[CLRGuy]

Believe it or not, the condition is real. In fact, it persists into adulthood in about 40 percent of the cases.

ADHD is actually a bad name for the condition, as it is much more than an attention deficit, it includes impulsivity, and a host of other symptoms, not to mention that in most cases there are co-morbid conditions like depression, and anxiety disorders.

I was recently diagnosed, and am now being treated. It's hard to tell somebody who doesn't have it what life is like after just a month of treatment. At 31 years old I have to wonder how my life may have been different had I been diagnosed and treated earlier in my life.

Is it over-diagnosed in children? Maybe, but to be honest the side effects of the drugs are not significant in most people who take them, whereas living a life where you're just not able to "get it together" is much more damaging in the long run. Not believing that the disorder exists, doesn't change the fact that there is a host of research gives evidence to the contrary.

[ConservaTexan]

In fact, it persists into adulthood in about 40 percent of the cases.

You can't undo bad child rearing.

[Hawk1976]

It does exist. I was also an undiagnosed case because I didn't act our in class. I drifted, daydreamed, drew pictures, and it was rarely that I didn't try to pay attention. The way it is for me is like trying to grab and hold onto oiled nylon ropes, it would just slip away from me. In college this hurt bad, eventually I left wondering why I couldn't hack it in a class room. In my adult life I believe this has led to me going from job to job and always looking for the next horizon.

Now thatI have identified it, I am using strategies to help me focus. Knowing is a lot of the battle.

[LaineyDee]

The condition may be real in some cases...but I have to say that it is way "over-diagnosed" in normal children who may have nothing more than food or environmental allergies, which produce alot of the same symptoms.

Sometimes the Dr. needs to go beyond the normal "patch" tests for allergies because it's more systemic than superficial. The results I've seen are remarkable...and it just takes adjusting the diet a bit.

[HungarianGypsy]

I am glad someone said what you did. My nephew had ADD, but his parents have never let that be an excuse for any behavior problems. In fact, my brother-in-law has gotten on his case even more at times. I do think that it is overdiagnosed and would hope other methods such as behavior modification and dietary changes would be tried more often before drug therapy.

[twinzmommy]

Thank you.

I was diagnosed at 30. The reality of ADD (w/an H component to a minute extent) is in fact lifelong for many of us.

I've had my entire life. No doubt. I'm female. Girls simply do *not* act out like boys do. We are labeled as "talking too much" or "not using all of her potential." Fact of the matter is, a high IQ and a military father trumps some of it, BUT, the anxiety, depression, eating disorders and all the other things that revolved and spawned from the ADD are very, very real.

I take Provigil (to be sold as Attenance) and have for nearly 4 years. I am also back in college and holding nearly a 4.0. Some may call it maturity, but no. It's not just that.

My way of describing ADD to someone who isn't ADD -- if you've read Harry Potter, there is a description of Dumbledore's pensieve -- with all his memories swirling in a bowl. He is able to pluck one memory out at a time to see it. For me, my brain is like that. I run on multiple threads all the time. Little noises -- a chair scraping, a light flickering -- will trash my concentration, and the spinning thoughts run rampant. The thing that the medication does is let me be able to pull thought down at a time and think it through. With it I can block the outside stimuli to some extent -- I hear it and acknowledge it - but I can go back to what I was doing.

Okay -- sorry I'm babbling. My opinion though, ask the children. I don't know what you think, but I say let them TRY the medication if they are say 9+. They are plenty old enough to tell you how it is affecting them. Let THEM tell you if it works. You know? Like you, I wish that someone had realized/recognized it in me when I was younger. It would have made my life much, much better. There is so much I missed in school the first time around, educationally.

Oh and just for the record -- my IQ has tested in the 140-170 range -- makes me a little stubborn about acknowledging the ADD. I don't use it in school as a crutch (I could register with the disabilities office for accomodations but I choose not to, because I am doing this for me, and I don't want accomodations). I sit in the front of the room where I'm not distracted by other students. My Professors *are* aware of me being ADD (one of them commented on it before I told him *laugh* -- early class and the meds hadn't kicked in), and know that I ask a million questions. It's my way of keeping myself stimulated to stay focused.

~B.