I can find SYMPTOMS everywhere, but no one ever talks about what ADHD Inattentive feels like? So glad you took the time to share your experience. Thanks for sharing! How Does ADHD Feel? Our pediatrician did a Vanderbilt and said basically this. The sounds are muffled and vision, blurred, and it is harder to do things because you are weighed down by the water. You’re life is rushing by and you’re living in a room, alone. I wanted it to be this fresh new beginning for me so badly, and Im terrified of falling into the same rut as before…of getting overly excited about something, obsessing over it, and then get bored of it. That sounds like me; I only was diagnosed at the beginning of October. And it wasn’t just that it was protesting with grunts, sputters, and grumbles. No individualized suggestions, not actionable help. This is the soundtrack of my mind almost every time I leave the house. so I finish getting ready and leave with only minutes to spare. I have always been hyperactive since I can remember. As the tires still continue to go faster and faster their building up smoke it’s going everywhere. My mind goes “Nope, not interested. Your email address will not be published. I feel like a slave in a capitalist economy that doesn’t care squat about me. I was in and out of jobs because I never had a plan. I was diagnosed with ADHD in the 3rd grade I am now 28. A child of the ‘80s and a first-born do-gooder, I was fortunate enough to thrive in the classic, straightforward classroom of my childhood. I feel very close to you just from reading your post. However, the underlying reasons are different. I want to purse and education in something that interests me (which I’ve always tried to do) instead of ending up in a job I hate because it’s a job. The racetrack has deformities which means I’m getting unneeded information about the track. You’re stressed out of your mind. I try not to procrastinate these days…I have the best intentions… but finding ways to make certain chores/tasks stimulating is very challenging. “Practically perfect in every way,” trills Mary Poppins, that great betrayer, showing us all how fun cleanliness can be. Not excited about that. Except, and this is important to make clear, I didn’t have knowledge that that last paragraph was what was actually happening. Wow, could someone be more lame?! If I can stay at this job for even 2 years, it’ll feel like a miracle. I am not diagnosed but very forgetful. Learn about Inattentive ADD, ADHD Inattentive (ADHD I ,ADHD-PI). I am easily frustrated, and I struggle to keep my emotions in check. I tried going to one university and dropped out after the 1st year because I couldn’t keep up. Choice of college, jobs, and other things I am always losing and forgetting things. Resist going to school. I suffered from severe depression and allowed problems to occur because of it. Sometimes, I feel like a wet puzzle piece in society; Like I’m apart of this bigger picture but i just don’t fit quite right. Money for school isn’t infinite—I can’t afford to experiment recklessly, and also being almost 40 year old and still not independant. In girls, ADHD signs and symptoms tend to have these underlying commonalities:2 My interior world went with it… to that overwhelmed, panicky, scary place. There was a growing disparity between what was required of me and what I was capable of, and fear was more than eager to fill the space. Kids with ADHD might dread going to class because they know they’ll have to do things that are hard for them. Although the symptoms of ADHD begin in childhood, ADHD can continue through adolescence and adulthood. Its true, however, its been 17 months into my new job and there is this voice inside me saying “Oh God, please don’t get bored of this. Every time you think you grasp what’s happening, you get pulled in a new direction, all while you see a barrage of all the things you’d like to do, you need to do, you want to do and have to do. But somehow, so many people are quick to lump you into the ‘oh, it must be ADHD’ bandwagon. Having ADHD is challenging regardless of gender but in a world predisposed to undermining women, not having your shit together can feel like a dereliction of feminine duty. The problem is I have such a terrible memory and have so much trouble keeping to obligations that after the first prescription I never went and got a refill or spoke about it how it didnt feel like it did anything with my doctor. If your attention isn’t constantly focused in at least 20 directions at once while moving to 20 new directions in the next couple of seconds, you’re going to miss something critical. Updated on September 1, 2020 I am 70 and have 2 degrees. But you know, it’s not always that simple. I have no other income. At the age of forty five, reading an ADD pamphlet while waiting for son’s doctor’s session to be over, I think I checked off 23 of the 25 symptoms checklist that described me. And I almost always struck gold. My fiancé and I developed language for this: When I got stuck, I’d just say, “I can’t find my words,” with a sigh. All the papers (invasive thoughts, to-do lists, reminders, important information, etc. The window analogy is a great one. Hello, my name is Pixie. Most recent 17%: HARNESSING THAT SHIT. Although on paper I may seem accomplished to others, like I have my shit together…in reality I feel