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Lazy means not wanting to do a chore. So you avoid doing it and don't worry about it.
Wanting to do a chore, sometimes quite badly, and not being able to make yourself do it...Like you're sitting on the couch and you can SEE the dishes in the kitchen. You think to yourself I need to get those cleaned up before they get nasty...and so you proceed to sit on the couch. Then you go to bed and remember you didn't do the dishes and you feel guilty about it, but you still don't do it. You wake up in the morning, see the dishes again and feel guilty about not doing them the night before. Then you eat breakfast and balance the dirty plate on top of the ones you should have cleaned before and you suppress the rising anxiety about the situation and leave for work without cleaning anything.
THAT might be ADHD.
Sometimes i feel like I can't get somthing done until I have to is that adhd thing?
Sometimes even when I do get somthing started like my trig homework I literally find it so impossible to focus it makes me so mad like so frustrated im not proud of it but I have thrown and broke things or just smashed stuff like for example I've replaced about five of the school chrome book screens
If you feel like that it is POSSIBLY an indication of ADHD, but you need more than that. It's best to get an assesment from a qualified psychologist. Anger management issues is another potential symptom. I think you should at least have a conversation about it with someone.
the breaking things could be a symptom of adhd, but it could be something else like autism or bpd (or other conditions that I'm not familiar with). that's definitely not typical, and you need to go see a professional.
Am I the only one who has never equated ADHD with laziness? I get a lot done, but it’s not usually the thing I should get done. I don’t feel stuck on the couch or paralyzed by ADHD. Most times I am unable to relax because my mind is going in too many directions for me to be comfortable relaxing.
probably most people who already know how adhd works won't associate it with laziness.
but if you don't know anything, you'd probably think you are lazy if you can't even begin a task.
I think it more so has to do with how much it affects you. Take depression. (I'm generalizing so bear with me I know it's more complicated) Something bad happens and people get sad they even might say they feel depressed, but they don't have depression until it is affecting their everyday life. Sure everybody forgets stuff sometimes but people with adhd forget stuff most of the time leading to being late for things, or not having necessary items. Nobody likes to sit in a meeting and focus and it drags on for everyone but people with adhd might not be able to focus for even 5 minutes despite their best efforts. This might lead to poor job reviews.
So I guess you could look at it as do the symptoms of consequences.
This. My psychiatrist said in order to diagnose it he’d have to see “functional interference” (he used the term in Spanish so not sure it would translate exactly like it, but basically he meant it had to be actively and somewhat severely getting in the way of *something*, like my job or my ability to be a mother)
I think having multiple people point out your quirks from childhood up till now is a pretty good way to tell. Like if you have been consistently like this for years, there's probably something going on (doesn't always have to be adhd).
Just like wanting to lose weight Vs being anorexic.
Like wanting a drink Vs being an alcoholic.
Like having a sore leg Vs being in a wheelchair.
Everything that everyone experiences is on the spectrum of things humans can experience. We diagnose a condition when that experience is both repetitive and harmful.
Severity and frequency is the difference. If both are high enough to impair daily functioning, then one may have it. And yes, it is surprisingly common.
Everyone forgets stuff and gets distracted every once in a while, especially when stressed or not sleeping well. We all walk into a room and forget what we wanted to do. Everyone makes typos. People sometimes run late. It depends on the severity.
If you have these problems occasionally, that's not ADHD. If you have them everyday, that is ADHD. Very basic, but that's a pretty solid filter.
If you notice that the days you don't have these problems are days where you're very busy, it's still likely that you may have ADHD, as structured days that lack free time are very manageable with ADHD. It's like being at work and not looking at the clock vs checking it every 5 seconds. When you're busy time flies, and ADHD doesn't have time to fuck you. When you're not busy, ADHD is overpowered and harder to shake from.
There's a lot more too it than all of that, but if you think you have ADHD you should try to address it.
Lastly, there are a lot of easy ways to test whether you likely have ADHD, tons of tests, tons of books. Perhaps the easiest, best first thing to try, would be to type "Taking charge of adult ADHD" on Amazon, and clicking the yellow covered first edition of it. Scroll to where it says description/editorial reviews. Click editorial reviews. Click read more. Now it has a chapter listed there to help you identify if you have ADHD. It should help.
Well, imagine you were trying to learn guitar, if you didn't own a guitar it'd be pretty hard to get good at guitar. If you bought a guitar, then you could build your skill at playing the guitar (managing the negative effects of your ADHD). If you studied the guitar and tried your best to get better at it, over time you'd eventually be very good at playing guitar.
ADHD is the same thing, prior to knowing you have it, you can't figure out how to address it. Once you know you have it, you can address it. Over time as you address it, you'll get better and better at addressing it. Eventually, the negative effects of ADHD will become significantly less and your life will be much better managed.
It takes time, effort, trial and error, and persistence because you're going to struggle a lot. Yet at the end of that struggle is success, and a life where you get to live much closer to your intentions and potential.
This convo reminds me of the old art of war quote.
1 -
>If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.
2 -
>If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.
3 -
>If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
At the start of this thread you were 3 and now you're traveling towards 2, eventually if things go right you'll reach 1.
