or intrudes on others.

II. Some symptoms that cause impairment were present before age 7 years.

III. Some impairment from the symptoms is present in two or more settings (e.g. at school/work and at home).

IV. There must be clear evidence of significant impairment in social, school, or work functioning.

V. The symptoms do not happen only during the course of a Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Schizophrenia, or other Psychotic Disorder. The symptoms are not better accounted for by another mental disorder (e.g. Mood Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Dissociative Disorder, or a Personality Disorder).

As with any personality disorder, the symptoms can be present in people who do not have the disorder, but merely exhibit some of the symptoms. Not everybody will have the symptoms, just like not everyone with mild symptoms has the disorder.

The names for personality disorders are useful for discussing the subject within the psychology industry, but when used by lay people, are often misunderstood, and misapplied.

Similar in the same manner to how someone who hasn’t eaten for a day has a touch of malnutrition. The intensity of a trait is an essential element in deducing that it is a symptom of a disease or disorder. Simply exhibiting said trait is not sufficient.

With the above stated I understand the basic principles of your question and would agree that we are all indeed capable of permitting our attention to waver. Some more so than others.