10 advantages of ADD

1. The Ability to Hyperfocus.

Hours of full engagement and concentration in a task, IF you find it interesting. You can get into the zone and be totally immersed in what you're doing while the outside world disappears. When I went on the net for the first time in 1993 at an Internet cafe I got on the machine at 8 pm and around 4 am decided it was time to go home.

2. Rapid Fire Mind.

Your brain processes information at hyperspeed. You can do things in 30 minutes on a computer that might take other people hours. Downside if you're stuck with an old machine and not enough RAM you'll be frustrated cause it can't keep up with the speed of your brain.

3. Multitasking at Will.

Able to run 14 apps at a time and effortlessly switch between each without breaking a sweat. Able to do several projects at a time with ease.

4. High Energy Level.

You're able to keep going on a project (if it's interesting, ADDers are more into creative and entrepreneurial activities than clerical and repetitive ones). 14-hour days? No problem. Adrenaline is my fuel source

5. Highly Creative.

Able to think beyond the idea of a box. This comes naturally for ADDers, while others pay thousands of dollars to try and learn this. Since you take in more information than the average person, and you're easily distractible, you're more likely to view a problem from many different angles than vanilla people (non ADDers), and therefore come up with more possible solutions to a problem. Need an idea generator? Find an ADDer.

6. Quick Learner.

IF it's something you're interested in. ADD is mainly a condition of boredom; you have no trouble paying attention to something if it's interesting. Most people find it difficult to do boring or repetitive things but these can often totally shut an ADDer down. Your rapid fire brain + highly creative mind + the ability to hyperfocus equals fast absorption of new information quickly. Dr Ed Hallowell, who has ADD and has written several Delivered from Distraction : Getting the Most out of Life with Attention Deficit Disorder, said he stopped teaching Psychiatry at Harvard University because the non-ADDers brains were just to slow and they took so long to get it. He got tired of being continually frustrated waiting for them to catch up to the ADD students.

7. Stimulus Seeking Brain.

A perfect match for the wired world, an under stimulated brain and an over stimulated virtual environment. Being an info junkie can be a good thing. Well, not always

8. Constantly Scanning your Environment.

Allows you to notice more and find information and resource that others miss. Also allows you to see possible problems before they arise, and opportunities that others may not see because they have tunnel vision vs. multiplex vision. An ADDer invented the electronic ticket.

9. Great in a Crisis.

High energy intense situation? Lots of chaos and change? Sign me up; I thrive on stimulation, change and chaos. We can create order from chaos effortlessly. We can also create such an environment as well if needed.

10. Risk Taker.

Impulsivity means you're more willing to take risks and have a bias for action, act now while the opportunity is hot instead of getting into analysis paralysis. Many entrepreneurs have ADD i.e. Paul Orfalea who founded Kinko's, JetBlue Founder and CEO David Neeleman who attributes his creativity to ADD. Both are Billionaires. Imagine how successful a high tech CEO would be if they didn't take many risks.

These are just a start of the advantages of ADD. I bet theres more.

Humph, advantages of ADD, whatever next

Heh, funny thing is, they're all true. My brother is pretty much entirely like that

woohoo!
i wonder if same applies to AD-->H<---D?

wow, alot of those things sounded EXACTLY like me

even teachers at skool tell me that if i am not interested in something then i will just not care and/or do poorly, they tell me that i should LEARN how to make things interesting

i am really good on the computer, for example, i was on the computer printing out pictures that i liked from powerpoint, before i was able to speak full sentences, i am told my parents friends envied me(for knowing more then them about something @ 2ish years old)

Well now I know for a fact they're diagnosing too many kids with AD(H)D. You guys in this forum all seem really intelligent but all the yobs at my school *apparently* have AD(H)D. People are too quick to blame hoodlumism on a disorder and it's giving you guys, the ones who actually have AD(H)D, a bad name. I don't believe that 70% of my school has ADD.

one of my friends at school said, "you're just too lazy to listen or you just don't want to listen" for ADD

Originally Posted by GameFreak

one of my friends at school said, "you're just too lazy to listen or you just don't want to listen" for ADD

Ignorance.

I get all good grades and im pretty sure i have add, people think if you have ad(h)d you are stupid

I swear he has the most badass avatar ever, hope it doesn't decapitate me though.

heh...wow, lets just describe me there. i have 16 windows up right now, 4 chats, and music. i have add and now in middle school i cant conentrate on math or social studies, my aderal isnt even helping. ) : but in classes like reading, english, art, or music/band i get all a's.
ADD is not being lazy either...that person was really mean...

well I have ADD because of one reason, aderal or not, sometimes it just doesnt matter and I can't concentrate in ANY classes. Maybe a 7-10 days a month I just can't conentrate at all. But it is easier in classes that I like more. I'm going to my doctor to get a stronger dose, mine isn't working now. So if you really want to learn about ADD you have to have it, it changes constantly for me.