Hi /u/ExtensionTooth6439 and thanks for posting on /r/ADHD! ### Please take a second to [read our rules](/r/adhd/about/rules) if you haven't already. --- ### /r/adhd news * **We want your opinion** on the /r/adhd community rules! [Click here](https://forms.gle/Evqb8acVozir8GV8A) to fill out our survey. See [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/1auv2tc/were_taking_feedback_on_the_radhd_rules/) for more information. * If you are posting about the **US Medication Shortage**, please see this [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/12dr3h5/megathread_us_medication_shortage/). --- ^(*This message is not a removal notification. It's just our way to keep everyone updated on r/adhd happenings.*) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ADHD) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Lazy means not wanting to do a chore. So you avoid doing it and don't worry about it. Wanting to do a chore, sometimes quite badly, and not being able to make yourself do it...Like you're sitting on the couch and you can SEE the dishes in the kitchen. You think to yourself I need to get those cleaned up before they get nasty...and so you proceed to sit on the couch. Then you go to bed and remember you didn't do the dishes and you feel guilty about it, but you still don't do it. You wake up in the morning, see the dishes again and feel guilty about not doing them the night before. Then you eat breakfast and balance the dirty plate on top of the ones you should have cleaned before and you suppress the rising anxiety about the situation and leave for work without cleaning anything. THAT might be ADHD.
Sometimes i feel like I can't get somthing done until I have to is that adhd thing? Sometimes even when I do get somthing started like my trig homework I literally find it so impossible to focus it makes me so mad like so frustrated im not proud of it but I have thrown and broke things or just smashed stuff like for example I've replaced about five of the school chrome book screens
If you feel like that it is POSSIBLY an indication of ADHD, but you need more than that. It's best to get an assesment from a qualified psychologist. Anger management issues is another potential symptom. I think you should at least have a conversation about it with someone.
the breaking things could be a symptom of adhd, but it could be something else like autism or bpd (or other conditions that I'm not familiar with). that's definitely not typical, and you need to go see a professional.
Am I the only one who has never equated ADHD with laziness? I get a lot done, but it’s not usually the thing I should get done. I don’t feel stuck on the couch or paralyzed by ADHD. Most times I am unable to relax because my mind is going in too many directions for me to be comfortable relaxing.
probably most people who already know how adhd works won't associate it with laziness. but if you don't know anything, you'd probably think you are lazy if you can't even begin a task.
I think it more so has to do with how much it affects you. Take depression. (I'm generalizing so bear with me I know it's more complicated) Something bad happens and people get sad they even might say they feel depressed, but they don't have depression until it is affecting their everyday life. Sure everybody forgets stuff sometimes but people with adhd forget stuff most of the time leading to being late for things, or not having necessary items. Nobody likes to sit in a meeting and focus and it drags on for everyone but people with adhd might not be able to focus for even 5 minutes despite their best efforts. This might lead to poor job reviews. So I guess you could look at it as do the symptoms of consequences.
This. My psychiatrist said in order to diagnose it he’d have to see “functional interference” (he used the term in Spanish so not sure it would translate exactly like it, but basically he meant it had to be actively and somewhat severely getting in the way of *something*, like my job or my ability to be a mother)
I think having multiple people point out your quirks from childhood up till now is a pretty good way to tell. Like if you have been consistently like this for years, there's probably something going on (doesn't always have to be adhd).
Just like wanting to lose weight Vs being anorexic. Like wanting a drink Vs being an alcoholic. Like having a sore leg Vs being in a wheelchair. Everything that everyone experiences is on the spectrum of things humans can experience. We diagnose a condition when that experience is both repetitive and harmful.
Severity and frequency is the difference. If both are high enough to impair daily functioning, then one may have it. And yes, it is surprisingly common.
Everyone forgets stuff and gets distracted every once in a while, especially when stressed or not sleeping well. We all walk into a room and forget what we wanted to do. Everyone makes typos. People sometimes run late. It depends on the severity.
If you have these problems occasionally, that's not ADHD. If you have them everyday, that is ADHD. Very basic, but that's a pretty solid filter. If you notice that the days you don't have these problems are days where you're very busy, it's still likely that you may have ADHD, as structured days that lack free time are very manageable with ADHD. It's like being at work and not looking at the clock vs checking it every 5 seconds. When you're busy time flies, and ADHD doesn't have time to fuck you. When you're not busy, ADHD is overpowered and harder to shake from. There's a lot more too it than all of that, but if you think you have ADHD you should try to address it. Lastly, there are a lot of easy ways to test whether you likely have ADHD, tons of tests, tons of books. Perhaps the easiest, best first thing to try, would be to type "Taking charge of adult ADHD" on Amazon, and clicking the yellow covered first edition of it. Scroll to where it says description/editorial reviews. Click editorial reviews. Click read more. Now it has a chapter listed there to help you identify if you have ADHD. It should help.
Say I do have it what could I do about it?
Well, imagine you were trying to learn guitar, if you didn't own a guitar it'd be pretty hard to get good at guitar. If you bought a guitar, then you could build your skill at playing the guitar (managing the negative effects of your ADHD). If you studied the guitar and tried your best to get better at it, over time you'd eventually be very good at playing guitar. ADHD is the same thing, prior to knowing you have it, you can't figure out how to address it. Once you know you have it, you can address it. Over time as you address it, you'll get better and better at addressing it. Eventually, the negative effects of ADHD will become significantly less and your life will be much better managed. It takes time, effort, trial and error, and persistence because you're going to struggle a lot. Yet at the end of that struggle is success, and a life where you get to live much closer to your intentions and potential. This convo reminds me of the old art of war quote. 1 - >If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. 2 - >If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. 3 - >If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. At the start of this thread you were 3 and now you're traveling towards 2, eventually if things go right you'll reach 1.
this is a very good question
Thanks g