ADHD

Recently, I was discussing my turbulent high school experience with someone who thought I was embarrassed about it. I explained to them that not only am I not embarrassed, I'm actually quite proud of it. The way I see it, my education was mishandled (to put it mildly) every step of the way from Nursery to 12th grade. Yet, I persevered. I was told that I would never graduate high school, get married, get a decent job, or make anything of my life. I've done all those things and where I'm at now, the future looks even better. One of the strangest things in my schooling is that I was never (as far as I remember) sent to a therapist. I was recently reading about ADHD (when Chris Davis got suspended for not reporting his ADHD medicine) and everything I read about it sounded like it was talking about me. Below is a quiz to see if you have ADHD (there are tons of them online), with my answers filled in. Of course, answering all the questions a certain way doesn't mean you have the disease, but it would make sense to see a professional if you have the symptoms and need help dealing with them.

1. I have difficulty getting organized.
Difficulty is an understatement, I cannot get even close.
2. When given a task, I usually procrastinate rather than doing it right away. 
Either that or I start it right away only to start a new task or 5 in the middle and never finish the first one. 
3. I work on a lot of projects, but can't seem to complete most of them. 
Almost always true, although I did recently complete a 1,000 piece puzzle!
4. I tend to make decisions and act on them impulsively — like spending money, getting sexually involved with someone, diving into new activities, and changing plans. 
When I was getting my first car, I researched for month and made a decision on what I wanted. Then I saw a TV commercial for a different car and went out bought it the next day (it actually took a couple weeks to complete the purchase, but I started the process that day). I also bought a house without ever seeing it in person and there are many more stories where those came from.
5. I get bored easily.
Very. I need constant change and excitement. I always wondered how if I couldn't keep a car for more than 24 months without losing interest and trading it in, I would be able to marry only one girl (I'm sure this is very reassuring to Nehama)
6. No matter how much I do or how hard I try, I just can't seem to reach my goals. 
Semi true, I reach a lot of my goals, by working really hard, but I have a lot of goals and this is true for a lot of them. 
7. I often get distracted when people are talking; I just tune out or drift off.
I thought I didn't have this symptom, because I can focus on something that I find interesting for hours without stopping, but apparently that's part of the symptom.
8. I get so wrapped up in some things I do that I can hardly stop to take a break or switch to doing something else.
Reading 1,500 page technical manuals in a couple days, taking 6 month courses in a couple weeks, yep.
9. I tend to overdo things even when they're not good for me — like compulsive shopping, drinking too much, overworking, and overeating.
With great effort, I managed to stop the overworking part. :-)
10. I get frustrated easily and I get impatient when things are going too slowly.
Yep
11. My self-esteem is not as high as that of others I know.
I like to think I'm just really humble.
12. I need a lot of stimulation from things like action movies and video games, new purchases, being among lively friends, driving fast or engaging in extreme sports.
Maybe, but for the most part I entertain myself.
13. I tend to say or do things without thinking, and sometimes that gets me into trouble.
Case in point, this post.
14. I'd rather do things my own way than follow the rules and procedures of others.
"Rather", is a rather understated word for this. Should be more like "I always do things my own way".
15. I often find myself tapping a pencil, swinging my leg, or doing something else to work off nervous energy.
Not so much, because those things bother me when other people do them. I just daydream.
16. I can feel suddenly depressed when I'm separated from people, projects or things that I like to be involved with.
Not sure
17. I see myself differently than others see me, and when someone gets angry with me for doing something that upset them I'm often very surprised.
Always.
18. Even though I worry a lot about dangerous things that are unlikely to happen to me, I tend to be careless and accident prone.
I'm afraid of window air conditioner units falling on my head, but I've done electrical work on live circuits and shocked myself countless times.
19. Even though I have a lot of fears, people would describe me as a risk taker.
No doubt about this one.
20. I make a lot of careless mistakes.
Yep.
21. I have blood relatives who suffer from ADD, depression, bipolar disorder, or substance abuse.
With a family as big as mine, how could I not?

If you answered yes to 15 of these questions, it is likely that you have attention deficit disorder (ADD ADHD). However, you can still have ADHD even if you answered yes to fewer than 15 of these questions
18 with 2 maybes, it's not a guarantee or anything, but...

It doesn't really matter so much if I have ADHD or not, I find ways to accomplish what I need to anyway. I guess it would be good for my self esteem if I knew that I accomplished everything I did in spite of being at such a disadvantage. If there was a way to make the symptoms go away, I'm not sure I'd take it. Sure, life would be easier, but I like being me and I'm not sure I'd be the same person. What bothers me is that I was given such a hard time in school and nobody thought "hey, maybe it's not entirely Dovid's fault". I can blame the schools and teachers and I do. I can blame my parents and it's probably true that all our problems are caused by our parents. But, that means all our parent's problems were caused by their parents. So, I'm thinking we should blame our grandparents. It wouldn't be fair to blame great-grandparents, because how many of us get to know our great-grandparents? It wouldn't be fair to blame someone you don't know. So, grandparents it is. Hey, if we're going to make them pay for their grandkids tuition, might as well tack on blame for mental issues.