What’s probably even more confusing is when the quiet turns loud suddenly because the topic has shifted to something interesting.
Women tend to exhibit inattentive ADHD more frequently than men. This is part of why boys are 16x more likely than girls to be diagnosed with ADHD. It’s because women and girls don’t fit the traditional media representation of what ADHD looks like, and more parents become oblivious to the fact that their child needs help.
I’m energetic and extremely talkative when talking about the things I’m currently into. All other times I’m exactly this.
yes that sounds like inattentive type adhd, its the spacey daydreamy type, and fun fact, as its less disruptive its less likely to be diagnosed and funner fact its much more common in girls which contributes to the
Reading self-diagnosis checklists and articles (for entertainment purposes only, don’t self-diagnose, etc), I see an enormous overlap between ADHD symptoms and autism.
What would make the distinction?
…worth noting, 40-70% of patients with autism experience significant symptoms of adhd. source*
*am unfamiliar w/ this institution or their services, but the info seemed good >.<
It’s very challenging. It mostly comes down to which symptoms in the constellation are having the largest negative impact to the life of the person, as well as how they respond to different treatments. You really need the help of a doctor to navigate the whole situation.
When I was a kid, it was just called ADD, attention deficit disorder. Then at some point they slipped the hyperactive in there, and it made everyone think that it’s just energetic kids. Then you got pushback in the media saying it’s just excusing people not wanting to discipline their kids. And that’s why I never even considered that I might have it until after I flunked out of college.
Same, 31 now and I think I have a mild version of the inattentive type. My wife opened my mind to it, I won’t go for a diagnosis but having resources to help me improve and deal better with it are great.
Frick. I should really get a proper diagnosis. Anyone here found out they had ADHD well into adulthood? What changed?
Got diagnosed near the end of last year, well into adulthood. I have inattentive type (what was once called ADD). I’m on non-stimulany meds for it, which helps. But the thing about ADHD is that it’s mainly genetic and has to do with the structure of your brain. Its a holdover from when we were living on plains and spent most of our days eating berries and avoiding predators. There’s no real symptom relief, only management.
That said, the tools you learn for management while in therapy for it are amazing. And once you understand how your brain works, you gain a deeper and better understanding of how and why you do things. I know that seems like a “duh”, but in practice its a lot more profound and empowering than you think its going to be.
But ADHD has a lot of overlap with other things, so don’t be too sure until you see a professional. I wasn’t looking for an ADHD diagnosis when I got one - I thought I had depression. And I was miserable. Like, considering some unthinkable stuff. My diagnosis and treatment basically 180’d me completely. Find a good doctor, then listen to them
Oh I don’t think I have it. Maybe. But I’ve related to so much on this community that I think I should be sure. Thank you for your testimonial! And what sort of doctor does that diagnosis? Neurologist?
Just got diagnosed last week, and I am well into adulthood.
It’s a bit early yet. I am on starter meds and have a follow up appointment in a few weeks. Already though I have noticed impulse control is much better. It’s like I have a time machine that’s given me a few extra moments to respond to stimuli. Anxiety levels are also way down, and I don’t feel the frazzled need to jump to the next thing, trying to get a dopamine fix.
Trying now to pursue a 3 prong style of treatment: medication, forming new habits, and mindfulness/observation. I am doing mood journaling to try to capture my experience.
Sounds like I should really look into it. Thanks and good luck!
The neat part of the Internet is having communities like this explain things I’ve been feeling my whole life, but couldn’t quite find the words to describe it.
Figuring out that I have ADHD (4 years ago at age 33) made a lot of things make sense.
The way my therapist explained it to me, is some have the “Outwardly Hyperactive” symptoms, and others like myself have “Inwardly Hyperactive” symptoms which is like you show here.
This was me during my youth - quiet, polite and serene on the outside, white noise on the inside. Teachers couldn’t work out why I excelled at some things and failed totally at others, they thought I was smart but not applying myself to my work. It took me til my 30s to get a diagnosis.
“a pleasure to have in class, but needs to apply herself”
“Has a lot of potential” got used a lot
“He easily deserves a B but he could get an A if he applied himself. I’ll just give him a C so he tries harder”
- gets a D *
“It’s no use, I push him as far as I could”
Replace her with him and one of my school reports literally had that word for word lmfao.
Thanks for the flashbacks.
My partner got that on hers.
I got a mix of that and “a pleasure to have in class, but needs to work on not distracting others”
How I went 31 years with no raised eyebrows is funny to me, so many red flags attributed to being “quirky” or “eccentric”.
Pretty sure I have undiagnosed ADHD. I tried to get an evaluation on the recommendation of my therapist once and all they did was offer me meds directly.