Originally Posted by pinkcar

I get all good grades and im pretty sure i have add, people think if you have ad(h)d you are stupid

ok that pisses me of


lol jk but yea i have adhd and am hyper all the time

Wow, those are sick... in the good way

Originally Posted by wadeexpo

woohoo!
i wonder if same applies to AD-->H<---D?

Yes it does, b/c I have ADHD.

Hey, I have ADD and I just can't sit still! I also can't stop talking, hence the username.

Good news everyone: This list tells me I'm ADD! I was diagnosed before but I never thought it to be true

I have ADHD and only the last applies to me. The rest are bullshit if not have the complete opposite affect.

PS: I think your picture's going to eat me...

Eh i feel like replying to each section and how they each apply to me

1. The Ability to Hyperfocus.

True Current task. rewiring the network in my house so we have a decent speed internet. of course the fact i'm learning how to do that while i'm doing it makes it a lot of fun, even if not as efficient as it could be.

2. Rapid Fire Mind.

You may consider this a positive side... but while my brain go fast... my mouth is slow. meaning i skip a lot of the connecting info between one idea and another which causes mass confusion to those around me. Though i have to say that my friends and family have gotten better at following the twisted path of thoughts that i speak. (PS: i advise you to never think aloud... )

3. Multitasking at Will.

hm 14 windows. i play online games and it takes up a bit too much RAM to do it all on one computers, luckily i have a laptop and desktop computer so i have a game running on each of those and on PS2 at same time... (all MMOG's)

4. High Energy Level.

14 hours days? i do 72. then sleep for 12 hours, then another 72 or more. Started getting yelled at for being so unhealthy i took up Cross Country as a sport (you run about 8 miles a day) meant atleast i could fall asleep at night.

5. Highly Creative.
(not for me. i can never come up with something from scratch. though... i can do great revisions.)

6. Quick Learner.

Doesn't even have to be something i'm interested in really.... i just learn everything. on the other hand. doesn't mean i'm gonna do that homework. i'm just gonna learn it because it might be relevant... one day.

7. Stimulus Seeking Brain.

If you are a tech person. you know what dual core processor is. (2 processors in one. meaning really fast) well i heard a rumor about one being developed that is 80 processors in one. until that one comes out. all computers are slow.... which is why i work on 2-3 comps at once. more when sisters need me to fix theirs. (i've done 6 at once and still thought it was slow ><)

8. Constantly Scanning your Environment.

True. I listen and watch... and constantly amaze people in what i remember months afterwards... fun

9. Great in a Crisis.

Depends on the type of chaos.... well actually no it doesn't, i'm great with anytype of chaos. i don;t make perfect order out of it... main reason is i'm not assertive enough to get people to listen to me. i just calm everything down and then someone else does the final polish

10. Risk Taker.

Hm Risk taker..... If you refer back to number 2... rapid fire mind. I'm not a risk taker. But analysis paralysis never happens either... for the one reason i think of about 20 options weigh benefits and cons of each and take a path in about half a second...


Fun. not sure if i have ADD or ADHD. no one has diagnosedd me because parents don;t need a doctor to bother with it (i guess i should say no professional doctor has diagnosed me. all my teachers and parents think i have it and i see no reason to disbelieve em. so. eh

you know, i never thought that there could be a plus side to this ADD. Until now!! and actually, i do (mostly) all that. except creative. well, i can create, but by the time i go to put it down on anything concrete (or even on a computer) it's different. kinda don't like when that happens cuz i liked the first one better, but i can't get it back. So my english teacher thinks i just don't wanna do the homework (which is kinda true) but i really do want to do it just can't put the research onto the paper. kinda sucks doing research, cuz when i read something, if i don't understand, i look for it. But then when i understand it, there really isn't any way to say it, so i get accused of plagarism in social studies alot. It's come down to my parents have to watch me try to type my paper so they can sign it saying i didn't copy and paste. lol, i shure have alot to say, and i typed this so fast that i scared my cat with the clack clack clack noise. It's funny, my brother sits there at the computer and seriously types uber slow, and i really just wanna push him out of the way and have him dictate to me, but that doesn't really work cuz he talks slow, too, lol!