Do I have ADHD? **immediately starts scrolling through comments**

Can we diagnose the real problem? The fact that society expects children (hell, even adults) to sit still and focus on boring, abstract material for 6+ hours a day.

Over-diagnosing young boys and under-diagnosing adult women

I have ADHD myself, and when I was younger I used to think it was spelled 80HD.

The problem is ADHD is so misunderstood. It's so misunderstood that the name itself misunderstands it. It is not a problem with attention or hyperactivity. Those are just two common symptoms. It is primarily a problem of having a very low sensitivity to reward. To a person with ADHD, if a task has no immediate reward it feels like a punishment. The darker side of ADHD that is never touched upon in the stereotypical representations is what is sometimes referred to by people as an "addictive personality". People with ADHD are at a much higher risk of becoming drug addicts or alcoholics if the condition is untreated. ADHD also very often causes ups in downs in a persons mood all throughout the day. You can range from feeling depressed to feeling super happy. This is what is sometimes colloquially called "bipolar". I say colloquially because it is. This isn't bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is where the individual experiences long periods of depression (weeks or months) followed by long periods of mania. So the stereotype of a fidgety person who gets distracted mid-sentence is really just what fidgety people who get distracted easily are like. Sure, many people with ADHD might display traits like that at times, but those traits aren't what the condition is really about. ADHD is highly co-morbid, meaning that the condition normally produces other mental health problems if untreated. So if you wonder if you have ADHD, it might be worth asking yourself if you have mental health problems. Have you ever experienced panic attacks? Do you have issues with depression? These are two problems commonly experienced by individuals with untreated ADHD. People with ADHD also don't often fit in well with others. They experience over-focusing problems. This sounds contradictory but it isn't at all. Due to always seeking reward, people with ADHD can't take their mind away from stimulating things. You may be stressed as hell to the point of feeling ill because you haven't started any of your essays that are due, but have sat for hours researching string theory online. The issue is not about attention. It is about a lack of executive function, meaning tasks are not prioritised properly and decisions are made on impulse, and an issue of low reward sensitivity. The list goes on. This is in no way a full description of the condition.

I think that ADHD is both over and under-diagnosed. Overdiagnosed in young kids and underdiagnosed in adults, especially females, who previously did not have this diagnosis on their chart.

Vox: “Do I have ADHD?” Me: “Wouldn’t you like to know weather boy?”

Getting misdiagnosed with depression when you have ADHD is really rough

*When you have ADD and start reading the graphs and realize you haven’t been paying attention for 30 seconds so you have to play back the video*

As a member of the black community, I feel like ADHD is EXTREMELY under-diagnosed. There would be kids in my class that displayed all the signs of hyperactivity ADHD but instead of being evaluated they were suspended, called trouble makers, told they wouldn't be successful because they were struggling in classes and being disruptive. Most of them ended up dropping out of school. As for myself, I'm going to be getting tested next week for inattentive ADHD. My family used to say it was just an excuse for white people not to discipline their kids... and so when I was younger they never believed in getting me tested even though I showed all the signs. ***EDIT** So I ended up being officially diagnosed with ADHD and I was prescribed Adderall (I combine it with therapy which really helps). I graduated my last semester of college with all A's and I'm currently studying for the law exam. So to all my fellow neurodivergents, it's possible! You got this!

The question still remains: Does she have ADHD?

I have a lot of the symptoms and my moms like: “Lol it’s a phase”

I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 16 years old. Looking back at my childhood, I️ still had a super short attention span, hyper focused on stimulating topics (at 9 years old, it was the Black Death of all things) for hours, and couldn’t hold a rational conversation with anyone (what I thought was relevant was actually ten thoughts ahead of what would make sense to reply). But my grades were always perfect in school and it was so easy that I didn’t need to focus to do well. So no one suspected anything Then when high school started and school got harder and I started learning to drive, all hell broke loose. I couldn’t understand how people would be able to do school work for 10 minutes straight without getting up to walk around, sing, make noises, etc. I️ just thought these things were normal. Until I️ found out that math homework isn’t supposed to take 3 hours. Now, if I try to drive more than 5 minutes without meds, I get so distracted by signs and buildings that I have almost caused accidents. It’s bad. My biggest problem though is that I️ hyper focus on irrelevant topics when I am supposed to be doing homework. I will read for hours about supplements for my horse when I have a paper due the next day. Or I will spend the whole afternoon researching the effects of gun laws on gun violence. These are hi stimulating, high reward topics for me and my brain gets sucked in.

