I think I might have ADD, but I’m not sure. There’s a test, but I haven’t been able to sit still long enough to take it.
But seriously folks, I have often wondered if I have ADD. I have done a few online tests and they point in that direction. I have a hard time taking in new information and organizing it. I have always struggled academically. I have to use a variety of organizing tricks to keep my work from overwhelming me.
I have never attempted to get a formal diagnosis though, and there is a reason: I don’t think a diagnosis would prompt me to do anything differently.
Several years ago Joshua Wolf Shenk wrote Lincoln’s Melancholy about Abraham Lincoln’s mental health. The author theorized that Lincoln’s lifelong struggle with clinical depression actually made him a better thinker and a better president. That resonated with me because I have often thought the same thing about my attention problems (not that I’m comparing myself to Lincoln).
It can be frustrating to have to work so hard to focus, but my lack of focus, and my tendency to start a million things at once and then suddenly get bored with them all, also all at once, and my almost pathological fear of clutter and visual chaos … these factors all combine into a very interesting puzzle that I need to solve daily. Solving the puzzle is a creative process that fuels further creativity and resourcefulness.
I wonder about medication sometimes because I wonder what it would be like to be able to just focus, instead of having to solve a puzzle in order to accomplish anything. But then I wonder what that focus would look like. Would I have the same ideas? Would I still be creative? What if I lost the creative drive that my distractibility forces?
There is an emerging theory that the ADD mind is a hunter mind; that the ability to observe many things at once and to zero in obsessively on imminent threats has great survival value for a hunter. The science is still hazy on this but it’s an interesting idea. For myself I can say that my brain works in such a way that I notice and remember a lot of detail, and this attention to and interest in detail has made me very good at certain types of work and has also been very useful in my writing.
So, even if I do ever muster up the focus to sit through a diagnostic test, and the results indicated ADD, I don’t think I would go for treatment. I like my distractible brain and I’m going to keep it.
Jennifer Lesher 
Positive Characteristics of People with Attention Deficit Disorder.
151 Positives.
Ability to find alternate paths to overcome obstacles
Able to take on large situations
Adaptive/collaborative
Adventurous, courageous, lives outside of boundaries
Always finding alternate routes to any given location.
Always willing to help others
Ambitious – you want to be everything when “you grow up”
Artistic
Attractive personality – magnetic due to high energy
Being able to see the big picture
Being able to see the patterns in the chaos.
Being intuitive towards others’ difficulties
Broad focus – can see more, notice things more
Can create order from chaos
Can do many projects at once
Can make people feel they are heard
Can see the big picture
Can talk about several things at one time
Can think on my feet
Career variety
Centre of attention
Comfortable talking in front of groups
Comfortable with change and chaos
Compassion for others and for themselves
Conceptualizes well
Confidence
Constantly evolving
Courageous
Creates connections easily
Creative
Creative writing
Creative – musical, artistic, “dramatic”
Good in a crisis
Good at customer relations
Dedicated
Detail-oriented
Determined to gain more control
Eager to make friends
Eager to try new things
Empathetic, sensitive
Energetic
Entrepreneurial
Excellent organizers using journals and reminders (notes etc.)
Flexible – changes as the situation requires
Fun guy to be around
Goal-oriented
Good at conceptualizing
Good at motivating self and others
Good at multitasking
Good at problem solving
Good at public speaking
Good at understanding others/mind reading – empathetic
Good conversationalist
Good delegator and good at organizing others
Good in emergency situations
Good listener
Good looking and aware of it
Good people skills
Good self esteem, energetic
Great brain-stormer
Great multitasker
Great self-company
Great sense of humour
Great storyteller
Great with kids (central figure around kids)
Hands-on workers
Hard worker
Has friendly relations with their family
Has the gift of gab
Helpful
Helps others who are also in trouble
High energy – go, go, go
Humour, very healthy, quick picking up ideas
Hyper focus !!
Hypersensitive – very empathetic and good at non-verbal communications
Idea generator
Imaginative
Impulsive (in a good way) not afraid to act
Initiators
Intelligent
Intuitive
It’s ok to not finish everything
Learning as much as I can to help children and others with adhd
Less sleep is good (midnight to 6 am)
Like to talk a lot
Likes learning new things
Look at multidimensional sides to a situation
Lots of interests
Loves to cook and be creative
Magnetic
Master idea generator
Mentoring others/helpful
Mentoring people with low self esteem
Modesty
Move on fast – never hold a grudge
Multitasks well
Never bored and rarely boring
Never intimidated to try new things
Non-linear, multi-dimensional/edge of chaos
Not afraid to speak mind
Not contained by boundaries.
On stage and ready
Optimistic
Outgoing
Passionate
Persistent
Philosophical
Holistic thinking
Playful
Pragmatic
Problem solver
Profound
Quick thinking
Quick witted
Relates to people easily
Resistant
Resourceful
Saves money in the short term by forgetting to file tax returns
See and remember details – recount them later
Sees the big picture
Socially adaptive and flexible.
Spontaneous
Stabilizer during difficult situations
Stable
Successful
Takes initiative
Tenacious
Theoretical
Think outside the box
Thinks 2 meters ahead of the world
Thinks big, dreams big
Thorough
Tolerant
Unconventional
Unlimited energy
Unorthodox
Versatile
Very creative, able to generate a lot of ideas
Very hard working to compensate – workaholic
Very intuitive
Very resourceful
Very successful
Visionary
Visual learner
Willing to explore
Willing to take risks
Willingness to help others
Witty
Won’t tolerate boredom
Works well under pressure
Worldly
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Wow! Who wouldn’t want to be ADD?
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Exactly!
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[…] working within boundaries can force creativity in order to fashion solutions. A while ago I wrote about my likely ADD and how I have found creative ways to work around it. In a similar way, I think […]
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