I can totally relate to the quiet variant, I’m very nonverbal and always lost in thought. But when it comes time to speak I usually only have a couple words to say. I’m only ever talkative through text when I have time to organize thoughts.
Are you in the US? And if so did your therapist offer to give you a screener? It’s a self-evaluation that you can do, then you try meds and if the meds are effective you probably have ADHD. I wasn’t given any kind of initial evaluation beyond that. And also there are three main presentations of ADHD - inattentive (lost in thought), hyperactive-impulsive (what the media focused on), and combined. Each individual’s presentation will be unique though.
I am in the US and my therapist didn’t offer any screening but gave a referral, which basically amounted to a doctor coming in and asking why I thought I had ADHD (to which I answered several reasons including scattered thoughts) to which the response was: “you think you have ADHD because you’re forgetful?” And that tbh made me feel pretty defeated. They offered a prescription and I said no and that was that :/
I have actually had medication once without any medical guidance when I was a kid in middle school (maybe 7 or 8 years prior to therapy when I found a loose concerta pill) and I did all my homework that day. I remember being blown away by how I was able to focus, and the problems seemed so much more satisfying to do. Medication probably would help me a lot but I was raised by psychiatrist parents who distrust psychiatric medication and kind of brainwashed us to not get any diagnoses or medication so it’s kind of hard to get over the fear that they’ve instilled in us even though I’ve already tried it and nothing bad happened. I definitely resent them for that
Your parents sound like shitty psychiatrists.
Yeah they are. My dad is more of a “everyone else can use the medicine I prescribe but our kids have to stay pure because we don’t have those kinds of problems and if we did taking medicine is a cop out” kinda person and my mom is only a neurologist but would talk to patients about herbal medicine, acupuncture, and how they shouldn’t get vaccines. Thank god they’re both retired and I don’t have to hear their whining about hospital policy and the continuing education requirements they should have taken more seriously.
I spent 2k on a test for my daughter and they just simply said “nope, she’s fine. But she might need some counseling on how to get work done more efficiently.” I’m old school ADD diagnosed and I can absolutely tell she has it.
This is why my parents dismissed my childhood diagnosis of ADHD. My older brother has the hyperactive type, but I am more of the inattentive type.
The outside is calm, but the inside is a tornado of thoughts that doesn’t cease.
That definition always bothered me a lot… The hyperactivity is always there, but it’s either internalised, externalised and sometimes it’s both. It’s the intensity of it that can vary a lot from person to person.
That’s why they don’t use “types” anymore, they call them presentations. Any person with ADHD may present as more inattentive or more hyperactive depending on circumstances, and, like you said, some elements of both are always there.
“I have all this energy inside and I can’t use it how I want!!”
“I have all this energy outside and it’s using me how it wants!!”
Pretty much!
I’m the inattentive type. My youngest kid is the hyper type.
We clash soooo much. His body does what my mind does.
How often do you have a feeling that there’s too much information to convey right now, and speech/mouth feels like a bottleneck not capable of delivering all that needs to be said in their really specific details?
Now combine that with impatient people who don’t give other people enough time to process information or enough time to properly explain something.
That’s my whole family dynamic right there. Pure anxiety fuel :D
yes.
So much yes
I’ve heard the inattentive type is more common among women. My wife definitely fits the description. People usually mistake the blank stare for intimidation, but I know better. (っ˘з(•_• )
The blank stare isn’t really indicative of daydreaming or thinking about a problem.
Nope - just nothing at all going on in there for a blissfully quiet few minutes.
It definitely looks like RBF though. People always used to think I was mad!
Still waters run deep - or sometimes that’s just frozen water.
I’ve got angry thinking face. That’s the best, every time you’re at the height of your mental powers some asshole who loves you says “Is everything ok?”
Is it weird that I kinda have both?
I got diagnosed with ADHD at 25 , and I’ve been like 90% quiet most of my adult life. However I recall every now and then when a memory hits, I used to be suuuper energetic, talkative and all over the place overall as a kid.
Since my family thought that getting me mental help = being put into an asylum for life, I never got assessed and was instead chastised/shamed into not talking (and in parallel the regular kids would mock and tease in the school system) so I’ve sorta just got quiet which just got me more inwardly chaotic
Not at all weird.
ADHD is an executive dysfunction. It manifests differently at different times or in different moods or situations.
Sometimes I can’t stop talking. Other times I can’t start talking.
That’s fair- I am slowly building a healthier way to be more aware of when I’m in either side of talking, but it is reassuring to see other peoples experiences as well
They changed the definition from types to presentations recently, because no person with ADHD is exclusively one or the other. Our presentations depend on the day and circumstances.
That’s good to hear, it definitely feels like my presentation does differ exactly like that- depends on the mood/day/circumstance.