Wow, my life did a 180 when I got treatment. For the longest I thought I was dumb because I struggled. With some coaching and medicine. I got the chance to go back to school for something I love to do, I'm not depressed because I like to go to work, made friends with similar goals, got paid better which in terms got me off government aid. It really hurts to see that people don't believe it to be a true problem.

Having adhd (inattentive) and having school online is the worst. There are so many things around you to distract you. Also, I have to get out off my chair and walk around every 5 minutes when doing homework. I miss going to my university's library. I don't walk every 5 minutes or else I will annoy people

I believe that ADHD is being overdiagnosed in the wrong age group. ADHD is usually diagnosed at a young age, usually when a child is in elementary school. The problem with diagnosing at a young age is that children are usually being held inside a classroom, required to do work, and only given a few minutes off for recess and lunch. It would make sense if an elementary-aged child would be more distracted and energetic as they've stayed inside for a good majority of the day. I feel like the correct age group to diagnose ADHD is in middle school or high school, 4th, or 5th grade at the very earliest. Note/Edit: Just a heads up, this is coming from someone who has ADHD and was diagnosed in first grade.

I was diagnosed with ADD and they put me in special math classes. It was the worst thing they could have done to me. I'm now a software engineer. University was a HUGE struggle to catch up in all the math I didn't get in highschool.

When your parents will not let you get checked 😑

Me: * forgets where phone is* Me: * remembers* Also me: * forgets what I needed to find * *walks back to room where I thought of what I forgot * me: *remembers and actually finds phone*

I am a woman who is amost 40 seeking a ADHD diagnosis. It's something I have struggled with my entire life. My brother was diagnosed at age of 6. My son was diagnosed at the age of 8. Yet, here I am at nearly 40 still struggling. It's frustrating and completely overlooked just as many medical conditions are overlooked in women.

according to the internet everyone has adhd

1:20 How tf am I supposed to remember anything from when I was 12 if I have ADHD?

I wasn't diagnosed until after almost failing a semester in first year uni. Ive had symptoms my whole life, but my parents always thought "well as long as he does well in school there must be nothing wrong with him" since my many family members with ADHD all did poorly in school, and I was some weird prodigy. Turns out you can be depressed and overwhelmingly anxious and have ADHD all while getting straight A's every year. I definitely have more mental health issues/disorders than I have diagnosed (just the ADHD currently) but for some reason I can never bring myself to get them treated.

Her: * talking about how people with adhd dont pay attention very well * Me: * sitting here not paying attention to what she’s saying * oh shi-

Everybody in this comment section needs to realise just because medication worked or works for you doesn't mean it'll work for someone else and just becuase it didn't or doesn't work for you doesn't mean it won't work for somebody else.

So??? do u have ADHD???

The DSM has some catching up to do on ADHD: emotional dysregulation, executive dysfunction, rejection sensitivity... There’s a whole lot more to ADHD than just having trouble paying attention and potentially being hyperactive, and just because a kid is doing well in school doesn’t mean that they don’t have it. I wasn’t diagnosed until I was twenty three and I did excellent in school when I was the age a lot of folks get diagnosed. It wasn’t until I crashed and burned in high school that anyone began to realize that something might be up.

whenever i mention possibly having adhd to those older than me the first thing they say is "everyone has a little adhd in them" technically they aren't wrong, people lose focus and forget things all the time. the key word here is little , if everyone has a little adhd in them then why don't we try to help those who have a lot of adhd in them?

Go see a doctor. Internet quizzes aren't right at all. A quiz once said I was Jesus and that I have cancer. I mean c'mon.

ADHD and ADD are two different things!

“Enourmous increase !!” Woah its almost as if.... traits pass over generations 😳😳 and maybe its that diagnosing and science has been improving ... gee who wouldve thought

She went through a whole video of research and interviews and actually forgot to answer if she has adhd... mood

I was diagnosed at age 6. My parents decided yelling the ADHD out of me would be more effective than medication or therapy (which would have been free for them). I didn't find out about the diagnosis until I was 19 and failing my 2nd year of college. Even then, literally no one in my life encouraged me to get help but nearly everyone made an effort to discourage me from taking medication or seeing a psychologist. The social stigma was so intense that I didn't seek help for another 13 years.

The problem with ADHD is that the DSM-V is extremely outdated on what it says about it. The number one, most important core symtom of ADHD is lack of emotional regulation, and emotional problems aren't even mentioned there. That is the whole core if the issue. People with ADHD have problems with getting their brain to listen to them.

