I mean we gotta have one. All of us. It has been suggested to me by someone who has recently grown close that I may be ADD.
DSM-IV criteria for ADHD
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:
Ripped from Wikipedia.
1) Often does not give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, work, or other activities.
No, not really. My job is to discard details. So I need to notice them and make a decision. I’ve been trained in my life for disaster response. Often a quick mental snap shot is all you need to figure things out. It’s not that I don’t notice details, i just find them annoying. God is in the details. I am an atheist. Still, madame bovary is a fine, fine book.
2) Often has trouble keeping attention on tasks or play activities.
I have no problem keeping on task. If the task is something I’ve chosen to do. Hand me a task, yeah. I’m not good. I would not have made a good nazi. Now I will admit i have problems staying on task due to a lack of skill, orgwise - I don’t do lists. My thought there is that if i have to write it down, it isn’t worth doing. It’s amazing how much shit you can jettison by ridding your self of the need to the feel the need, so to speak, the need to get things done. To hack dave snowden, you don’t know what you need to get done until it’s done.
3) Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly.
I listen on a different plane. I listen to undertone. With care and attention. When spoken to directly, often i bristle. I’m not much on being spoken to directly. I’ve been that way since childhood. If you shout, i turn and walk away. If you continue to shout i will turn and bark in your face like a mad dog. Long Fuse, Big Bomb.
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).
Okay, this is a close one. I’d have to say, that much of my behavior is oppositional. I was trained that way. But still, I’m not good with instructions. The decision to leave university after one semester was in part due to my failure to read the rules properly, instead preferring to jump directly into the subject matter. It’s why I’m not good on wikis, really. Too many rules. But still, I’d have to give four a yes. So, so far I’m one out of three and we need six.
5) Often has trouble organizing activities.
Two out of four.
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).
Again if the mental effort needs to be summoned for the purposes of Others, than maybe. I can still get er done though. So, no.
7) Often loses things needed for tasks and activities (e.g. toys, school assignments, pencils, books, or tools).
I never lose anything. Well, I shouldn’t jinx myself. But no, I’m good there. In fact I’m also very good at helping people find things they think they have lost. If it’s lost as in: left a wallet behind on a boat or train: or, keys down the sewer, then, it’s lost. Lost is misplaced with time pressures as well. Further, there’s a rule: if you don’t find it within the first forty-eight hours, then it’s lost. You may trip over it later, but that’s not the same. Unless you’re allowing for a degree of of sub- or un-conscious seeking. My son lost a tube of black paint the other night. It was not lost, though he claimed it was. Turned out it was on the table right in front of us.
Is often easily distracted.
Yes. Three of seven.
9) Often forgetful in daily activities.
Not really. If I was gunning for the ADD label I might make that claim about myself but I would be reaching.
The answer, then, is no. I am not ADD.
No? Well, here, try on another hat.
I have always made the claim that I am normal. Normal as can be. Normal as I wanna be.
Though, when I look at my behavior objectively - take that for what it’s worth - examine my life at the machine level - I may have HASD. Hyper-Attentive-Slothful-Disorder.
I can sit for hours on end on my ass end lurking, thinking, daydreaming, typing, fantasizing, talking etc. Anything that doesn’t cause me to move other than to relieve a sleeping leg or an ass cheek gone bloodless.
This disorder, to some, others, limits my ability to function as normal. Though normal, I am reminded often, is a setting on a washing machine.
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