like Im in a hundred pieces stuck together with cheap glue. First, how I knew that ADHD medication was right for me and, second, what it feels like every day. I’ve since seen the shrink and got the official diagnoses of something I evidently had as a child. Back to the matter at hand though: How are you supposed to maintain motivation or know what to do with your life when you’ve never been able to have any reasonable work-life balance and feel hopeless because no matter how hard you try and work you’re always alone, lacking or struggling to maintain friends, isolated, working, and not getting ahead? Fast-forward to now: Since that day in the ADHD testing office when the doc used car imagery to explain in layman’s terms that I had Inattentive ADHD (the kind without the H – that is to say without the hyperactivity – which is much more nuanced and difficult to uncover), I’ve committed to learning about it like a PhD student. Doing the wife thing and the house management thing and the working thing and the one kid thing was what my neurological makeup could handle. Very accurate young woman! Even though hyperactivity tends to improve as a child becomes a teen, problems with inattention, disorganization, and poor impulse control often continue through the … Everything beeps and flashes NONSTOP! It’s also certainly not perfect. Although some people have ADHD I find that there is a tenancy to pathologize every problem instead of considering the broader context. And if I start it right away and I start out really good but then I get bored in the middle or towards the end of it then when someone asks me to do something else, or I remember I forgot to do something, I end up doing what was asked or remembered and forgetting what I was doing previously. During intended study sessions in the library, I almost always abandoned my work at first opportunity to socialize in whispers with fellow distractors. (Apparently, unless you’re suicidal, which I’m not, no one cares, even if it is a crisis. I’m an intelligent person. To someone unfamiliar with ADHD, they usually can somewhat understand the hyperactive/impulsive type of ADHD, but the inattentive type of ADHD can be a bit of a mystery. As a result, I relied almost entirely on charged bolts of inspiration under my dorm room desk lamp within hours of deadlines. I already do this! I found all ADHD symptoms particularly interesting, especially to know that it technically feels like your mind is overwhelmed with everything at all times. I learned 2 years ago that I have ADHD. What about the “social model” of disability or abelism?–no one ever talks about that outside of human rights circles. Required fields are marked *, how to describe ADHD to someone who doesn't have it. User Reviews for Concerta to treat ADHD. It appears JavaScript is disabled in your browser. Please don’t tell me this was a ‘Oh look something new and shiny’ sort of move”. My wedding weekend was an absolute miracle. I learnt along time ago making a joke was the easiest way out, I have an energy that other 42 year old women would love apparently! Concerta has an average rating of 7.0 out of 10 from a total of 329 ratings for the treatment of ADHD. I took a lot home. With all the smoke has my car shifted to the right or to the left caused by the excessively fast spinning tires. I remember being the worst procrastinator in college, but I sincerely believed that I not only needed the pressure of the deadline but that I also did my best work at the last minute, so I always just went with it. Now I’m the driver inside the car I can’t see from all of the smoke. The social contract isn’t working. Around the same time, on road trips to and from visits to my hometown, I got ticketed however many times it takes to be within an inch of having your license revoked. It feels like wanting to do and say a thousand things “like normal people can” but being so overwhelmed by the volume of ideas going through your mind that you just freeze. Copyright © 1998 - 2021 New Hope Media LLC. My landlady is a psych nurse she said to me you have ADHD would you mind taking a test to prove it? Sometimes, individuals with ADHD Inattentive Type will be mischaracterized as shy or withdrawn. What I mean by nuts is that my mind, generally a pretty likable place where you might find birds chirping and lots of plants in brightly painted pots, became unrecognizable. But yeah–apparently, everyone’s favourite go-to remark is oh, it must be perfectionism or ADHD, etc. But things like cleaning, typing up files, reading emails, getting ready for something, having a conversation, organising, or school work. Low maintenance they said…you can’t kill them they said….uh huh. I still haven’t finished post-secondary. Basically, I’d like for flat tires to be known entities by our young generation of vehicles… long before — like me — a blow-out does the revealing. I was wilting and scared as hell about it. We were to draw a cross-sectioned spinal cord on a microscope slide and label it. I love the me that gets excited and curious, wants to start a (*cough….”another”) book, can spend hours online researching a new topic of interest and be super productive. The most recent 17%: harnessing that crap for good. I think about and over think about information I should not be concerned with. It doesn’t matter how much I like a subject—I’m