I am diagnosed with ADHD I was diagnosed when I was 14 (I’m still 14) I am one of the oldest people from my grade It does negatively influence my day to day life Taking medicine is a must for me Sometimes I do forget to take my medicine and my family notices because I change (just a example of how necessary it is for me) My grades have gotten a lot better because I used to get distracted during a test, classes, etc. Just wanted to share how it is for me And I am really sorry if there are some errors, English is my third language and I don’t live in a English speaking country

me: telling my mom i think i have ADHD and i want to see a doctor cause Ive had the symptoms ever since i can remember my mom: no you don't have it. me: 😀🙂😐🤨

Saw this video and stopped doing my homework to watch it then got bored half way through to do something else then came back to comment this Send help

A good way to watch KZfaq videos if you have ADD or ADHD is to scroll through the comments and watch the video at the same time. It usually works if the video isn’t boring.

The internet can't diagnose ADHD, but if it wasn't for all the posts online where people talked about it, and shared their daily experiences, then I never would have thought to go to a doctor for testing. I used to think a quiet, dreamy, anxious, and perpetually out-of-place person was the exact opposite of someone who had ADHD. I wish I hadn't waited until I was 21 to discover just how wrong I was.

i dont know Vox..do you have ADHD?

THANK YOU for making this video. I was diagnosed by a registered psychologist with ADHD and fall into the "inattentive" category. Mainstream media has been portraying it as something cool to a certain extent and it is not. The main problem is that too many people claim they have, while they don't. If you are one of those people, please go to a psychologist if you really think you have ADHD. This is the reason why people think it is an excuse for people like me. In fact, it is not a disease, it is just that our brain is wired differently. Feel free to do more research, it is indeed very interesting to learn :) It would be better if a neuroscience perspective is presented in the video.

Me:getting distracted by watching this video My homework: 👁👄👁

Keep in mind that there are still a lot of people with ADHD who don't take ADHD medicine at all.

I wonder if we sometimes confuse our quirks for mental problems

Commonly used words or phrases ascribed to me, during my K-12 school years: “lazy, lots of potential, forgetful, follow-through-challenged, PROCRASTINATOR, disorganized, “But she is so well behaved!” (Often said 3+ weeks into the school year by my teachers, to my parents, when teacher finally realized I wasn’t completing my work).

I never thought I could have ADHD before I ended up seeing a KZfaq video from the channel How to ADHD about overcome motivation issues. And I just watch cause I figured, if can help someone with a mental problem, so can help me as well. Since I saw this video, I told my therapist that I think I have ADHD, because I feel represented on all the struggles, I never felt more part of something, and I'm oddly optimist about. There are people with ADHD that overcome their issues and have a successful personal and work careers. So, I don't intent to take any drugs, but to work on my struggles with the tools that this awesome people make available for their peers.

"My room is a mess. I cleaned yesterday..." It's really a pain T_T

I have severe ADHD, but not the one that you'd think of. I was never hyper active so I was never diagnosed. I always thought I was stupid as I tried to learn the "regular" and it obviously didn't work. Teachers said I was stupid, other students thought I was dumb and most of all I thought I was too. Once I got older I couldn't hold a job because my mind was latterly all over. Never calm always on and literally drove me insane. I tried to take my life several times. Once I ended up getting professional help it got better. I was diagnosed last year and thank God I was. The saddest thing is, I tested out as having an IQ of 121. The testers were amazed I even passed highschool let alone with decent grades.

Addiction as a side effect of ADHD medication? I wish. Maybe that would help all of us forgetting to take our meds every day.

"Selling the ill, in order to sell their pills" That is an awesome rhyme, Doc 😎😎

I'm a 28 year old woman and I'm almost 100% positive I have ADHD. I will eventually seek a diagnosis, since I'd like to try medicine. Some friends of mine who got adult diagnoses said they felt like an entirely new person after they began meds. I can't even imagine myself feeling focused, emotionally regulated, and well. Normal. Day to day. idk what that's all about.

0:56 Wait... did you seriously print the entire DSM-5 on single sided paper!?

QUESTION: Ever notice that chores like cleaning, seem to be easier when another person is with you? Even if that person is not actually doing anything other than keeping you from getting off task?

Ha ha just got diagnosed with cool guy syndrome heh ha now I take aDdeRaLL

Legit hearing ritalin gives me panicked feelings. Used to be on it for the entirety of my school years bar the last 2. The loss of appetite, the zombification of my personality. Everything was an absolute nightmare and it didn’t even work, i still couldn’t concentrate but nobody really listened. Being drugged at such a young age was horrific

I was diagnosed with ADHD at age 6. Before then, teachers weren't even able to get me to sit still in a chair, much less get good grades. But 11 years later after being medicated I am graduating high school in the top 5% of my class and will be attending Georgetown in the fall. Anyone who says "children with ADHD shouldn't be medicated" is wrong.

'Just stumbled upon the video' squad?!

thing is i cant remember my childhood

Boys collect Toys Men collect Degrees Legends collect Alphabet combinations..... ..... like ADHD, BD, OCD, CPTSD. I'm such a Legend.. (Wipes tears of joy and existential crisis)

I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 14. There were signs before that, I was sometimes sent to time out because I wasn't finishing classwork as quickly as everyone else. I would stare out the window because I would rather be outside, and other kids would call me day dreamer. The reason it finally became apparent in middle school was that I was having trouble on the practice tests for the state exams. I knew the answers but the test is strictly timed so they would announce we were going on to the next section before I was finished. Thank goodness I got an IEP that year that allowed me time and a half on tests. The extra time was perfect, I would finish with just enough time to look over my answers before the test was over. I've tried medication but I never liked the jittery feeling they gave me so I've been going without for years. I've since finished college so I'd say that sometimes the best treatment is working with yourself, doing something you love so you don't lose interest.

1:00 But for real, let's talk about important things... You printed the entire DSM on only one side of paper???

Tell me why I lost focus after 56 seconds and had to rewind and replay 😅

I’m going to get tested to see if I have it but I don’t want to be on medication, I’d rather learn about coping mechanisms and holistic options because I know that over time medication can affect your liver, but a diagnosis would validate what I’m feeling and give me access to accommodations if I have it

I have ADHD and I was diagnosed at a young age. I'm glad I was though because getting the medication allowed me to focus more when I didn't before and now I'm in all above classes and get high honor roll

as someone who was on medically administered Adderall for 4 years I can say that the biggest side effect is loss of appetite, when I was in 2nd grade( the year I was diagnosed) I weighed 62 pounds. In 5th grade, I weighed 68 pounds. I never ate lunch, or breakfast and I ate almost nothing for dinner. that was all because my severe depression, was misdiagnosed as ADHD

A coworker once told me that watching me do paperwork was like watching a toddler trying to get on an escalator all by themselves. It's amazing that it ever got done. I finally sought care and the change totally surprised me. I took mass transit to the pharmacy because I wanted to take the medication right away and didn't want to be driving, just in case I had a bad reaction. I was on the train, doing what I do when I have quiet time all to myself; Trying to calculate a titration for a hypothetical medication off the top of my head, trying to remember who originally said a favorite quote of mine, wondering if the unkempt man across the way who was swaying and muttering to himself would start to freak out all of the sudden, if the station that I wanted to get off on was closed again...and literally a million other things all at once. It's hard to explain how the medication felt when it first kicked in but I will try, to the best of my ability; all of the sudden everything, all of these thoughts went from coming all at once to rearranging so that they started arriving one after the other in a more linear if not entirely linear fashion. Focus, I had focus. And a sense of calm I have not had since I was a child (before I had the heavy responsibilities I have now). The irony is that I thought that my scattered thinking, my drive, my ability to focus on the present, past, and future at the same time was a plus, was what made me good at what I do, but really it was just holding me back, scattering my focus.

see but i can’t remember what symptoms i was having and when

Who else got distracted WHILE watching this video?

As a student with ADHD (I'm currently a senior in high school) (type with inattention without hyperactivity), I was not diagnosed until the second semester of 8th grade. I was showing symptoms before I was diagnosed but was not diagnosed until more people noticed. Finding the correct medication was a hard journey but I can personally say it is nice being able to focus (even if I hate some of the side affects). Anyway, I was not diagnosed until I was 13 which shows that even though symptoms might been seen before diagnosis the patient may not always be diagnosed until later. Looking back on my early grades I can see my symptoms but no one ever realized until I was 13.

My kindergarten teacher told my parents I probably have ADHD but my parents never got me tested. I basically have all of the symptoms. I remember watching this video by Ryan Higa about ADHD and realizing I relate to all of it.

I feel like I might have ADHD and I thought that for a long time but I’m over twelve of course so I’m not diagnosed and never really tried to be diagnosed

JESUS VOX, that's the best audio you could get from your experts???

I was diagnosed with ADHD while in graduate school and was given adderall. And I think the adderall just made everything worse. I saw a different psychiatrist about a year later and he thought I didn't have ADHD but bi-polar and gave me something else. I don't take anything now but I agree with it is possible that ADHD is being overdiagnosed or misdiagnosed in place of other things.