not a bloody machine. “I’m Smart, So I Should Be Able to Overpower ADHD. First 75% of my life: SWELL. I’m almost 40 and completely dependant financially on my parents. incredibly late posting in 2021, but gonna do it anyway. I mean, I suppose it was gradual. I cannot believe it took me this long to find this out about myself. I Had No Safe Place. I get impulsive and talk when I should not. Click Here For Insanely Useful Tips For ADHD That Actually Work, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnS0PfNyj4U, https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/talking-about-men/202008/failure-launch-in-young-men-is-mental-health-issue, ADHD College Students: Use This Strategy To Write Papers, ADHD Productivity: 10 Insanely Useful Tips That Actually Work, If You Have ADHD, Do These 3 Things To Get Things Done. Inattention symptoms can look different depending on the situation, but common symptoms in children include: being easily distracted. My brain and I have become incredibly well-acquainted. The most noticeable symptoms, like hyperactivity, manifest differently in boys and are too often disregarded as "ditzy" behavior in girls. How could I have had the same brain my whole life and yet have no major life complications result from it until major complications started resulting from it? I’ve thought about college but I’m not sure that those programs interest me. But like the more familiar ADHD, this condition can be diagnosed and treated effectively. Right?”, How a Dinner Date Changed My Life Forever, ADHD, Women, and the Danger of Emotional Withdrawal, Stifled Creativity and Its Damaging Impact on the ADHD Brain, I’m an ADHD Expert — and I Still Struggle With ADHD, “I’m a U.S. Army Aviator — and I Have ADHD and Anxiety.”, “I’m a Sensitive Woman:” ADHD Sensory Overload in Adults. Lack of focus. Im 30 and I feel like it takes all of my energy and time to just get me through each day in one piece. And I can’t bring myself to enter things on a spreadsheet until five minutes before I really need them. ADHD is the picture of someone else, NOT me!”) – that therapist stuck with it. Most work being full time and cost of living being high, who has the time to get a different degree or diploma when you’re working? What does inattention look like? As my adult-ADHD-specialized psychiatrist recently said, “We’re not looking for a silver bullet here, but how about we aim for a bronze one?” Bronze for me is that I finally can place my anxiety and mood disorder and wilty, songless interior life – whenever they show up again – as byproducts of my cognitive challenges. I made bad impulsive choices throughout my life which led to problems later. All rights reserved. Plus, the inattentive symptoms more commonly seen in girls are regularly mistaken for something else. “Dang the sun is shining it’s nice and warm, the Saints won yesterday, LSU won Saturday and even Tulane won their game, “how can anybody be uhappy this morning”. then I remember I forgot to sweep since I’m thinking about cleaning now so I go on my back porch to get my broom and I realize it’s little cold then i remember that I am shirtless. I know people that have told me about ADHD and how I might possibly have it, but I’ve never looked for help. A person with inattentive ADHD can seem restless, in a way similar to how someone with hyperactivity might seem. I lost a house in foreclosure. We suffer real personal consequences for it, so understandably we’re frustrated, but maybe the anger is better directed at the situation than ourselves. Flex time, 4 day work weeks, etc? At least I have a wife and son who have put up with me. Your phrase:, “I feel like a wet puzzle piece…” really stuck out to me. It certainly makes me want to be what Therapist Number Three was for me for other young women (inattentive ADHD is most common in females and, since it does not show up in behavioral or scholastic ways in school – at least in the beginning – is often overlooked). Its so hard for me to find something I can continually come back to day after day. Suggestions that are too generic or not applicable to my situation. After spending almost a decade in the fitness industry, spending money, energy and time going to grad school, and now having student loan debt up to my eyeballs, I changed paths to a completely different industry and career. More and more, simple communication would fail me — like there was a barrier between all my juicy intelligence and the words to share it. I was still on track, competent, and confident. I can’t break it, I can’t go round it, I just have to wait until something comes close enough to the window that I can reach in and grab it. I’ve tried them again. Why was I ok with doing that?! Here's a scenario: Ever been hung over and had to attend an event the next morning? You have trouble socializing and have few friends (and your personal relationships are essentially non-existant) because you’re always in crisis and depressed and stressed trying to claw your way out of this hell year after year. To everyone who helped pull it off and might be reading this: Thanks. SCT and ADHD People with ADHD of the inattentive type have trouble paying attention to details, are easily distracted, often have trouble organizing or finishing tasks and often forget routine chores (such as paying bills on time or returning phone calls).