I just asked my mom if I have adhd and she just said you’re lazy and need to pull yourself together because your grades are not great. Good old Slavic parents.

I'm not diagnosed, but if I do have ADHD, it would be the inattentive kind. I try very hard to listen to people, but I often get wrapped up in my own thoughts and don't actually absorb what people tell me :( It makes me sad because I think being a good listener is a really valuable trait to have. It is my New Year's resolution to be a better listener

Hey you scrolling through the comments... I hope you have a great day.

I never met anyone in Europe or heard about anyone that has been diagnosed with an attention disorder, does that answer your question? No one medicates their children here, that's outrageous, giving speeds to kids.

I got diagnosed as an adult and I have to say that it's been a huge pain to get diagnosed. My doctor kept making me jump through hurdles before recommending a psychiatrist, and then after waiting 3 months for an appointment, I had to fight my insurance company to convince them to get me my prescription

Please remember that the symptoms for OCD and ADHD overlap A LOT! I constantly think “shoot I might have ADHD” and then remember that what I just did is also an OCD symptom, which I have been medically diagnosed with :)

I has ADHD and crippling depression

"are super effective" yea maybe. You gotta consider the side effects on the amphetamines. It absolutely killed my ability to eat and sleep when I would take it.

Ok but like why is telling my parents I might have adhd as hard as coming out even though they would probably support me, I've done neither so far

"And that's not something you're going to find on the internet" THEN WHY AM I WATCHING THIS

Part of the problem with the conversation with ADHD is the discussion on treatment. Pills aren't the only form of treatment. Increasing the amount of exercise can dramatically improve the ability for a patient to concentrate. I suspect that contributes quite substantially to the increasing number of diagnosis. We expect kids at a young age to transition from active play throughout the day, to mostly sitting and paying attention in school. And that applies to adults, too. The way we have structured our society, it becomes very difficult to exercise and exercise regularly. Changing our patterns of behavior to incorporate exercise, both for kids and adults, would limit the effects of ADHD in most people without the harmful side effects.

UBC represent!

Some people in the comments: I wasn't paying attention...ooo maybe I have ADHD too? Me: *hyperfocus*

Vox always ends the video on what seems to me to be a cliffhanger - leaves me with more questions than answers. It's fun a lot of the time because it gets you thinking, but sometimes it's frustrating lol.

I think the problem is our biology hasn't evolved much from being hunter gatherers

Adhd is over diagnosed

I was supposed to be studying for my math test but I'm here after i felt like my brain is exploding from trying to concentrate on factoring trinomials.

I know that many people are falsely diagnosed with ADHD, but I was't diagnosed until I was a sophomore in high school. Just having an explanation for why I made the mistakes I made was very helpful for my mental health, although I strongly believe that people are way overmedicated. ADHD medications are some of the most addictive substances you can give somebody, and when I stopped taking the medication I went into a month long withdrawal that made me completely stop functioning. I ghosted my friends, stopped doing any schoolwork, i didn't even watch tv or anything, I just slept and existed and it made me realize that there was no way I would ever touch the drugs again. If you are planning on starting to take ADHD meds seriously consider, DO YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED THEM.

Welcome to my life. This was definitely underdiagnosed when I was a kid. I didn't understand why I was getting bad grades even though I was reasonably bright and had good intentions. This can be hard for a kid.

Your sweater reads UBC.. University Of British Columbia. I live in Vancouver :)

I have a really strong case of ADD, I have almost all the symptoms in the inattention list shown. Medication was a saving grace for me. At eleven, I was at a point of saying "I don't want to try anymore. I understand everything but I still have bad grades". Now, I'm graduating from a really difficult engineering school.

I was diagnosed at 7 in the first grade. I remember from my dysfunctional lifestyle and mostly being hyper sensitive

The real question is has ADHD always been this prevalent in our population and we just ignored it or did something cause it to increase over the years?

5:52 "tweatment"

I watched the entire video then I realized I wasn’t paying attention, now imma watch it again @-@

Why include quacks who use moral criteria like "immaturity" to determine whether kids are getting overdiagnosed? I went undiagnosed for 30 years and I struggled for so long.

should have mentioned the non stimulant options for attention deficit like straterra. I do think that ADHD is an actual condition but I think the use of stimulants is treating a minor inattention by giving people speed. overkill and misunderstanding the problem additionally the reason why ADHD is a major and growing diagnosis is because of how antiquated and monolithic our education system. children who learn differently than how it currently is taught will suffer regardless of intelligence or proficiency.